The Drunk Duck Quackcast

This is the second part of our Manipulation focussed Quackcast, and we have a special guest: Gunwallace! This time we're talking about manipulating your audience to think or feel certain things that you want them to in order for your story to have a greater impact. Gunwallace was here to help us with the humour aspect because getting people to find things funny is a challenge all in itself! It could be emotional beats, things like sadness at an event in the comic like the death of a character, betrayal, disappointment, joy, revenge, triumph, elation… If you can make the audience feel that along with the characters then the story events have way more meaning! Conversely, if you mishandle it then the event can be a little meaningless or even funny like the famous miscarriage scene in the Ctrl+Alt+Del (CAD) webcomic. But how do you manipulate people into having the feelings you want them to? I suppose the best way is having them identify with the characters, make their situation relatable, make the audience care about the characters and what they're experiencing, then these effects will have a greater impact. Humour is another aspect of this, how do you convince people that something is supposed to be funny and that they should laugh? That's really too big of a subject, but briefly: you can set up a situation and then subvert expectations in a silly way, you can exaggerate things foolishly, have a character embarrass or humiliate themselves etc. There are a lot of ways to go about it. Humour is very easy to fail at though: generalised humour is best because you'll have the broadest appeal and the most chance to make the joke land with more people, but if you're too general the joke becomes generic and boring. Specific humour about a clever reference or focussed on a particular subculture or scene can be razor sharp and awesome, but if people don't get the references then it comes off as meaningless. Lastly, if you have a character who's meant to be super smart, beautiful, a great fighter, charismatic, mysterious or something else, how do you manipulate the audience into believing that? One way is to have other characters simply describe them as that… which is the worst way to do it, at least in isolation. If other characters are announcing those traits you'll need to back it up with an example or it will come off as silly. Part of the trick then is to have a combination of characters reacting to them in a way that confirms those descriptions as well as a demonstration of it: Show a character is smart by having them quickly solve a difficult issue or come to a clever conclusion, rather than writing something like "they're the world's smartest person, they graduated from all major universities at 9 and they have 5 doctorates in neuroscience, experimental quantum physics, rocket science, genetics, and virology!", rather than giving the audience the impression that the character is smart it will make them think the writer is an idiot. How do you manipulate the audience into having the impressions that you want? Have you ever tried to do that and failed? The best off Gunwallace track this week was picked by Gunwallace himself, it's the theme to Joe Pop - Staring Oz and Banes! This one is funny, and was a lot of fun to do! Oz is so great on base! Originally from 9th of March 2015 Topics and shownotes Links Manipulation part 1, Quackcast 784 - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/quackcast/episode-784-manipulation Featured comic: Another Random Sequential Experiment - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/apr/13/featured-comic-another-random-sequential-experiment/ Featured music: Joe Pop - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Joe_Pop/ - by dave63, rated E. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes -...

Taboos are generally things that are considered "forbidden" by society for various reasons, but what we start with are personal taboos rather than at the society level, but we do talk about that too. Taboos for me in humour are animal cruelty, sexual violence, racism, sexism and ableism, all to varying degrees but animal cruelty is the main one. I really hate it when a joke involves killing or harming an animal. When it comes to personal taboos I don't tend to become a "Karren" about it, when I personally have an issue with a type of humour I'll generally turn away from it rather than assume everyone thinks like me and go on a tirade. Society level taboos are different, sometimes it's culturally based, like taboos about comedy based on religion, national heroes, nationalism, etc, it could be political, it can be touchy subjects like racism, sexual violence, cannibalism, sexism etc, or even silly things like toilet humour and bodily functions! There can be good reasons for both avoiding taboos completely and also tackling them head on directly. One of my favourite TV sitcoms is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia which makes a point of constantly taking taboos head on. A general rule about taboos and touchy subjects in humour is to "punch up" rather than "punch down", which means it's not cool to go after the vulnerable, instead go after the empowered and entitled. But that doesn't mean you should infantilise the groups you deem worthy of protecting and treat them like that have no agency or humour, that can be just exactly as bad as attacking them directly because in both instances you are dehumanising them. A great instance of tackling a taboo in humour is Robert Downey Jnr's blackface in Tropic Thunder. Blackface is a taboo because it was about creating a dehumanising caricature of black people in order to denigrate them. The blackface in Tropic thunder isn't used that way at all, it's making fun of the character who is doing the blackface, his entitlement, overweening arrogance and gall to think he should be able to get away with it, as well as the ridiculousness of the situation. Do you have personal taboos that you don't joke about? Or do you think it's a good idea to make jokes about certain taboos in humour? -Waning- I recount a horrible, awful sexist joke near the end of the cast as an example and Tantz Aerine demolishes it with humour showing a good way to deal with such a thing. This week our best-off from Gunwallace is: Temple at Fifty Fathoms - Disco freaky! Better version, groovy, naughty, perfect. Originally from Quackcast 220, 12th of May, 2015. Topics and shownotes Featured comic: Seven Seventeenths - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/apr/07/featured-comic-seven-seventeenths/ Featured music: Temple at Fifty Fathoms - by Skreem Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

We're talking about the changing depictions of sexuality in media over the years. A big misconception is that trends are purely linear, so a popular belief is that things started out all very pure and safe and gradually degenerated into a kind of sexy free-for all… which is not true. Humans have always been the same, sex is a massive part of our cultures, since the first media existed sex was a part of it (back in the ancient world and pre-history). The 19th and 20th centuries where no different. Prudish Victorians are a myth. Film, books, music, comics and more in the early days included depictions of sex and sexuality, the first porn films came out at the same time as the first mainstream films and it was a similar story with all other media. But there was always push-back from other parts of culture and so that toned things down. This is a continuous process: Sexuality and censorship, the pendulum swings. In the the 1930s in the USA they had the Hays code which got rid of sexiness and sexuality in Hollywood and that had knock on effects for the rest of the world. By the time of the 1960s though things had gone the other way, especially since the Hays code wasn't a thing in Europe and their sexier content came over and influenced the USA. Since then things have continued to go up and down: with the rise of porn on home video, sexuality in film and TV decreased in the 1980s. By the 90s with the rise of cable TV became sexy again and so on. Comics in the USA had the Comics Code Authority, which took out all adult aspects from comics for decades and affected comics in different countries too, but not all. Meanwhile in Europe, Asia, and South America there was interesting stuff being created. We got a taste of that through things like Heavy Metal magazine and some of the Manga that was imported and translated. In the USA and UK it encouraged the growth of an alternative culture that wasn't subjected to the Comics Code Authority and so artists like Robert Crumb proliferated. A push-pull with censorship is always going on for all sorts of reasons. Another misconception is that Christianity and religious conservatives are the main enemy so that there's a proxy divide between progressive left-wingers and the conservative right but the truth is that it's far more complicated unfortunately. We cover this in the Quackcast, but briefly, depictions are often driven by commercial interests rather than simply the needs of art so we have had over-representations of certain kinds of eroticism in media, like things only really made for the male gaze (because men were imagined to be the main audience), which led to distorted depictions (exploitation films), and objectification. This led to to a push-back in art and intellectual circles against that sort of thing. Then there are factors like the protection of children, which crosses all political divides: all of us want to keep them safe. These processes happens in all countries at different rates and different times and the creative products of every culture influence those in other cultures and cause further change. How do you handle sex and sexuality in your own work? When I started Pink TA my goal was not to have any barriers to what I wanted to show, but as the years went on I realised I had to tone things down so my comic could be seen more widely and as I've gotten older I have a lot less interest in sexy things than I did when I was younger anyway so that caused further change. This week we have another best off from Gunwallace and this time it's - X up - 6 … is this a theme for a comic? … no! It could be a theme for X Up, it does have some Wah Wah guitar (the sexiest guitar), after all, but it isn't. This is a theme for the number 6. That number that a certain user, plymayer, gives to comics all when he feels they deserve it. A 6. A 6 out of 5. This is a theme for a concept. The concept of a supportive DD'er. To plymayer … and to every 6 he has handed out. (Okay, so it's also a...

Tantz developed an idea to promote DD creators by doing themed months. DDers were asked to come up with themes that fit various months and when those came around we DDers were asked to nominate creators and their comics to be promoted as part of that themed month. March was chosen to be the Women in Comics month to coincide with Women's History Month. So in this Quackcast we're celebrating our female creators and recapping the success of the themed month. DD has been around for well over 20 years now and in that time our site has tried to stay as egalitarian as possible across all fronts. We have always had prominent women creators on the site producing amazing comics and our staff managing DD has always had a fairly equal split between women and men. So why the need for a women in comics month if this is the case? It's because despite all this many women don't feel comfortable having their gender known in case their work is judged and assumptions made because of that and also to avoid certain types of unfavourable attention. The purpose of our women in comics month is to help all of us and comics in general because more equality of representation gives us a diversity of points of views and experiences and that massively enriches our community and the comics available to us to read. Who are your fave women comic creators here on DD? Or if you're a woman creator, what has your experience been like here? When I first started posting my own comic here in 2004 Creators like Amelius, Coydog, Skoolmunkee and Blackitty really welcomed me and I was in awe of their work and talent as well as their roles in the community. This week our best-off from Gunwallace is: Demon Eater - Jillyfoo's demonic horror comic. This has a gritty, grungy, red sound of rending and tearing, pulsating, and the chittering of unholy insectile monsters! Originally from Quackcast 190, 26th of October, 2014. Topics and shownotes Women in comics Newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/mar/06/march-dd-theme-female-creators/ Women in comics thread - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/180217/ Featured comic: Where the Light Falls - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/mar/24/featured-comic-where-the-light-falls/ Featured music: Demon Eater - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Demon_Eater/ - by Jillyfoo, rated A. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

This topic is about manipulation and manipulators. This is a super broad topic because manipulation is everywhere: not just unscrupulous people but in normal communication, advertising, story writing, art etc. for good, evil, and purely neutral objectives. But for the purposes of this cast we got Tantz to use her expertise to limit it down to mainly focus on people. So what IS manipulation? It's getting others to do things or change their thinking, often against their interests. They think it's their own decision based on their own wants and reasoning but in reality they're behaving in the way that the manipulator wants them to, using triggers, deception, and other clever methods. As children most of us learn how to easily manipulate others through behaviours and actions: things like tantrums, fake tears, being cute etc. Basically big obvious stuff that easily gets a reaction. Thankfully most of us also grow OUT of such crude behaviour, though some silly adults never do, or if they do they go back to it. The behaviour of master manipulators is driven by a perception of weakness: they see manipulation as their main available option to exert power because they don't feel they're able to in any other way. They can make great villains. A memorable manipulator villain is the mother in The Sopranos. A great example of the power of nasty manipulators is shown in the 1988 film The Chocolate War (also a great use of Kate Bush's "Running up that Hill"), where one boy's act of rebellion at the school causes him to be the target of a bullying campaign by a master manipulator. Sometimes manipulation is unintentional: certain things trip triggers we have and we change our behavior despite our better interests. The whole "sex sells" is based on that. People knowingly take advantage of that but it's ripe for comedy when they don't realise they're doing it. The character Francis in the comic Bottomless Waitress by Banes and I is one such example. The film Something about Mary is an entire story based on this premise because characters romantically fall for Mary, and do whatever they can for her and then they even deliberately manipulate others in their competition for her affections! Do you have a character that uses manipulation to get their way or can you think of an example of a noted manipulative character in fiction? This week we have another best off from Gunwallace and this time it's - Firefly cross - A very mystical sound, with traditional, middle eastern style music mixed with dark techno fuzz, this one is intriguing! Originally from Quackcast 285, 10th Oct, 2016. Topics and shownotes Links Thread about manipulation - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/180225/ Featured comic: The Fox and Feather Saga Vol One - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/mar/16/featured-comic-the-fox-and-feather-saga-vol-one/ Featured music: Firefly cross - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Firefly_Cross/ by Dragonsong12, rated E Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

Many times in your writing you reach a point where things just peter out and you can't seem to move beyond. We're not really talking about a traditional writer's block here though, it's more like running out of puff, "out of steam" so to speak… You get your story and or characters to a point and then "what now?". Maybe it's because the content of the current story no longer fits with the script you were working on because too many interesting things got added in as you were creating the pages, but now it's all falling apart because the story as it is now is too different from the planned one. Maybe it's because you lose enthusiasm for the current story. It could be that you've seen new trends and styles and fun things you want to include but can't fit them into your current story so you get tired of it. Maybe you don't have a script and can't really work out what to do next. It could be that you find a plot hole and know you'll need a rewrite to move any further. Or maybe you're starting a new chapter but can't work out how to do that. There are many reasons to run out of puff and we chatted about some ways around that in the cast. Again, this is NOT about blocks which are not really related to the writing and are more just psychological. One of the ways was to limit your scope right down: just focus on a few characters in a much more limited set of circumstances or maybe even the point of view of a single character and proceed from what interests and concerns them, what they like, need, and care about, what they experience etc. That means there are less things to worry about, it's easier to crystallise in your mind where you should go with things, and it's also way easier to get your audience to relate to and identify with what you're doing. Another key method is to rely on structure if you can. If you have an old script and old thumbnails and all that stuff, try and see if you can hammer your way back to it. You might not be able to because of later story changes or you may not even have a script, but if you do and you CAN go back to it, it's worth it even if you feel it's a bit old and boring, because it's all planned out already and when you move past the dull stuff you can write more interesting stuff into your script later. Finally another trick is to just jump to another scene completely. It could be a time jump, like two days later or earlier, or even a flashback. You can use dreams, visions, or a recounted story by a character. You can also jump to parallel scenes with other characters in other places, or simply a different character point of view… What are some run-out-off-steam moments you've had and how do you get beyond them? This week our best-off from Gunwallace is: Filaments a Kerbop Story - The mysterious, dark shadowy reaches of space, glowing tendrils of a pink gassy nebula, dimly seen, distant stars, shadowy pockmarked asteroids turning lazily… a happily little junty turn plucked out on strings winds its way through the gloom, spreading cheer and light! Originally from Quackcast 497, 22nd of September, 2020. Topics and shownotes Featured comic: No feature this week because I was sick so enjoy Kawaii's feature from last week: Summer to Winter - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/mar/03/featured-comic-summer-to-winter/ Featured music: Filaments a Kerbop Story - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Filaments_a_KerBop_story/ - by Caliway, rated E. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord -...

This Quackcast was inspired by a remark about a certain character trait in fiction and not meeting anyone like that in reality. It stuck a chord with me because people often complain on the internet about fictional tropes that "don't exist in reality", and yet in my lifetime I've frequently met representatives of most tropes in the real world. So I thought we'd chat about popular character tropes and their real life versions. One of the biggest "fiction only" character tropes that the internet loved to deride was "the magical pixie dreamgirl", which was explained away as a mythical creature invented by horny middle-aged male screenwriters who want to recapture their youth by having a dalliance with this fantasy female stereotype. In my life I've met many real life women AND men that commonly match this trope precisely: people who behave and speak whimsically, have an "alternative appearance" with dyed hair and a whimsical fashion style, a childish sense of humour, act chaotically, don't fit in with normal societal rules, go on adventures, are arty and poetic etc. Many people find it fun to live like that for a while, it's performative, and if their situation means they have less responsibility (because they're a student for example), it's much easier sustain that way of life. I think the real reason why people think that certain tropes are mythical is because they're unsustainable in the long term so real people can only behave that way for a limited period, which limits the chance that you'll encounter a person like that; the manic pixie is a great example. Also certain tropes only exist from specific points of view so unless you have the POV you won't see them: the sexy, suave male seducer, or the inappropriate sexual harasser guy for example- they target their behaviour specifically towards certain women, so that to most men those character types seem fictional, because they simply don't encounter the full brunt of it, and conversely the sexy femme fatale seductress can seem like a fictional product of the "male gaze" to many women because it's not behaviour typically aimed at them. As a young person I learned about many character tropes through the media, especially American TV and movies, where certain traits were dominant: Nerds, dorks, jocks, preppies, the popular kids, etc. And yet where I was growing up, in Australia in the 80s we didn't quite have those types of people in reality. I began to think of them as a strange fictional American invention. Even when I went to the USA for the first time in 2010 and went to San Diego Comic Con, which according to American media is ground zero for "nerds", I found it full of actors, porn stars, MMA fighters, weirdos, and families. I encountered one true, genuine nerd stereotype there and it was the most precious and interesting experience to have finally seen one after all these years. One last thing: outdated tropes. Tropes that existed at one time in reality but are now extinct so that then we see them in fiction we interpret them incorrectly or just don't understand them. Sam and Frodo in The Lord of the Rings are a great example of this, their relationship is the typical officer and his batman, the upper-class man and his devoted rural working class servant. A relationship where people are connected through a formal working arrangement and separated by class, education, and social convention but nevertheless manage bridge that through shared experience and become friends anyway. This was something that would happen particularly during WW1. The social and class situation that caused that to exist has utterly changed now so people can't understand it anymore and instead misinterpret it in their own ways. What are some "fictional" tropes you've seen in reality, or even some that you've never seen outside of fiction? In recent times I've been shocked at the rise of the bad cartoon villains in the USA and now I WISH they had remained in fiction. This week we have another...

Our Quackcast this week was inspired by a post I made in the DD forums asking about songs that had a big impact on people in their formative teen years. This sort of thing is such a pertinent subject in 2026 when stupid people are thinking they can replace creativity with the soulless pastiches created by AI- Real humans are the sum of their creative influences, jumbled into a gooey mental soup as their brains were forming, getting all mixed up and mis-remembered and joined with other stuff based on emotional resonance and the context of what was going on at the time. Ai on the other hand is a machine created by a corporation that's fed stollen IP from illegal sources, which then regurgitates simplistic, meaningless mashups based on nothing but the superficial similarities of aspects of the stollen source material - it has absolutely NONE of that soulful creative depth. It's a world "learned from books" as opposed to one experienced in reality, but even worse because even a person learning things from nothing but books has emotional connections with aspects of what they read based on past experience. When I can see that sort of depth of inspiration and history in people's creations I LOVE it. With this in mind we chatted about songs that had made an impact on us as teens and how they still influence us. What songs influenced you as a teen and why? This week our best-off from Gunwallace is It's Permanent - Old school southern rock, laconic, melodic, hard drinkin', late night, whisky, beer and cigarettes. Play your cards right and you'll be going home with the prettiest cowgirl… Originally from Quackcast 387, the 7th of August, 2018 Topics and shownotes Song thread - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/180214/?page=1#latest Influential music for us: Ozoneocean Heart - These Dreams - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41P8UxneDJE All Fired Up - Pat Benatar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsnYrH3BUP8 Tantz El Condor Pasa - YMA SUMAC (1971) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlPOldBxxVs&list=RDDlPOldBxxVs&start_radio=1 ΜΙΚΡΑ ΑΣΙΑ ΑΠ - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1518A0450D00882B Banes Archie - Everything's Archie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBK1k9CM26s Meat Loaf - Paradise By The Dashboard Light- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C11MzbEcHlw Featured comic: Jack and the Beanstalk - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/feb/22/featured-comic-jack-and-the-beanstalk/ Featured music: It's Permanent - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Its_Permanent/ - by UltimateZ, rated M. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

We're doing a cast on background colouring. There are a million was to do colour for your backgrounds, the only important thing is the finished result, it really doesn't matter how you get there, as long as it's not with AI, but learning how others do things can always be helpful. For myself I got where I did by looking at the great work of others and trying to get the same results, plus a LOT of trial and error. I'll outline here a very simplified version of what I do. I have two main comic styles: a flat cartoony cell shaded style for Bottomless Waitress and a more painterly pseudo realistic style for Pinky TA. These tips apply to both but mainly Pinky TA. First up I work digitally and my lineart is top layer in grey or black, set to "Multiply" so all the non-lines parts are transparent and can show through the colour of the bottom layers. I create about 2 to 4 background layers, depending how complex I want to be. The very bottom layer is my simple fill layer. Usually I decide on a simple gradient for each panel. The gradient is usually made up of no more that 3 colours. It's a good way to very quickly add a sense of depth and visual interest to an image. I usually pick a colour to represent the feeling of the emotional vibe of the scene or something that fits realistically with the image. On the layer above that I'll colour objects, buildings, and things in the background. I find It's very important to know that the colours of your backgrounds influence the colours of the things within it, especially your characters (if you're doing a more realistic style), and lighting is a massive part of that because without light there is no colour or vision, so know where your light is coming from and what kind of light it is: sunlight, lamps, windows, candles, spotlights, moonlight, universal light etc. That will also infleunce how hard, distinct and dark to make your shadows. On a layer above those two I'll colour my figures. I take cues from the main background colours on how to colour my characters so that they fit better with the scene, and I also light them the same way. They will still be coloured in their standard colours mostly but the panel colour influences how their shadow colours look. Finally in another layer above the line art I will have an "effects "layer which will go over everything. This could be for bloom effects around bright lights or fire, it could be for smoke or fog, or often I use it for a trick to create "atmospheric perfective": this is where things that are further away become dimmer or faded and it's a very easy way to add depth. To do this I just add a gradient of a single colour- usually white, and set its opacity to fade to zero, with the zero opacity part of the gradient over the foreground and the full white over the background in the distance, then I set the opacity of that layer to be quite low, maybe 15%. So that's one of my methods. I hope you are able to get something helpful from it! In the cast Tantz and Banes also outline some of their very different techniques. How do you work? This week we have another best off from Gunwallace and this time it's - Miss Sisyphus - Slow, faded monochrome ennui, colour bleeds in gradually, like a stain on paper, filing with life, danger, adventure, futuristic exploration, like a dull and dusty bud, blossoming into a gorgeous flower, full of colour and heady scent. Originally from Quackcast 558, 23rd of November, 2021. Topics and shownotes Links Featured comic: Nemutions Heart - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/feb/17/featured-comic-nemutions-heart/ Featured music: Miss Sisyphus - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Miss_Sisyphus/ - by SinisterDuck, rated M. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei Ozoneocean -...

This Quackcast was recorded on the 14th of February so our cast was about Valentines day and romantic love stuff! A day named after a martyred Christian from the latter days of Rome who was beaten and then beheaded. Apparently he advocated for the right of Roman Legionaries to marry so that's where the love and romance association comes from… Which is interestingly ironic to me because the true meaning of "romance" and "romantic" isn't lovey dovey stuff, but rather it refers to things that are associated with ancient Rome, or are evocative of the idealised memory of it, hence people who're obsessed with ideals used to be called "romantics". The concept of "romance" has since been simplified and bastardised to only mean lovehearts and Hallmark type commercial ideas of people courting - chocolates, flowers and all the rest. We chat about that and actual lovely dovey comics and movies and books and things. Out of the three of us much of Banes' work has more of a focus on love than anything else. He even has a comic called "Kaiju Valentine", which has a fantastic love story at its centre between a giant woman and a normal sized man, you should really read it! But his other comics like Typical Strange and Bottomless Waitress that he works with me also feature significant love plots. Some of my fave love stories are the movie Joe Vs the Volcano, and the books Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, and The Rowan, all of them because although love is the focus they use it to explore other things: Destiny and self realisation of Joe Vs the Volcano, dangerous, nasty toxic passion in Wuthering Heights, class politics in Pride and Prejudice, and becoming a whole, accepted person in The Rowan. Do you enjoy love stories or do one yourself? This week our best-off from Gunwallace is Kaiju Valentine - Stomp meets a big stomping monster woman as she bops and bounces heavily to this cool, percussive and yet somewhat ethereal sound. It's party time here in Kaiju land! This is an infectious dance number! Originally from Quackcast 714, 19th of November 2024 Topics and shownotes Tantz Valentines newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/feb/13/love-is-in-the-air/ Featured comic: Abnormal Alliance - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/feb/09/featured-comic-abnormal-alliance/ Featured music: Kaiju Valentine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Kaiju_Valentine/ - by Banes, rated M. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

Myths and legends are a massive part of our culture. We have the original versions of them that still stay with us, mostly intact, but because of how important and well known they are we're always getting new versions of them that are changed and added to to reflect our contemporary culture. Big stories like King Arthur, Robin Hood, Beowulf, the Odyssey, The Journey to the West and many other stories keep getting new versions in our modern world. The Greek myths beings quite old, very detailed, and well written get a LOT of different versions, which has been happening since antiquity. Even the Romans like Ovid revised them, his versions were made to reflect his own cultural and political realities. Most recently there's the Nolan version of the Odyssey coming out. Some are annoyed at the various non-white people in certain roles, but that's a trend that's been popular for about 30-40 years or so and simply reflects our modern diverse cultural and ethnic makeup. The only thing that irks me are the stupid costumes and reinterpretation of the armour, but also the silly commentary concerning it- on one hand you have supporters of the crude fantasy styles in the film and on the other supporters of ancient Mycenaean styles. The thing is though that Ancient Greeks ALWAYS depicted their mythological figures armoured like hoplites (or naked), with Corinthian helmets. That wasn't a case of them showing the figures in contemporary fashions either- hundreds of years after those styles were dead they were still used for the characters. So there was never a need to reinterpret them OR imagine them in archaic "historically accurate" styles, they should always be shown as classical Greek warriors. /rant Beowulf shows up in various ways, there are direct and indirect interpretations. One of the interesting aspects is that people use the monster, Grendel, for their indirect interpretations- Everything from Friday the 13th (the first one), to Frankenstein (at least as an inspiration to the various adaptations), Jaws, The 13th Warrior, Split Second (a monster in futuristic flooded London), you could even include Predator and Alien. Journey to the West is a very important story to many cultures in eastern Asia because it's tied closely with Buddhism and the spread of that religion on the continent. It was important to me when I grew up with endless TV repeats of the dubbed Japanese series Monkey Magic, starring Masaaki Sakai, Japanese pop sensation (The Spiders), and perennial charismatic TV personality. It featured comedy, endless fighting with demons and monsters, and the retelling of various stories. This version was so popular that people have remade it rather than just the myth itself, and it's inspired films and TV shows with the costumes it used for the characters. Many others now know the myth through the Dragon Ball anime and Manga, with Goku as the Monkey King. Disney's anthro version of Robin Hood had a gigantic impact on the creation of furry culture. The King Arthur myth, focussing on the heroic journey of a random, scruffy orphan into a prophesied king of a nation shows up everywhere in fantasy and Scifi, examples include Star Wars and the fantasy series The Belgariad and Malloreon by David Eddings and many others, including more direct versions like Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail, Disney's Sword in the Stone, and the fantastic Excalibur. The Jewish myth of David and the giant Goliath show up over and over in things too because of the focus on an underdog who triumphs despite huge odds and then goes on to become a famous ruler. What are your fave myths that keep on inspiring popular culture (directly and indirectly), and what is your fave version? This week we have another best off from Gunwallace and this time it's - Ripping off King Arthur - We're all preparing for the big event here with this theme. It's a weird mixture of a Rocky theme, fantasy epic, and 8 bit video game music… as if were were about to see a...

Today we're talking about bad feedback. This was inspired by Tantz's newspost about the webcomic management site Hivemind two weeks ago that used belittling tactics and bad feedback to break down and control the webcomic artists who were managed by the site. Bad feedback can be extremely harmful to a creator. We're not talking about harsh criticism, we're talking about useless criticism who's only purpose is to make a creator feel bad about their creation. The cover image here is from a picture by me. I had it up on the fantasy art site "Epilogue" back in the day. That site had started out as a cool place to post fantasy art and I had been invited to display my art there in the early 2000s, but by the time I posted that pic it had a weird system in place where they had people reviewing the art before it was allowed to be displayed. I remember that some entitled idiot gave me useless feedback that was something along the lines of "This isn't good enough for this site yet, it needs fixing…" -That's paraphrased. Basically it was pointless, unhelpful gatekeeping on a site that was there for creators, on which I'd been invited to participate with. Creators need to be supported and helped. That doesn't mean telling them extra-positive lies, just as it doesn't mean unhelpful pseudo-criticism It means praising them for what they did right, for the effort and the bravery of creation, and being genuinely helpful with advice and criticism in a way that they can use and be receptive. If you can't do that then learn HOW to. What's the most helpful or unhelpful criticism you have received? This week Gunwallace has given us a great little theme to Through the Window - Flamenco, Latin, fast stepping, toe tapping, heel stomping to this powerful rhythm that wants to get your body up and moving, swaying and spinning on the dance floor, shimmying with your partner, fast and intense! Originally from Quackcast 427, 20th of May, 2017. Topics and shownotes Tantz Feedback newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/jan/16/on-feedback/ Featured comic: Gruna the Barbarian - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/jan/26/featured-comic-gruna-the-barbarian/ Featured music: Through the Window - - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Through_the_Window/ - by Andore Mordre, rated E. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

We're doing another Quackcast on the separation of the art from the artist, which was inspired this time by Gunwallace's Thursday newspost about the death of Dilbert comic artist Scott Adams. I can usually separate the art from the artist and I used to really enjoy Dilbert but he seemed to have a sudden personality change into strange politics and conspiracy thinking during the 2016 US presidential election. It got so bad that I couldn't support reading new Dilbert strips as my daily comics read anymore because I knew that directly supported him, so I wasn't able to separate the art from the artist in that instance. Can you separate the art from the artist? If not in all cases, are you able to do it in some? We also chat abut how some creators make themselves more important than their work, so that in the end they almost become the main creation themselves and their work is secondary. That leads us into the territory of the "influencer". So called influencers have always existed but it's only during our modern social media dominated age when it's become such a popular phenomena. It can be very annoying when real creators crossover into becoming "influencers" but that usually actually makes it easier to separate their creations from them because as products the art and the artist become very different things. Tantz poses the question during the cast, asking if we can separate her from her work, and I wasn't sure if I could. After listening to the Quackcast can you separate us from our art? Can people separate you from your art? This week we have another best off from Gunwallace and this time it's Dragons in Civilized Lands - Compelling, foreboding, panoramic, an epic landscape is slowly revealed below as you swoop on down through the grey clouds… the view spreads, wider and wider… cold mountains rear, vast stretches of icefields, patchwork fields, and a huge carpet of forest, past the occasional fort high on a hill, we narrow in on a clash between two brightly armoured hoards. Bright crimson flecks the shiny armour, brightly coloured pendants wave in the wind. Horses snort, men shout and scream… all fades to black. Originally from: Quackcast 445, 23rd of September, 2019. Topics and shownotes Links Gunwallace's newspost about the death of Scott Adams - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/jan/19/scott-adams-1957-2026/ Featured comic: Penny Dreary - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/jan/20/featured-comic-penny-dreary/ Featured music: Dragons in Civilized Lands - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Dragons_in_Civilized_Lands/ - by RobertRVeith, rated T. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

We're talking about the glory of war, or rather the hollowness of it. Not just war though but the symbols of power and violence associated with any kind of conflict, from something like a sword or pistol, all the way up to fighter jets, tanks and warships. These are all objects that viscerally symbolise power more than anything else, whatever appeal they have is rooted in their ability to enable their wielder to actively make changes in the world and set themselves above others. But why "hollow"? Because war, injury and the exercise of power over others is NOT sexy or at all glorious, rather it's the worst possible thing you can experience. We talk about that contradiction. War and violence is often sexualised, and I use that term correctly in this instance unlike the people who talk about the "sexualisation of women"- adult people are sexual by definition and cannot be "sexualised", what they actually mean is "eroticised", the distinction is important. How is war and violence sexualised? We gender weapons in obvious ways, relating them to male and female genitalia, we name them and refer to them in gendered ways, we also strongly associate war and weapon imagery with gendered things- think of Sylvester Stallone as Rambo, bare muscled, sweating chest, thick, shaggy hair, an M-60 machine gun cradled in one arm blasting away while a chain of ammunition is draped across the other. Or the actors in Top Gun being all young, handsome, virile men, playing beach volleyball shirtless. Sarah Connor in Terminator 2, rippling with muscle, expertly handling assault rifles. The recruits in Starship Troopers, male and female, hitting the showers together. Wonder Woman pulling a sword from the back of her evening dress… All this imagery ensures we associate the exercise of power with adult sexuality and virility. The superficial interpretation is to see power, weapons, and war as all "masculine", but that is inadequate and facile because the lust for power, it's use and exercise is not limited by gender in any way, it's only been skewed to the masculine through historical sexism. As a young person I was seduced by the glorious imagery of war and weaponry through TV shows like Robotech and Starblazers, animes that make a specific point of venerating giant weapons in the form of transforming fighter jets, beweaponed mecha, and massive space battleships bristling with guns. Then of course there were things like the sword wielding Conan, The Three Musketeers, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Asterix and Obelix and their powerful fists, and all the heroes in WW2 movies fighting the good fight. It wasn't till adulthood when I began to question the appeal and allure of these things and realise the darkness they actually represent. But even though I better understand it now, I also realise that the attractiveness of power imagery is baked into my brain so it will always strike a chord with me, which is why I'm always exploring both sides of the equation in my comic Piny TA. As Tantz says in the Quackcast though: "The way to win is not to play". Wise words for two reasons; the best use of any type of weaponry from swords, to guns, to fighter-jets, to warships, or even nuclear missiles is to only have them for the purpose of intimidation, if you can achieve your objective without ever committing violence and horror you've truly won because you didn't destroy resources, create further issues, damage your weapon, lose lives from either side, risk losing, or create many further complications and the risk of reprisal. The other reason is based on another interpretation: don't play, don't venerate the exercise of power through the use of war and violence focussed imagery and symbolism, then you won't perpetuate it. Have you ever been at all moved by "heroic" imagery, the power fantasy of holding a weapon, or the imagery of "righteous war"? Braveheart and Lord of the Rings are two that many love because of this topic. This week Gunwallace has given us a...

Murder mysteries are a very popular genre, in fact they're one of the main fiction genres and probably one of the biggest. They generally consist of one or more murders, people who try to find the identity of the mysterious murderer, their motive, method, and weapon, and a few red herrings to hopefully keep you guessing till the denouement (the big reveal), at the end! There are a lot of different ways of structuring them but however it's done they usually have a lot in common with each other. Why murders? Murders are a horrible thing and hopefully not something that many of us have much if any direct experience with in our lives. They're a high stakes event though that we can all relate to because none of us want to have that experience so it's something to be feared and also morbidly curious about. In action and horror genres the death of anyone but the main characters tends to be pretty meaningless and often common, but murder mysteries rightfully treat any single death as extremely serious things so that makes them much closer to real life in that way, along with the emotional resonance such things can have. We chat about what defines the genre and some of our fave examples, from the Chinese "Coroner's Diary", anything by Agatha Christy, the "knives Out" series, to the excellent "Nero Wolfe Mysteries" adapted by Timothy Hutton in 2001 and more. What are your fave examples of the genre? Have you ever tried writing one? This week we have another best off from Gunwallace and this time it's Mindfold, which is newly finished! It completed its 10 year run on December the 26th. Mindfold - A tune that fits very well with its title! You can feel your mind folding with this gorgeous, echoing, evocative multicultural influenced sound, featuring all manner of crystalline ringing synths, soaring violins, drums and so much more. This would fit well with a high concept cyberpunk anime. Originally from 336 August the 21st 2017 Topics and shownotes Links Featured comic: Crazy Guy in Monster Suit - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/jan/06/featured-comic-crazy-guy-in-monster-suit/ Featured music: Mindfold - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Mindfold/ - by FallopianCrusader, Rated M. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

We commonly think of conflicts as being good guys versus the bad guys, especially when we look back at history. When we learn more about them we see that things are in shades of grey rather than black and white, and clever war fiction will include quite a bit of that greyness. But the funny thing is that when it comes to real world conflicts, people involved in them often do not have the luxury of seeing things in grey, they often HAVE to pick a side, even if it's not one they personally support because it means their survival, the survival of their family, or their community. I find that aspect very interesting. The side we are on is often dictated by our family, our community, or our country, even if we don't support everything they do, sometimes they have our loyalty regardless. How do you handle war and divided loyalties in fiction, or even reality? This week Gunwallace is another best-off Gunwallace and I chose: Busty Solar - A heavenly pink cloudy future world of strawberry scented mists, dancing, sparkling lights, and golden rays of pure morning sunshine angling through. Originally from Quackcast 235, 7th of September 2015. Topics and shownotes Featured comic: Captain Tempest - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2025/dec/29/featured-comic-captain-tempest/ Featured music: Busty Solar - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Busty_Solar/ by Prototype, rated A. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

This is our final Quackcast for 2025. It's been a year all right… but we've done ok here at DD despite our ups and downs and the ups and downs of the rest of the planet. In other news Alexey our programmer is getting closer to sorting out the new version of DD. As part of that process I chatted to Emma Claire who is doing the visual designs for it and ended up meeting her and her hubby for lunch and coffee the other day, so that was very cool. Always a pleasure to meet more DDers! This year was a tricky one for me for sure because on Christmas eve last year my cat broke his leg and all five bones in that part of the leg were cleanly snapped through as if they had been cut with a ghostly knife that sliced the bones but didn't touch skin, muscle or tendon… after recovering from an expensive operation to repair them all with stainless steel rods, his stomach was ruptured open because of the painkillers, which necessitated emergency surgery and two weeks stay in a vet hospital which cost as much as a new car. When he finally came home he had to stay for 3 months in a small room so he couldn't jump on anything and damage his healing leg. Which meant I had to stay with him in there night and day as much as I could to keep him calm. Thankfully he's all good now! Tantz, Banes and I chat about silly place names around the world and other fun things on the cast and stuff we've done and watched over the year of 2025. Have you done anything cool in 2025, has anything big and important happened for you? Are there silly place names where you are? BTW our Patreon video this week is free for all to watch on Patreon: - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck This week we have another best off from Gunwallace and this time it's Necroblivion - The raw, buzzing fuzz of distorted electric guitar over calm, almost celebratory rhythm driven music brings to mind the sounds of North African Tuareg band Tinariwen. This is quite a positive vibe and a very African sound. - Originally from Quackcast 535, 15th June 2021 Topics and shownotes Links Featured comic: Dragon Garage - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2025/dec/19/featured-comic-dragon-garage/ Featured music: Necroblivion - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Necroblivion/ - by Paneltastic, rated M. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

Happy Christmas! This is our penultimate cast of the year. We use this time to reflect on the year as it's been, chat about our comics, movies and TV shows. Our DD site will hopefully be updated soon to the new look too so that's something to look forward to! And there's the secret santa gift art thread to check out for seasonal art as well. Did you watch anything cool this year? Reach important comic milestones? What's you fave Christmas carol or Christmas song? Mine is Good King Wenceslas. This week Gunwallace is another best-off Gunwallace and I chose: The Archer and the Squirrel - launching abruptly, like an arrow springing from a bow, this tune follows a beautiful arching path against a bright blue sky of melodic, rhythmic flute that begs you to dance a jig with a great big grin on your face! Originally from Quackcast 310, 13th February 2017. Topics and shownotes Secret Santa gift art thread - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/180178/ Featured comic: What's Going On - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2025/dec/16/featured-comic-whats-going-on/ Featured music: The Archer and the Squirrel - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Archer_and_the_Squirrel/, by Tieback, rated E. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS ——— We got up to here - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/180165/#3027076

This is the second and final part of our discussion on blending improvisation with solid story plotting/structure as you carry on drawing a comic. The esteemed and famous John Celestri put the question to us: "Are you a plotter or pantser?" i.e. do you work out what's going on in your comic in advance or do you improvise when you go to create the page? Many DDers responded and we read those out as well as lending our own insights and going a bit off topic. The main thing we gained from this is that most people fall somewhere in the middle because webcomicing is all about retaining the passion and the fun of the work, especially when you're working alone. That means you have to nurture the flame of that passion: plotting things too far in advance can kill it because it takes away all the fun and inspiration and the exercise of creation becomes too much like work. Improvising everything as you go can maximise the fun and joy of creation but it can eat up all your inspiration SUPER quickly and leave you empty and unable to continue with more pages so that your comic dies, hence finding a middle ground is desirable! Try to plan and plot but leave a lot of room open for inspiration. This week we have another best off from Gunwallace and this time it's Mechaniko - The sound of nodes on a neural network firing, connecting, and cascading with shared knowledge: Multilayered, technological robo-future rock. - Originally from 308, 30th January 2017 Topics and shownotes Links Topic based on a thread by John Celestri - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/180165/ Content from: Marcorossi - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/marcorossi/ TheJagged - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/TheJagged/ Bravo1102 - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/bravo1102/ Casscade - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Casscade/ J_Scarbrough - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/J_Scarbrough/ JohnCelestri - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/JohnCelestri/ plymayer - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/plymayer/ Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ BarakoThePirate - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/BarakoThePirate/ Featured comic: Sandbox - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2025/dec/10/featured-comic-sandbox/ Featured music: Mechaniko - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Mechaniko/ - by Yves Ker Ambrun, rated E. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

Blending improvisation with solid story plotting/structure as you carry on drawing a comic. In the words of noted professional animator John Celestri: I'll start this conversation by asking the question "Are you a Pantser or a Plotter?" In other words, do you write your comic as you go along or do you have a detailed story structure before you start drawing Page 1? John put this question to the DD forum and many creators responded. It's an interesting question. I don't think many of us are on the extreme ends of the spectrum but they do exist. The more you plot things out in advance the better and more refined your comic will be, the trouble is though that tends to be the least enjoyable way to work and can suck all the fun out of the process, which is why most of us do webcomics to begin with: the fun. While completely pantsing your work ("flying by the seat of your pants"), and coming up with each new page or strip in the moment that you work on it can be invigorating and fresh, it can also cause you to very quickly run out of all ideas and motivation and lead to a block that ends your comic for good. I think most of us fall somewhere along the middle between these two extremes: We plan a bit but leave some room open for improvisation and change when we work on the finished page, whether that's with the textual part of the comic, the art, both things, or even the plotting and story structure. For my comic Pinky TA I have tried planning and plotting in advance and sticking with that, I've also tried creating each new page with no forward planning in mind. The way that works best for me is to broadly outline a story in advance and roughly plot out what happens on each page, which leaves me free to create the art and dialogue in whatever way I want to properly express the story. For Bottomless Waitress and Key of Dreams my role there is just as the artist, which means all the page planning is done in advance for me, that leaves me free to improvise with the art however I choose, if I choose. I can't change the overall story but I can influence it and add in new jokes and things simply using the art. It's the best of both worlds for me. We only got through half the contributions on the thread so we'll be doing a part 2 on this interesting topic next week! Feel free to tell us how you work and why? Also, you can contribute to the thread linked bellow. This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Hell Monkey by - A growing, throbbing, electronic pulsing theme with rhythms disturbingly out of time which gives you a growing sense of unease and discomfort as the music slowly expands to become a complex wall of interweaving sonic vines, blossoming and releasing their heady yet toxic fragrances in this hothouse of sound. Topics and shownotes Links Topic based on a thread by John Celestri - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/180165/ Content from: JohnCelestri - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/JohnCelestri/ J_Scarbrough - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/J_Scarbrough/ Andreas_Helixfinger - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Andreas_Helixfinger/ Dpat57 - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/dpat57/ Ironscarf - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Ironscarf/ Marcorossi - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/marcorossi/ Bravo1102 - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/bravo1102/ Othosmops - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Othosmops/ Furwerk studio - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Furwerk%20studio/ TheJagged - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/TheJagged/ Spooky Kitsune- https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Spooky%20Kitsune/ Featured comic: Unhallowed - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2025/dec/01/featured-comic-unhallowed/ Featured music: Hell Monkey - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Hell_Monkey/, by Nichemode, rated M. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine -...