The Drunk Duck Quackcast

Evil superheroes are a stupid fad, that's my contention. My opinion. They've been around for a long time but now they're so popular it's becoming a bit of a fad and might turn into its own genre. I suppose Marvel and others have saturated the superhero market so to stay relevant other companies are doing “twists” on that traditional genre, hence the evil superheroes. I think it's a stupid idea because: we already HAVE evil super characters, in the form of villains; it's an escapist fantasy medium of a world where heroes are actually good, unlike reality where they're more complex and often actually evil (i,e, police shootings) subverting that just takes us back to reality again rendering the superhero part of the equation pointless; a character being corrupted by power and becoming evil is not really that complex or interesting, it's actually very, very obvious, a character trying to remain good in spite of the power IS complex and interesting because that's far harder to do. And so on The counter argument is that the superhero genre has been around for about 90 years or so now and can do with a little examination. I say fair enough, but it doesn't need to be a fad or a genre in its own right. Handle it correctly and make them the super villains. Some evil superheros in these things: Chronicle, Bightburn (horror in the style of The Omen, Case 39 but using a superman origin), The Boys, Invincible, Hancock, My super Ex-girlfriend, Venture Brothers. This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Journey Through the Star Sea - In Gunwallace’s words: The brooding darkness of this seemed to fit the featured comic this week. On the brink of death’s door, the man seeks and seeks, search for succour, absolution of the sins of the body and mind, a cure for his disease. It’s a dark and dangerous universe, there’s no rest for him to be found… Topics and shownotes Links Forum discussion about evil superheroes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/178671/ Featured comic: Journey Through the Star Sea - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2021/apr/13/featured-comic-journey-through-the-star-sea/ Featured music: Journey Through the Star Sea - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Journey_through_the_star_sea/, by Scribbloid, rated T. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ 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

Mary Sues are always a fun topic! There are some misconceptions about them though… Mary Sues aren't all female, they can be any gender. Being super powerful or super popular or super pretty etc doesn't equal a Mary Sue, not even if your character super stands out next to all the others, those things ONLY indicate they might possibly be one. What equals a Mary Sue is a character that doesn't have to struggle very hard for anything, a character that is almost universally admired, and or loved (even by the enemy), a character that masters hard skills with ease and ends up teaching the teachers and beating the masters, a character that's destined to succeed and does in spite of internal story logic… All these things and more can add up to make a Mary Sue. It's why Batman and Superman are NOT automatically Mary Sues even though they stand out and have super powers/abilities/skills. They have a million stories about how they face challenges, how they get people killed, how they lose powers, how people hate them etc. They could be Mary Sues only if they had bad writers.

Rei from the new Star Wars movies is a classic Mary Sue, although very well acted by the awesome Daisy Ridley, she doesn't face any serious struggles in her straight line trajectory to success, she defeats all enemies with ease, masters every skill better than all masters, and is destined to win. So even though she doesn't stand out aesthetically or physically, she qualifies. Similarly, Rick from Rick and Morty can be a bit of a Mary Sue in some stories in that he rarely faces real challenges because he's worked out everything beforehand. Whenever things seem to be going wrong for him you realise he's already engineered the situation so he can win, this makes him less compelling as a character, less immersive and believable.. You find out that even the social challenges he seems to face in some episodes were actually pre-engineered by him to reach exactly the conclusion they did.

The important point there is that it's only in SOME stories. Any character than be a Mary Sue if the writing fails them. but that doesn't mean that's what they always are! The classic story characters from the late 19th century Sherlock Holmes the super detective and Raffles the gentleman thief can be Mary Sues: over-powered and working to imbalance their story environments, but only at times. This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Last Child of Gluttony: White lines flash past as your knee comes close to the road… your bike roars as you lean into the curve. The road is a blur of speedlines. Red lights flash bright in front of you, tailing off behind as you whip past them. You’re king of the road, no one can catch you. This music evokes speed, night, racing, roads and heat! Topics and shownotes Banes' Mary Sue newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2021/apr/06/the-bestest-evar/ Our old Mary Sue Quackcast - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/quackcast/episode-211-how-mary-sure-are-you/ Featured comic: Hierarchy - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2021/apr/06/featured-comic-hierarchy/ Featured Music: Last Child of Gluttony - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Last_Child_Of_Gluttony_/ - by Cdmalcolm1, rated M. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/ 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 the Discord server to chat in real time with other DD comics people - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

Sexual tension between characters is a great way to augment the conflict that drives a story. The audience really wants that to resolve into a relationship or at least an assignation of some sort… The longer it goes on though, the bigger they want the coming together to be, which can be dangerous for the creator because it's so easy to disappoint. it's usually better to resolve the tension earlier than later, OR keep it going forever but keep it interesting and don't ever sour it or make it turn stale. Some noted and classic examples: Moonlighting was famous for its great sexual tension and the terrible way they flubbed it, The X-files did the same sort of thing, basically they both left it too long before getting a resolution to it and ended up disappointing viewers. Tenchi Muyo is one of the originators of the classic “harem” anime genre, but unlike later copies it generally handles the concept well, not favouring a pairing between any of the characters over much. Cheers and Friends are classic American sitcom versions of this style of story telling. The cover image is from the music video for Genghis Khan by Miike Snow where a James Bond and supervillian style characters are depicted as suffering the throws of sexual tension in a beautiful piece of comic story telling. This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Golden Spiral: This reminds me of the start of Forever autumn from Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds. It has the same sort of energy… a beautiful melancholy tune with a slightly threatening, unsettling feeling… maybe a use of tritones? Topics and shownotes Links Genghis Khan by Miike Snow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_SlAzsXa7E Featured comic: Hungry Heart - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2021/mar/29/featured-comic-hungry-heart/ Featured music: Golden Spiral - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Golden_Spiral/, by Kumako, rated E. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ 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

Image credit: There's Something About Mary, 20th Century Fox. Empathy is like sympathy but you don't think about it. It's what happens when you see someone get hurt and you wince in pain watching them, it's when you see a really uncomfortable moment in a sitcom like The Office and you cringe, It's when you feel sad when the characters are sad about something. Empathy is an important tool for audience immersion- if they're feeling that strongly for the characters then you've got them invested in your story! Funny story… the topic of this Quackcast was inspired by us talking about the risks of “going commando” and the fact that it can happen to women as well as men. This led us to go looking for photographic and video proof, as you do… and what we saw gave us instant empathy for the poor unfortunate. Hence the Quackcast topic ;) This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to PleaseRewind: Quiet threat, creepy, seeping, strumming, thrumbing, coming CLOSER, inside, peering around, waiting to begin. This is a quiet track filled with an undertone of urgency suggested by the constant quick rhythm and lonely guitar. Topics and shownotes Featured comic: PleaseRewind - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2021/mar/23/featured-comic-pleaserewind/ Featured Music: PleaseRewind - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/PleaseRewind/ - by paneltastic, rated T. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean 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 the Discord server to chat in real time with other DD comics people - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

Folk tales are the primordial ooze of culture. Nobody knows where these stories began, nobody owns them, They're added to and expanded by successive generations. They spread and grow because they have resonance to all sorts of different people across time, different languages, and ethnicities. We talk about that resonance and why these stories still have meaning for us today, why new ones are still being created, and why you're free to use Beauty and the Beast or Snow White and the Seven Dwarves for your own creative projects without worrying about copyright issues. This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Lost in the Supermarket: Creepy, piano notes in a white room, stalking, creeping, watching, waiting, preparing to STRIKE, fading, hiding. Frenetic tangles of sound beat at your ears, startling, disorienting, disjointing… Topics and shownotes Links Featured comic: The God of the River - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2021/mar/15/featured-comic-the-god-of-the-river/ Featured music: Lost in the Supermarket - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Lost_in_the_Supermarket/, by TENSA1, rated E. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ 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

Today we chat about the disappearance of another Drunkducker. This fellow was a politician in his daily life and a furry in his downtime. On DD he was the author of the adult furry comic Tina's story, an exceptionally well written slice of life comedy comic with adult elements, staring an anthro poodle lady and her human partner. This man had his online activity taken and used to destroy his political career. The comic which was his passion was used as ammunition to ruin him. We chat about this in our Quackcast! In light of what happened to Gina Carano for her silly words this is interesting. This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Stickman And Cube - Slow, simple. Lo-Fi, like a careful stepping dance between two partners, competing with their moves. First one has a go, then the other, then they start complimenting each other’s movements with their own and eventually dancing together in a single unified performance. Topics and shownotes Tina's Story and Grey Muzzle - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/178628/ Councilman Gray Muzzle - https://medium.com/@isaacforn/councilman-gray-muzzle-42fd2285401f Featured comic: Shu’Halo: The Balance Overture - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2021/mar/09/featured-comic-shuhalo-the-balance-overture/ Featured Music: Stickman And Cube - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Stickman_and_Cube/ - by Pieguy259, rated T. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean 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 the Discord server to chat in real time with other DD comics people - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

Today we're interviewing Bluecuts34 who is one of the crew assembling the DD horror anthology to raise money for Drunk Duck! She's the author of an adult comic (Castle of Joy), so she's on today to talk about adult comics in general! The discussion between Pit, Tantz and Bluefuts34/Mal was fascinating, tackling all different aspects of erotic and porn comics. Castle of Joy is a fantasy X comic with action happening between two lady characters. Subscribe bellow to see bluecuts34 and hear her tell us what she thinks of Milo Manara and his erotic comics! This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Albion: Majestic and serene… Equally appropriate for a long sweeping view of a huge, brightly lit modern starship with clean lines, or a beautiful mountain tarn, filled with freezing, crystal clear waters reflecting heaven… Classical, awesome and inspiring! Topics and shownotes Links Bluecuts34 comic (WARNING, comic rated A) - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Castle_of_Joy/ Featured comic: Blake The Goblin Bilker - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2021/mar/01/featured-comic-blake-the-goblin-bilker/ Featured music: Albion - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Albion/, by Genejoke, rated T. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ 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

Today we're talking fans! Isn't it great to have them? We're all fans of something, but as webcomicers having fans means they're a dedicated audience who care about your creative output and send their love and appreciation to you- this really helps you stay motivated and inspired to keep on creating and producing new work. Here we talk about our experiences with fans and of BEING fans. It helps that we're fans of each other. But we also chat about some of the things we're fans off. What are your fan experiences and what are YOU a fan off? This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Slow Burn: A Wildfire Journal - This music smoulders away like red glowing coals. Heat emanates from this thick, tasty bass line, the guitar singes away like fire, picking up volume and power till it’s hosing all and sundry with liquid flame! Topics and shownotes Webcomics in the year of your lord, 2020 and now - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/178589/ Featured comic: Golden Spiral - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2021/feb/23/featured-comic-golden-spiral// Featured Music: Slow Burn: A Wildfire Journal - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Slow_Burn_A_Wildfire_Journal/ - by Arborcides, rated E Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ 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 the Discord server to chat in real time with other DD comics people - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

In the year 2020, the world had been devastated by a global pandemic, life had changed forever… It's 2021 and our 4 unlikely heroes have banded together, a topic borrowed from the wise and gracious Emma Clare… My fave “infodump” in fiction is the narration by Nicholas Cage in Raising Arizona. My least fave is the massive long description of fish and how submarine equipment works in 10,000 leagues under the sea by Jules Verne (the novel). What are you most fave and least fave infodumps? This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Tera Forming: Yacht rocking into the dreamy sunset, over slowly rolling waves waves of heavy liquid gold and pink, sailing into an unlikely sunset. Rough waters ahead, choppy seas and changing breezes, where will it all lead? Topics and shownotes Links Emma Clare's newspost on Infodumps! - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2021/feb/18/handling-info-dumps/ Featured comic: FrayFall - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2021/feb/15/featured-comic-frayfall/ Featured music: Tera Forming - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Tera_Forming/, by I Heart Artists, rated T. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ 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

Gina Carano who plays Cara Dune in the excellent Star Wars franchise Mandalorian has been fired, as we all know by now… It's a great series, really one of the best incarnations of Star Wars since the original trilogy, and Cara's character was pretty cool. Though I personally didn't really like her lunk-head costume- Fully dressed characters in SciFi with bare biceps always look stupid to me for some reason. Doesn't matter if they're men, women, anthros etc, it's just ugly, especially when they're wearing armour. UGH! Be that as it may Gina said some pretty silly things on social media, and kept saying them after she got in trouble for it aaaaaand then Disney booted her. So we're having a chat here about that mainly as well as some other subjects… but you'll have to listen to find out what those were! And if you want to find out our PERSONAL views on this state of affairs you'll have to subscribe to our Patreon so you can watch our vid on the subject ;) Anyway, do you think they should recast her role, come up with a similar character played by someone else, bring one of the other characters back to fill her character's role or just leave the position free? This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Hungry Heart! A foreboding intro leads gradually along a dimly shaded garden path, the ground thick with rotting leaves and the air redolent with the smell of decay… and through into a hip, happening disco! Pink lights flashing, the dance floor is slick, black and reflective, everyone is jumping and the beat is pumping! Topics and shownotes Webcomics in the year of your lord, 2020 and now - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/178589/ Featured comic: The GodMode - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2021/feb/09/featured-comic-the-godmode/ Featured Music: Hungry Heart - - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Hungry_Heart/ - by Bildosola, rated M. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ 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 the Discord server to chat in real time with other DD comics people - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS