The Drunk Duck Quackcast

A huge thank you to the fantastic Amelius, creator of Charby the Vampirate! We mined her great newspost on the topic of the comic hiatus for this Quackcast. When you're reading a comic and it goes on Hiatus it's an awful thing… suddenly all progress stops and you don't know for how long it will be gone for. Some authors are great, they'll reach a point where they can't work anymore for some reason or they'll take a little break, but they will tell you they're going on a hiatus and when their comic will return- and Lo, it comes back exactly when they said it would. Crappy authors will say they're going on a hiatus and never return. The sad fact is that all webcomics end eventually and most don't have a proper end, they just peter out. Sometimes they return from the dead, but if a comic hasn't updated for 3 years it's generally finished. It's a good courtesy gesture to your readers to give them closure in some way: don't end with an indefinite hiatus, rather you should tell people flat out that you're not doing anymore work on the comic and maybe post a link to any current projects you have instead. This week our theme from Gunwallace is Mediocrity Simulator: Life in the big city is a slow, dull crawl… the gears of capitalism grind on inevitably regardless, crushing all that falls between their cold, uncaring mechanical teeth. Grow up, go to school, get a job and become a part of the machine. Days stretch to infinity. Possible topic for next week: Stories that subvert expectations: Good or bad? Topics and shownotes VIDEO exclusive! Only for Patrons who donate $5 or more, here: https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck And advertise with us for just $2 a day, ALL regions, unlimited impressions and clicks: https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2018/oct/25/advertising-on-dd-available-plus-a-special-deal/ Featured comic: Space Repair Garage the Comic - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/29/featured-comic-space-repair-garage-the-comic/ Links Amelius's newspost and reader comments - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/27/the-dread-hiatus/ Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Featured music: Mediocrity Simulator - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Mediocrity_Simulator/, by FunctionCreep, rated A.

Copyright is a huge thing! It allows us to make money from our creations and stops other people from stealing them. But culture isn't about a series of billions of totally original ideas invented from nothing- absolutely NOT. Culture grows from ideas that are recycled, reiterated, and reinvented. It's all quite derivative and mixed. So there has to be a balance between respect for rigid copyright and some flexibility to work with existing ideas. In this Quackcast we talk about the practical aspects of working with copyright protected and copyright free work: i.e. fan art and sprite comics VS using Robin Hood or Snow White for example. Using a known and popular quantity in your work is a good way to get attention because it typically has a built-in fanbase, or simply the “recognition” factor. The disadvantage is that it's hard to make money off of that or use it for anything else unless its copyright free, and if it is then someone else can easily copy your work. Working on something that's derivative enough or fully original avoids most copyright issues but then you have to work harder for fans. This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to The Cherub Brothers: A welcoming, friendly sound draws us in and warm, heavy distortion burns over the top, like gently glowing plasma, roasting us to perfection! Serve with mint sauce, this one is tasty. Topics and shownotes 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! Featured comic: The Vagabonds Waifs and Strays - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/21/featured-comic-the-vagabonds-waifs-and-strays/ Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Pit Face - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Featured music: The Cherub Brothers - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Cherub_Brothers/, by Magor, rated T.

Coming up with character names can be a real challenge because once you settle on one they can define the character just as much as their personality and looks! Names also affect how you name other characters: are they too similar, like Betty and Barney? Will it be an unintentionally meaningful combo like George and Washington? There are so many things to consider, it can be daunting.

In this Quackcast we talk about some of the methods that duckers have used to come up with character names. It's pretty novel and interesting, anything from using friend's names, names that have special meaning to them, names that have inerrant meaning, names that deliberately have NO meaning, place-holder names, names from the phonebook and more. Your options, methods, and reasons are endless! Tell us what's behind YOUR character names! This week our theme from Gunwallace is Let Us Be God: Mellifluous mellotron tones flowing over your ears like the warm summer sun on a cool morning, slowly speeding up into a torrent of competing notes, washing you with their beauty… all in the style of early Genesis, for a clever musical pun ;) Topics and shownotes VIDEO exclusive! Only for Patrons who donate $5 or more, here: https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck And advertise with us for just $2 a day, ALL regions, unlimmited impressions and clicks: https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2018/oct/25/advertising-on-dd-available-plus-a-special-deal/ Featured comic: Cafe On Crepe Island - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/15/featured-comic-cafe-on-crepe-island/ Links Read from the name posts here - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/178089/ Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Featured music: Let Us Be God - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Let_Us_Be_God/, by Jesse CT, rated E. *Image from “Say My Name” by Peking Duk

The topic we discussed in this Quackcast was looking for symbolism, meaning and intention in comics: The English literature approach! Deeper meanings and all that. It's fun to do actually and sometimes you really can hit upon the intentions of the creator, uncover NEW meanings, or just do it to entertain yourself. We used our own comics for an example and talked about things beyond the superficial for a change. For example: Banes' comic Typical Strange is a sitcom set in a video rental store, staffed by a group of characters that make up the cast. Why is it set in a place that is clearly decades out of date and relevance? A video rental place is an anachronism in this time. Is it saying that the characters themselves are stuck in time? It's a sitcom comic so situations often reset or rewind back to the status Quo, so that interpretation would seem to fit… Of course that wasn't Banes' deliberate intention but it's fun to think about that way. This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Pep Squad: These girls are here to get you motivated! You can almost SEE the dance routine in your mind’s eye, and believe me, it’s pretty sexy… They’ve got some moves. The crowd roars as the pep squad performs, bumping, grinding and sliding on the stage. Possible topics for next weeks Quackcast: Has there ever been a good retconn? Character names. What does your name character name mean? Topics and shownotes 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! Featured comic: Percival Pigeon's Perilous Plan - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/07/featured-comic-percival-pigeons-perilous-plan/ Based On: Brave Resistance - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Brave_Resistance/ Typical Strange - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Typical_Strange/ The Epic of Blitzov - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Epic_of_Blitzov/ Without Moonlight - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Without_Moonlight/ Pinky TA - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Pinky_TA/ Putrid Meat - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/PUTRID_MEAT/ Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Pit Face - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Featured music: Pep Squad - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Pep_Squad/, by Dave Mire, rated E.

Happy new year! This is the first Quackcast recorded in 2019! Pitface is back too, can you believe it? In this Quackcast we chat about Imitation, based on Amelius's newspost from last Sunday. How do you know if someone has copied your work, just been influenced by it or influenced from the same sources as you, or has actually stolen your work wholesale? And what do you DO about it? Is imitation or someone doing the same thing as your “original” idea, always a bad thing? We try and answer those questions in the Quackcast, but I'll address some briefly… It can be hard to tell if someone has stolen your themes and ideas because it's often not much different to influence or drawing from the same sources of inspiration. Either was it's not always a bad thing, actually it can be really useful! For one thing it's quite flattering that someone has liked your work enough to follow the same path. Aside from that, contacting them and teaming up can make it easier to sell your work to people because now there are more versions of the same thing, you can even attract their fans (and they yours), it's the same reason different banks and things are always clustered together. But when a person straight out steals your art or your whole comic and slaps their name on it, that can be awful! Stolen art is akin to the phenomena of “stolen valour”, where civilians dress as veteran soldiers and wear medals they didn't earn. They do it because they crave the reverence and appreciation of the public without having to put in the work, time and sacrifice to have earned it. People imagine that art thieves just do it for the money, but that's not often the case. All they want is the “fame”. In cases like that you have to approach the administrator of the website and get it taken down. Don't confront them directly. Check out Amelius's newspost for a lot more info on the subject! This week our theme from Gunwallace is Scarred Eden. A million futuristic laser violins play a symphony of light and sound, weaving the landscapes of our dreams against the awesomely huge backdrop of a swirling, purple, star filled nebula… Topics and shownotes VIDEO exclusive! Only for Patrons who donate $5 or more, here: https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Featured comic: Run Stop Go - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/01/featured-comic-run-stop-go/ Links Amelius newspost on Imitation in comics - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2018/dec/30/imitation-flavor/ Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/ Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Featured music: Scarred Eden - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Scarred_Eden/, by Damehelsing, rated M *Painting by Mathew Jackson 2004, “That Girl”, owned by Michael John Morris