Dogma 3

by JayFosgitt on October 18, 2012 at 12:01 am

Hey, all you necrofowliacs! Welcome to the next installment of this “Dead Duck” episode, “THE DOGMA OF DEAD DUCK!” Here’s your trivia fix:

  • It was always in my intention that Zombie Chick would have heightened strength, presumably due to her weird physiognomy. But thus far, the only stories that have hinted at it have been “One Toy Solider Rides Away” and the upcoming “Days End”, which you’ll see in the coming months.
  • And then things get serious. What do you do to put someone who can’t die in peril? How do you up the tension, create fear, and make your readers concerned for the welfare of your character? It was obvious from the start. You destroy the one thing he cares about the most, and the one character who the readers seem to care about the most…Zombie Chick.
  • I have a lot of issues from my life that come to play in my stories, and I suppose some of the darker ones are at work in this one. Losing friends, losing family, losing things you care about, it’s all there. Dead Duck’s reaction is my reaction.
  • Until now, all readers have known Zombie Chick as has been silly, cute and vacant. But having to see her scared…well, that’s brutal to watch, even for me. But I did this to show that there’s more to my characters, and more to me, than just jokes.
  • The knife is kind of a MacGuffin, a story device to carry the plot along that really isn’t crucial to the heart of the story, but it seems like it should be. I liked the idea of this mysterious implement that could immobilize zombies, since so little can actually harm them.
  • For me, this last panel took me back to watching “The Wizard of Oz” as a kid, and how horrified I was watching the winged monkeys were tearing the Scarecrow apart. Deep down, you know he can’t be hurt, but just this violent action upon a character you’ve invested so much emotion in…well, it’s hard to look at. Hopefully it heightens my readers feelings toward my characters, rather than thinking less of me for stepping away from humor in favor of horror.

See you on the next page!

–Jay