UPDATING OCCASIONALLY (FOR NOW)

9 thoughts on “558 – Cotton Clad Calamity”

  1. Raznaak

    Yup, he’s a bastard XD

  2. Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)

    Are those pajamas available in XXXL in the gift shop?

  3. Otaku

    It’s been a while, so let me ask: Did we get a reason for him to WANT Susie dead? Not to backseat, but if we didn’t, I’m worried were about to move into “Stupid Evil” territory. Now, stupid happens, don’t get me wrong. It’s not bad storytelling for that to be the case here.

    You’ve just done a good job NOT having that be a driving factor, so the “Kill off the stars of my successful reality TV show.” seems shortsighted, otherwise. Oh, I guess I could be mistaken about the in-story reality TV show’s success. Like, if the company behind them is losing money, or they think a change in management at the ranch would make the whole thing more popular/profitable, then I can see the above scenario happening as well.

    I REALLY think I’m just forgetting something important, but that I don’t have time to deep dive to remind me of, hence the comment. >_<

    1. Deoxy

      It certainly has been stretched out over quite a while, but there have definitely been hints from quite near the beginning that whoever is running the reality TV show definitely wants her dead.

      But I certainly don’t recall any reason why.

      1. Clint

        Yeah it’s fair to not remember since it’s been a hot minute (many, many minutes) but if you feel like a refresher the most relevant bits would be the beginning of Episode 8 and the end of Episode 15. We haven’t explicitly spelled out exactly what The Exec means by his “side hustle” or who was on the other end of that phone call, though.

        I’m hoping that when the whole thing is eventually available it will make sense, or at least enough sense to have hung this narrative on.

        1. Otaku

          Thanks for the replies, Deoxy and Clint. Yeah, I’d totally forgotten about those things. Good to know!

  4. Evervigilant

    Seems about time for the two people who aren’t there to make a surprise entrance as the ace Susie didn’t even know she had.

  5. Scarsdale

    There’s still 3-5 people on her side that might be planning something. This guy is a megalomaniac with a god complex, so letting him think he’s the sharpest tool in the shed sets him up for a fall. Everything depends on those cameras, and I suspect their little stop over by the charging coffins had something to do with her actual plan, not the one the a-hole thinks it is.

  6. lyra

    Really enjoyed the opening of Zombie Ranch. I like the combination of the western setting with the zombie concept, it gives the story a really distinctive atmosphere. I’m a freelance illustrator and animator, and I’d be interested in seeing how some of these scenes could translate into motion, especially as a short animated teaser or character scene.

    If you’re ever interested in something like that, you can reach me here:

    IG: eve_verse_
    Email: [contact.lilaclines@gmail.com](mailto:contact.lilaclines@gmail.com)
    Discord: Lyralilac_

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558 – Cotton Clad Calamity
Posted on August 26, 2026 by Dawn

What would you call this? Armchair assassination? Merk-from-home?

Well, Suzie ain't dead (or undead) quite yet, so we'll just have to see if his gloating is justifiable.

Show within a show (within a show?)

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Clint

So longtime readers know that occasionally I like to experiment with Zombie Ranch, which I conceived as a fairly straightforward story — except when it isn’t. Media interludes abound, sometimes in a single page and sometimes occupying entire segments of a given episode. Are you seeing real life as it happens? Real-life but edited and pre-recorded? Is it possible that if you pulled out far enough you’d see Suzie & co. on a soundstage and every bit of what you’ve seen would all turn out to be a lie? Nested in a whole nest of lies? A “lieception,” if you will?

I don’t think I’d ever go that far since it would arguably cheapen the whole experience, the way I often get angry at the “It was all a dream!” cliche if I’ve just spent two hours of my life invested in a movie. But “Wild” Will was fair game and not someone I believe I’ve presented in such a way that the reveal his adventures might be at least partly faked would be a huge shocker.

Still, it puts me in mind once again of that infamous art piece called “The Treachery of Images” by surrealist painter René Magritte, as pictured here:

“Ceci n’est pas une pipe.”

“This is not a pipe.”

A thoughtful reminder that no matter how authentic the image of a thing might be, it is not the thing. Yet we hear stories and watch them and read them and our minds and emotions can be swayed into the illusion of reality. I inevitably still get choked up at the ending of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan despite knowing on some level that “Ceci n’est pas une Spock.” Leonard Nimoy has been quoted in interviews as being grateful for his signature role but also mentions at least one tragic occasion where a mother thought he could heal her sick child with his Vulcan touch, and how heartbreaking it was that she had put her hopes in an illusion.

But there you have the matter of degrees. It’s almost an academic distinction for me to declare the “Wild” Will Show fake and the Zombie Ranch show real, because both are technically figments of my (and Dawn’s) imagination. And on the other hand, it makes all the difference because maybe one of those pipes is the one you much more feel you could reach out and grab.