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.

Swinging for the fences

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Clint

You know, sometimes I’ll explain the premise of Zombie Ranch to people and their response (for good or ill) will be, “Wow, that’s pretty bizarre.”

I can’t really argue that. Bizarre is part of the point. If we were doing just another bog-standard zombie apocalypse scenario, well… fact is we probably wouldn’t be doing this at all. As post-apocalypse settings go, the zombie option isn’t very unique in of itself.

On the other hand, if you came to me with a pitch that said, “this is a post-apocalypse world where the cities of Earth have been transformed into gigantic mobile fortresses and they rove around the wasteland eating each other for spare parts!” — that’s a more inherently unique concept. Certainly worthy of a “wow, that’s pretty bizarre.”

I’ve long been of the mindset that if you’re going to go over the same well-trodden tale in a well-trodden setting–say, a group of comrades in a fantasy world of elves, dwarves and orcs on a quest to destroy some Macguffin of evil–you better bring your storytelling A-game to the table. If you’ve got a more unique spin on things, then I’m going to cut you varying amounts of slack because you’re getting out and “swinging for the fences.” That’s an American baseball term about throwing caution to the wind and just chasing the pitch for all you’re worth… you might strike out horribly, but if you connect right you’re going to send that ball over the outfield barriers and earn yourself an automatic home run.

And in those cases you’ve got to at least respect the enthusiasm, and the fact that, yeah, gigantic mobile cities eating each other is a funkily fascinating idea to chase.

Is it going to get me out to see Mortal Engines in a theater? Probably not, because movies are frickin’ expensive these days. But again, a certain amount of respect even if it ends up in execution as total cheese (or worse, mediocrity).

Here’s the trailer, by the way, if y’all ain’t seen it yet. You decide.