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.

Plurality in action

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Clint

I linked to my previous “symbols and characters” article just a couple weeks ago when talking about The Falcon, but I want to reference it again because it’s where I brought up the idea of plurality as an effective way to avoid the dangers of tokenism and superficiality in the case of minority characters. Put simply, it was the idea that while one woman in a group of men may end up defined first and foremost by the difference of her gender, and one black character in a group of whites may end up defined by their skin color, once you include more than one of them in your ensemble the audience will naturally begin to look deeper and suss out reasons why someone is interesting beyond just the fact that they stand out visually.

I included a quote from the late, great comics writer Dwayne McDuffie on the struggle that occurs when plurality is absent:

“My problem… and I’ll speak as a writer now… with writing a black character in either the Marvel or DC universe is that he is not a man. He is a symbol.”

McDuffie wasn’t saying he was incapable of writing a black character who wasn’t reduced to a symbol for all his race, he was  I can’t help but think that if Dwayne McDuffie were alive today, he would have been delighted with the most visible example yet of plurality with black characters in the Marvel universe, which is of course the now billion dollar plus phenomenon of Captain America: Civil War. Not one, not two, but three black superheroes are present as key parts of the narrative, not the least of which is the Black Panther himself, warrior king of the technologically superior African nation of Wakanda. Adilifu Nama was fascinated by The Falcon as a kid because he was a black man who could fly. T’Challa the Black Panther and Wakanda represent a vision of a highly advanced, independent black culture that never suffered the yoke of European Imperialism. Heck even speaking from the standpoint of a white dude that’s a pretty fascinating concept to flesh out, and I can only imagine how cool it stands as escapist fantasy for the folks T’Challa more physically resembles.

More importantly though, if you happened to be a young black kid looking for reflections of yourself in the media, CA: Civil War gives you more than one hero to choose from. The quippy, quick-thinking Falcon, the stoic War Machine and the regal Black Panther are all present, and wonder of wonders they even have conversations about things other than being black, which has got to pass one of those Bechdel-esque tests Hollywood so often fails to clear the bar on. Early on in the film Sam Wilson (Falcon) and James Rhodes (War Machine) even debate each other on different sides of an argument, which is something that shouldn’t register as a significant thing but because of the last 100 years of film, it kind of is. Also significant was me going beyond the idea that two black men could disagree in a major studio production (that wasn’t all about being black) and thinking that both men were military veterans but were still coming to different, reasoned conclusions on the same subject due to their specific personalities, friendships, and life experiences. You know, like people would do.

Again, that really shouldn’t be a revolutionary thing, but here we are. Plurality has enabled three black characters to compare and contrast with each other and, by doing so, to show the person and not just the symbol. A lot of credit here is no doubt due to the influence of producer Nate Moore, who fell in love with characters like Falcon, Black Panther and Luke Cage back in his comics nerd youth and campaigned to bring them, fully realized, to the big screen. Who could answer the white screenwriters who questioned (as I would have) if people really cared about The Falcon with a resounding YES, and who, at least for this shining moment, has helped solve McDuffie’s riddle on symbol vs. character.

The example of Nate Moore also shows the importance of getting some diverse voices in the production staff and writing rooms. It’s not about shoving political correctness down our throats, it’s about enabling plurality, and by doing that better enabling the characters to show forth and letting the fantasies of humanity have a fuller spectrum of experience.

Now Zombie Ranch being the two-person team it is, I’m not necessarily able to practice what I preach here, but I will say that Dawn has occasionally provided some valuable input from the feminine side which has helped me write the ladies of the comic. Beyond that I just keep it in mind and try to do the best I can, but I’m glad to see more and more examples of plurality working out in practice on the larger stage.