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_

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*


 

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.

Numbers aren’t everything

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Clint

So in the first seven episodes of Zombie Ranch I mostly stuck to a system of 24 pages per chapter. Mostly. Episode 1 had 23 pages, and Episode 3 and 7 had 28 pages. In practice I’m guessing no one really noticed, since we don’t number the pages in the print versions and online we just use a consecutive numbering system. Still, it was fun for me when it happened to work out that Episode 4 and 5 ended and began in such a way as to be numbered story comic 99 and 100, respectively.

That was almost the case again as we approached the end of Episode 12. This time around I’d been pretty good about planning our storytelling to the 24 page mold. What with no real bosses or advertising to account for that’s still a completely arbitrary number, but it’s just come to feel right. Gives some division and structure.

I’ve always reserved the right to break it again if I felt the need. And lo, it became pretty tempting to do just that as I realized that if I extended Episode 12 for four more pages it would have an online number of 299, with Episode 13 starting on 300. Neato!

Except the circumstance I brought up of Episode 4 and 5 was a happy accident. Episode 1 being a page short and Episode 3 being four pages longer were both done because that was where it felt right to end them. This time? There was an interesting argument going on but it seemed like everyone in my notes and roughs was going to have their say and extending it might end up in a boring “get on with it!” situation. I could have cut away to check in on what the Exec or the Huachucas were up to but that didn’t seem right either, like any of those reveals really should wait for beyond the break. But oh, that 299-300 option was tantalizing.

In the end I spoke up about it to Dawn and she seemed surprised there was any question — she’s not really into keeping track of the “24” thing the way I am, but she declared that what was going on for comic 294 had completely felt to her like the penultimate page before we would end the episode and dragging on beyond 295 would be awkward at best.

So there we had it. Sometimes you just need that second perspective for — well, perspective. With that vote I sat down and finalized Suzie’s speech as the capper to the chapter and left the rest for next time, and I’m pretty sure that was the right call. When the story and the numbers come together naturally, it’s great, but that time I was being tempted to force it to fit for no real good reason. The numbers aren’t everything.