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.

A leading lady.

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Clint

You know what I’ve been inordinately pleased about? In all my years of writing this comic, I have never once heard any complaints from readers about the fact that Suzie is (as Oscar would put it) the “big boss” of the Z Ranch.

Oh, her decisions have been questioned from time to time, but that’s fine, because I’ve never gotten the sense that a man in her position wouldn’t get the same amount of criticism or praise. True, she may have inherited the ranch from her pa (and all the Zanes before him), and she may be young and have some reckless tendencies, but these are all character notes separate from any gender issue.

Now, could we fall afoul of the complaint that she exhibits a lot of traditionally “masculine” traits in order to seem “strong”? I suppose, but once arguments like that crop up Dawn and I always start scratching our heads and wondering what exactly is being clamored for in a lady protagonist… she fights crime by night and knits and volunteers at a day-care center by day? That actually sounds like a fun idea, but once we get down to the idea that a female character should be defeating the bad guys with hugs and understanding, I feel like we’re getting a bit lost. Couldn’t a male character do that? Don’t we even have real-life historical examples such as Gandhi and Boudica to show us a man solving his problems non-violently while a woman led an army on a roaring rampage of revenge?

I think the real complaint about the stereotypical “strong female character” who seems like little more than boobs and bloodlust is just that: she’s not really a character. That same complaint could be applied to her male counterparts in the shallow end of the character pool, except she has the further problem that she’s often scantily and inappropriately clad and (if in a visual medium) often presented from the Male Gaze viewpoint, suggesting someone not to be identified with so much as ogled.

Even then that little girl reviewing New 52 Starfire wasn’t as disappointed with what Starfire was (or wasn’t) wearing or how she was being drawn, as she was with her lack of activity and her lack of doing anything cool. I think that really cuts to the heart of the matter. I admit, there are still certain aspects of a female character’s look that immediately turn me off such as expecting me to buy into an expert martial artist who runs around fighting in stiletto heels; I can’t take that seriously. But the fact Black Widow is dressed in a tight jumpsuit in the beginning of Captain America: The Winter Soldier doesn’t immediately make me scoff and write her off as empty eye candy like a depressingly large amount of reviewers did. That’s not helping. She showed a lot of agency, smarts, courage, and, dare I say, character during that film, and even manages to have her own character arc (and for my money a better one than Mako Mori did).

Anyhow, I may have gotten way off my original topic by this point, but what I suppose I’m trying to say is that I’ve tried very hard to present Suzie as someone who, while not perfect (perfect is boring), and not necessarily entirely sensibly dressed, still  believably fills the role she’s in. That we’re not just telling you she’s in charge of the ranch, we’re showing you, and more importantly showing you why. I think that’s more important in the end than any matters of appearance or gender, that core of being a person who seems to fit their circumstances and react in what (for them) is an appropriate fashion.

Still no high heels, though. Even if she went to a dance Suzie’d probably just tuck on her best boots.