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.

(Monster) Soup is good food

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Clint

I have a confession to make. The following analogy is not mine. I wish it was.

“It’s almost like every webcomic is a student on a college campus; we see each other everywhere, yet rarely talk.”

No, that quote comes from Devin Blake, author of Monster Soup, after I emailed her with my compliments on her work. I had finally gotten ’round to an archive dive after seeing the banner ads here and there, and admitted as such. Similarly, she’d seen Zombie Ranch about but hadn’t had time to check it out yet. It happens. We’re all kind of doing our own thing, and even if we weren’t busy with our own stuff I don’t think it’s humanly possible to follow all the webcomics out there, much less reach out to their creators. Don’t get me wrong, I like the college campus comparison and still wish I’d thought of it, but we’re talking a “college campus” that makes Harvard look intimate by comparison.

I should probably get to the point. Monster Soup is worth reading. It’s still new enough you won’t have to to spend too much time doing so, but what’s there so far is a combination of expressive art and witty writing of the sort that always makes me somewhat jealous when it combines into a single person. It’s also a fine study in the power of how self-publishing allows experimentation in how stories are told. Chapter 1 introduces each character in turn as if they had their own mini-chapters consisting of one splash cover page and a few story pages apiece, and you know what? It works. It works quite swimmingly, and the introduction preceding it all is a well-paced, blackly humorous hook which gives the reader a good sense of what to expect.

The basic premise revealed so far is that monsters have a code of laws they have to abide by or be punished, and by the end of Chapter 1 we’ve met an example of a zombie, a witch, a ghost, a werewolf, and a vampire who have run afoul of this justice system. Brought one by one into a court with an invisible man as their judge, the charges are read and the sentence is eventually passed– exile to a monster prison, somewhere known appropriately enough as “Oubliette Castle”.

At the time of this review the story (and characters) haven’t quite reached the castle yet, but the fearsome fivesome have met, and the friction between them already promises endless entertainment. Blake obviously has a good grasp on the mythology behind her “monsters”, but has provided her own spin on it, and more importantly made them individuals that aren’t just the sum of their fangs/spells/ectoplasm/etc. I am particularly giddy over the werewolf, who is dealing with a rather unique take on the dual nature and repressed urges of her condition.

There’s a lot of humor in Monster Soup, edging over at times into parody, but it’s not mindless parody. There are pop culture references, but they don’t exist in a vacuum (which Nature and I both abhor). It’s got smarts, it’s entertaining, and I’m looking forwards to more. Give it a taste. Just be careful that it doesn’t bite you back.