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.

Trope springs eternal…

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Clint

If you’ve been reading this blog even semi-regularly you’re probably aware of my ongoing love affair with the TV Tropes website. This entrancing siren is a user-maintained database documenting all the fiddly bits and techniques we love to use and recognize in the creation or appreciation of fiction (and sometimes non-fiction as well), and whenever I go visit her I usually end up with far too many browser windows open as I giddily peruse what she has to offer. Maybe it’s just me speaking as a writer, but browsing a tongue-in-cheek explication of the tendency in movies and television for someone shot with a gun to go flipping acrobatically to their doom, complete with examples, is some quality edutainment.

I’ve decided it’s time to take this relationship to the next level.

You see, TV Tropes also allows for creative works to have posted entries that give details on the work, followed by a list of tropes embodied by its elements. You can see an example here with The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. But you don’t have to be a world-famous classic to have a spot, in fact one of the first things TV Tropes tells you is that, unlike the exclusionary standards of stuffy ol’ Wikipedia, There Is No Such Thing As Notability. All works are notable. Even, theoretically speaking, a homegrown web comic about cowboys and cowgirls ranching a herd of zombies.

But Dawn and I are often humble to a fault. I could have added us as soon as we started, but even now, two years down the road, a little voice is railing against the egotism of doing so. If we truly belonged there, wouldn’t some fan have gone through the trouble of adding us already? Isn’t it horribly presumptuous for a creator to slap up their own work? Shouldn’t I just wait until it happens naturally as a result of us being inspiring and, uh… notable enough?

Well, I’ve been talking to other webcomic peers lately and a lot of them have not only “self-published” a TV Tropes entry, they’re seeing a decent amount of exposure out of having done so. Based on that, I resolved that I need to get over myself and get this done. After all, I know there’s at least a few of you out there who really love what Dawn and I are doing, and not just because you’re friends or relatives but because you genuinely feel we’re telling a unique and interesting story.

So within the next few weeks I’m hoping to get a Zombie Ranch page together and posted. I’ll do all the coding and the writing and such, but what I’m hoping from you folks is some help with suggestions on the tropes we’ve had examples of so far.  Because there are a lot of tropes on the site, and I’ve only just begun to make my own list. This could be as simple as just naming a trope or giving me a link to check out. Tropes cover just about everything from situations, to visuals, to characters and beyond. For example, one of the first items on my list is the Determined Homesteader entry, which is a Western character archetype I feel Suzie embodies. In the examples section of the page I’m then intending to put:

Determined Homesteader: Suzie

Simple enough, right? Some other entries on my list are Zombie Apocalypse, Our Zombies Are Different, Raising the Steaks, Cowboy, Schizo Tech, Naive Newcomer and Shoot The Dog.

But I’d love more suggestions. There may be things I’ve forgotten or not even thought of which would apply. We don’t have to cover everything, especially because once I get this up and running, anyone can add to it later on, but if you do have thoughts please post them in the comments or you can email them to me at clint @ zombieranchcomic.com — I figure the more brains (mmm… brains…) I have giving input, the faster this’ll go.

Hope to hear from you!