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.

And of his legend they sang-o…

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Clint

I’m gonna get this out of the way right now, so there’s no suspense. Rango. Loved it, and not just because the title character has great taste in shirts. Kinda wanna have its little gecko babies.

Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, not to mention scientifically impossible in a whole lot of ways… but there’s a lot of the impossible going on in this movie, and it washes over you with the frenetic energy of the best classic Warner Bros. cartoons while somehow still remaining grounded in the earthy sensibilities of the Western.

If that seems like a paradox, consider the trope of the vision quest and its place in the mythology of the American Southwest. The idea of wandering out in the desert to find yourself could be said to be old as Moses, but this is our modern incarnation, so powerful that it even draws the imaginations of those across the pond to wander among the Joshua Trees or write scenes of peyote-induced madness. If you have any doubts that Rango is going to be more than just a run-of-the-mill animated Spaghetti Western, they should be dust in the wind by the 5 minute mark, if not before. At least by the time the titular chameleon, shortly following an accident that leaves his city slicker self stranded on the desert highways, has a conversation about destiny with a partially tire-flattened armadillo channeling Don Quixote, you ought to figure there’s a bit of a head trip a-comin’. And I’m not even counting the brief Johnny-Depp-meets-Johnny-Depp moment prior to that. If you watch, you’ll understand.

Rango is at once intensely self-aware, and gleefully chaotic. The characters are fantastically realized from a cross-section of Old West stereotypes poured into dusty, craggy animal form, in some of the best anthropomorphic achievements I’ve had the pleasure to witness. When the black hat rattlesnake makes his way into town, and you notice in the midst of his literally venomous monologue that a discoloration above his mouth bespeaks a Lee Van Cleef style moustache? That ain’t an accident. If you think a plot about lack of water has certain resemblances to Chinatown, there are scenes that occur where the filmmakers tip their hats to you and cheerfully admit, “Yup”. And while you might not be surprised to hear the obligatory Clint Eastwood Man-With-No-Name makes an appearance, the details of how he does are at once mundane, sublime, and deeply bizarre.

Rango is funny, and exciting, and brilliantly animated, and has a great theme song, but what I love most about it is that it recognizes the mythic power behind the Western and the wide open spaces where it makes its home, a frontier not just of body but of mind and soul. The story might be a familiar one at its core, but the dedication to that story and the realization of it are to be praised.

And all of that done without feeling a need to release the movie in 3-D. Lord bless ya for coming along, Rango… you were a cool, trippy drink of agua for a thirsty soul.