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5 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.

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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.

“Safe!”

Posted on April 7, 2010 by Clint

Here we are, faithful readers, your first glimpse of a Safe Zone! For those of you who never read the ‘About the Story‘ section or the Setting FAQ, it might in fact be the first exposure you’ve had that there are Safe Zones.

No big problem there, you just had to wait a bit longer for us to get around to it. Exposition is a tricky business, especially when you start in media res (fancy talk for “in the middle of things”) like Zombie Ranch does. I know a lot of people out there are still champing at the bit to know the big reason why the zombies are being wrangled and herded, and that’s coming up really soon. Again, those that wanted to brave the wall o’ text in the FAQ have the answers already, but I’m a big believer in making sure people don’t have to go outside the comic to understand the comic — eventually, anyhow. Like I said, exposition is tricky and I want to avoid clumsily shoving it down peoples’ throats when they’d rather be enjoying the story. Only time will tell if I’m getting the balance right.

Also, although the poll I put up last week has been steadily deadlocked between those who believe Zeke’s fate should be taken into account on the cast page, and those who think otherwise, by far the most popular response is from people unaware that there even was a cast page. Whoops. It appears our layout has certain flaws.

But hey, that was a question that nagged at me, so it’s good to have it addressed. Looks like we need to rearrange some buttons to make important elements more accessible. For all I know there are people who would have wanted to read the FAQ but didn’t realize there was one of those, either. Can you tell it’s our first webcomic?

So thanks to everyone who responded! I’m still not sure what to do about Zeke since it seems like either option is going to make a certain segment unhappy, though of course I’m trending towards the “don’t change it” crowd since it means less work. Maybe I’ll leave the poll up awhile longer, and see what people think once the cast page link is more visible.

Anyhow, we’re back, and if the level of technology evident in today’s comic surprises you, just remember those floating camera drones have to come from somewhere (not to mention there’s certain areas of cities today that already look a lot like the above). Life in the Safe Zones is wonderful, as those that run them will be quick to tell you. In this Zone, one of the more corporate examples, it’s possible you might feel a little intruded on by commercial interests. Maybe you might even consider it something of an eyesore. But hey, if being constantly bombarded by talking, animated ads in STUNNING 3-D isn’t your thing, you’re welcome to a life out in the Wild, Wild Waste.

“Comparable to or better than” can mean a lot of things, after all.