Episode 152

Photo of author

Dave

Published:
Updated:

About this Episode:
A while back someone in the comments mentioned doing an episode featuring zombies just hanging out. I thought it was an awesome idea, and I’ve been chomping at the bit to find a place where it fit the narrative.

Zombie Cliché Lookout:
Zombies are interesting movie monsters in that they tend to exist for a singular purpose: to kill and devour the living. That singularity is part of what makes them so scary, but it can also – absent the required stimuli – make them rather boring. What exactly do zombies do when there’s no one to try to kill and eat? Well, I imagine they just sort of bumble around, occasionally groaning and running into things.

97 thoughts on “Episode 152”

  1. So, is the “Crash” part of the actual story, or just background noise?
    Also, loving the zombie baseball player.

    • I think the crash was the zombie tripping over dave’s favorite piece–the trashcan 😀

      • And the lady wins a cigar!

        Yes, while you can’t see it very well, there is a trash can in the background that one zombie trips over.

        • I love the humor you throw into this comic!

        • Thanks! I try not to do it too often, or too over-the-top.

        • And the boy wins a cigar! Did you think i wouldn’t notice? 😉

        • Hah, I love how that zombie knocked it over! 😀

        • Zombies are clumsy like that.

  2. Well, at least the two female zombies in panel four look like they’re trying to have an intelligent conversation. I guess it’s just how they’re posed. It’s like they’re asking “So, how was dinner last night?” “Not bad, the guy I ate could have used a bit more meat on his bones though.” Of course we know in zombie language as we hear it, it sounds more like this “Uh, guh rur grr rawr?” “Grr ror, muhr guuhr pah fet.”

    • Hah, I wish I could say I did that on purpose.

      • I swear that the one in the last panel is the guy from “Swingers” who says “This place is dead anyhow” whenever they leave a party. I love that delivery.

        • That’s awesome. I haven’t seen Swingers in ages.

  3. I wonder if they’d devour each other if it got to the point where there was no living organisms on the planet they’d infected and there were only zombies roaming around?

    Like any population, there’s got to be some limit to how long it can hold out, I can’t imagine any pack of zombies holding out forever! 😀

    • I can imagine that the human beings would be dead or far away, and the zombies would just shamble around, make dens for themselves, fight over dead guy/zombie they found somewhere until they basically drop to bits.

      • That’s pretty much how I see it happening. Generally speaking, zombies won’t eat other zombies.

        • So if they don’t eat other zombies, what will they eat? Once the whole planet is zombified, something’s gotta turn the whole cycle around. Or zombieville gets renamed to boredville because it’s inhabitants are both zombies and bored! 😀

          The whole zombification thing is against the natural cycle of nature, life springs up, evolves or goes extinct, and all depending on how successful it is. I can’t imagine any kind of zombie put in a situation of having no food supply surviving for very long, unless there is an alternative food supply or a species comes along that is resistant or immune to zombification.

          I don’t tend to think short-term when I think of where your comic is going, if this is the direction it seems to be going, it’s going to rapidly become a conversation between two zombies consisting of “Mnruh” and “Feh!” exchanges! 😀

        • I think you hit the nail on the head when you mention extinction. The minute the last human (or really, when humanity is reduced beyond a sufficient breeding population), it’s all over. The zombies simple whither away, dying on a dead world.

          Cheerful, no?

          But don’t worry, that’s a worst case scenario. Bricks of the Dead is set at the beginning of an outbreak. Maybe it’s stoppable, maybe it’s not. I’m not sure whether it fits the nature of the comic to really explore that end game. I’m far more interested in following characters, and see how they deal with what’s happening. If that makes sense.

    • There is a really good book out there that addresses this issue…

      In fact someone on this site happened to recently do a book review on it! Mort

      • can animals turn into zombies? if not then the zombies would just eat them

        but what if zombies could become civilised? at the moment they are just like savages, killing other civilisations but not each other. but if savages became civilised then maybe zombies can too 🙂 then it would become a planet of zombies!

        • In some stories there are zombie animals. In some stories zombies eat animals, in others they’ll only eat people.

          The civilizing zombies thing is an angle George Romero keeps returning to. I don’t care for it, personally.

        • LZR-1143: Infection by Bryan James has some Zombie animals but it was experimental work done intentionally with strands of a virus. Other than that I am not sure I recall any zombie animals through a bite.

          Dying to Live by Kim Paffenroth has some more civilized zombies caught somewhere between human and regular zombies. But the book also has feral zombies so it’s a nice mixture and unlike George Romero its actually interesting. Kim is a pretty interesting fellow (yes he’s male)…he’s a Dr of Theology, teaches religious studies and also writes academic text books.

  4. Is this comic a basis of what I said a few episodes back?

    • I think it was you, actually. Fantastic suggestion. I had fun with these one (and the next six episodes, which keep with these characters as they aimlessly shamble about).

  5. Happy birthday nerospike!!!

    • Indeed, happy birthday!

    • THANKYOU :D:D:D:D

      • Happy birthday homey….how old?

        • Homie* Silly zombiemutts, gutta stay fresh n’ down with the hip kidz these dayz yo’.

        • get off my lawn!

        • Lol 16 mate.

      • I hope you saw my birthday wish to you on the last page! Every time it’s someone’s birthday, I make up a unique birthday wish, just for them. 😉

        • Thankyou 😀

  6. Zombies! 🙂

    I loves me some zombies!

    Your in a room,there are zombies,what do you do? Get out of this comic!

    I’m hyper from the candy I ate. And the zombie comic. I was a bit confused at first, but thn I added 2+2(literally) and realized it was today’s comic.

    PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!!!!!!! :))

    • Sugar is one hell of a drug

      • Right up there with crack, they say.

        • Yowza.

    • wow

  7. This is my favorite episode so far.

    One thing that Dave and the Dude Person who runs Zombie Outbrick are better at than anyone else is making a sense of motion and body language .

    • Thank you, sir!

    • Yes, thank you very kindly, good sir!

      I agree that Dave is also very good at conveying motion (especially with the falling zombie who knocked over the trash can, despite the fact it took me a moment to notice him!)

  8. Anyone want a sneak peek at the 2012 Lego guide?

    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_062.jpg
    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_063.jpg
    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_064.jpg
    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_065.jpg
    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_066.jpg
    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_067.jpg
    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_068.jpg
    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_069.jpg
    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_070.jpg
    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_071.jpg
    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_072.jpg
    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_073.jpg
    http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Mr-Z/Temp/lego_itp_074.jpg

    • Hmm, interesting stuff. I like those kendo masks from Ninjago, as well as the new snakes. Speaking of Ninjago, I really need to pick up a couple of those straw hats.

      Too bad we don’t see more of the City stuff. I understand there’s going to be a bear.

      • Hey I am trying to send you a huge email with 4 attatchments (ebooks)…my phone says my outbox is empty but there is no indication its being sent…did you get it? If not I will send when I get home.

        • Nope, nothing yet.

        • one more try

        • Links broken.

        • I think Brickshelf got cease and desisted.

    • The cool thing is the “Dino” series is coming back which has an insane amount of awesome parts for zombie mocs. Sadly tho there is no links for any new modular buildings but I am sure there will be some.

      • The dinos look very cool. I’m curious what kind of parts do you mean?

        • Helmets…ammo boxes/crates….nets…vehicles…emotive minifig faces.

          If you really look at mocs and see where the parts came from a lot of the more unique stuff seems to come from the previous Dino series.

        • Excellent. Now I’m even more excited about Dinos.

    • I can’t get the link to work, what is the website and where do you go on it please so I can see that stuff?

      and Dave, what is the schedule for this comic?

      • Ignore that last bit about the schedule, i saw what you left for my comment in the last comic

      • Weird, links are working fine for me.

      • TLG send brickshelf a take down notice so the images are gone now

        • Do you always think Lego alwys has this thing about their own themes?
          There’s always The Awesome Dude, The Professor, The Mechanic, The One That Always Gets Hurt, and The Chick.(plot optional) Check the bio pages of Pharaohs Quest, Atlantis and Alien Conquest. See what I mean?

        • Hah, that does seem to be a trend. I wish female characters were more represented. The reason the cast of BotD is mostly male is because there are just that many fewer options for females available (and I can’t use stuff like the busty pirate wench).

        • Busty pirate wench zombie-hunter for the win! 😉

          (that was a mouthfull…)

        • Hah, I suppose you’re right.

  9. Hey so did anyone see the season finale for True Blood? I don’t want to give any spoilers away since I know Dave hasn’t see it yet but they said something interesting…

    “Zombies are the new vampires” so I wonder if that is where next season is heading.

    That show is so rediculous but my God do I love it

    • I’m a full season behind, but that sounds damn intriguing.

  10. Guh! Pah! Feh! lol.

    Could to see a horde of zombies on my 16th! (There ya go Dave :3) 😀 I now own Dead Island and I will tell you my thoughts on it later which will be either be: GET THIS GAME!!! or AAAAAH!!! ZOMBIES!!! RUN!!!!

    • Zombie dialog always ends in an ellipses.

      • In that case:

        MrUUh…Guh…Pah…Feh…

        That’s obviously code for something >.>

        • Dead Island:

          OMG!!!!!!! AWESOME!!!!

          And very scary at points :O GETTITGETTITGETTIT MUST HAVE!

        • Maybe I’ll put it on my Christmas list.

  11. The zombies with the long brownish hair and blue jacket looks a bite werewolfy methinks…good to see some greens in there! Obviously they’re the exhumed zombies…D:
    Plus I forgot to tell you…I have two novels on zombies…one is about a zombie detective (:S) and one is a zombie outbreak in London in the 1800s :O I also have a zombie film called outbreak or something like that to watch…yes another nazi zombies film 😀

    • You’ve written two novels?

      • No these are my presents 😀

        • Ah, that makes sense.

  12. I like the whole idea, but the set seems a bit bland. You should find posters of things you like, shrink them down, print them on sticker paper, put them where you want, then peel the edges. It looks so cool, especially when you printer ain’t working, and it looks worn.

    • Funny you should mention the bland hallway. Check back Friday.

      • Oooooooh!! I shall!

        • you need to post more

        • Me or Dave?

        • Everyone…but that comment was directed at you as there is a soft place in my heart for glorious sarcasm.

  13. Zombies Vs Vampires? Zombies always win…Always… No possible way vampires win.. At all.. If they do.. I claim lies, and some one was paid off.

    • Zombies by numbers and starvation

      • Plus whats the chance of a vampire going to automatically know there is a zombie exactly behind it when there are hundreds around it? And whats with that.. Unhinge their jaws? I call BS.

        • Zombies in the end.. Technically win.

    • Agreed. Zombie don’t sparkle, either!

      • Neither. Do. Vampires.

  14. Ha! I love it! worth the wait too after my ‘puter had a visit to the shop.

    • Glad to see you back, SilverFox.

  15. Hey everyone…

    Who wants a free E-Book?

    Product Description
    PRELUDE TO THE APOCALYPSE is a series of five works of short fiction written in Derek Gunn’s VAMPIRE APOCALYPSE universe. Each is a diary entry written from a vampire’s point of view and set in five different periods in history.

    From the author:
    The main kernel of my VAMPIRE APOCALYPSE series of books came from the proliferation of ‘nice’ vampires that are so popular in fiction today. I never saw the vampire as an aristocratic figure, noble to a fault and lonely for a good woman’s, or man’s love. I always saw them as creatures who had moved on from being human over the centuries. They do not consider themselves human, most have probably forgotten they ever were. They are creatures ruled by base hunger. For all their power they are slaves to a gnawing hunger that rules there very existence.

    I have written some diary extracts recently as part of a back story to the VAMPIRE APOCALYPSE series. Over the course of the centuries we can see the changes going on inside the head of a vampire, how his thoughts of humanity, religion and his place in the world change him. I have tied this into the ‘real’ history of the world, offering a different view of how some of history’s events actually happened, and the impact this had on the mindset of the vampire.

    They are short vignettes that try to go some way to explain how these creatures can change so drastically. Even the most noble would change their attitudes over centuries and humans are food after all. How often do you have to eat meat to no longer consider the source as intelligent?

    http://www.amazon.com/Prelude-Apocalypse-Vampire-ebook/dp/B004Y1MPUE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316114607&sr=8-1

    The author is giving them away for a very short time….email the fellow at [email protected]

    Looks good…I can’t wait to read it.

    • Sounds pretty interesting. The vampires personal remembrances of historical events are always my favorite part of the genre (a lot like Highlander, actually).

      • ^ 100% agree.

        I haven’t read a good vampire tale since a book called “Fevre Dream” by George Martin.

        • Hah. I think the only vampire books I’ve ever read were Dracula and Pandora. Loved the former. The latter? Not so much.

        • I liked “I Am Legend” (The book Version)

        • Oh, good call on I Am Legend. That’s a fantastic book, and I’m not sure why I overlooked it.

        • I need to read I am Legend at some point…I have the book.

          Rod Redux’s Oldest Living Vampire looks good too. I have it…just need to get to it.
          http://www.amazon.com/Oldest-Living-Vampire-Tells-All/dp/1460902203/ref=pd_sim_b_1

          Here’s fevre Dream
          http://www.amazon.com/Fevre-Dream-George-R-R-Martin/dp/0553383051/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316118584&sr=8-1

        • Here’s the thing…Vampires are awesome…the idea behind them is fascinating. Everything just got messed up thanks to Ann Rice and Tom Cruise.

  16. Nice episode dave! I aplogize for being two days late on reading it, it somehow slipped my mind on Wednesday, and I’ve been busy on top of that.

    Anyway, this is another example of what makes Bricks of the Dead a truly great comic. It’s not just another zombie story, there’s a lot of commentary (literal or visual, like this episode) behind it that really gives it more of an intellectual complexity.

    And all those zombies sound like demotivated teenagers! 😉

    • Thumbs up!!! 😀

    • Thank you kindly TheDudePerson. I love the moody teen interpretation. It’s so damn fitting!

      • I’m glad you think so!

        All we need now is a “Meh…” zombie. 😉

        • With his best friend who just rolls his shriveled eyes