Zombie Cliche Lookout: Personalities Clash
If you want proof that people have a hard time getting along, look no further than a representative democracy. Here in the United States, our government just shut down when the Republicans and Democrats played a suicidal game of chicken with the national budget. Stakes are always high when it comes to national policy and money, but just imagine how much bigger a deal this would be in a crisis situation.
Imagine, if you will, this same group of elected officials trying to come to an agreement in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. Would either side budge? Could we reach a compromise? With this in mind, it’s really not hard to see what governmental incompetence is such an important part of the zombie mythology.
Of course, we also get almost daily examples of the baffling inability of our elected officials to govern, so zombie writers have a lot of truth to draw on here.
About this Episode:
And yet another lighting effect tried here, which I’m relatively happy with, outside the first frame which looks far too blue. Ah well, try, try again.
Discussion Question: Your Favorite Apocalypse
It goes without saying that most of us here are big zombie fans (a few of you have pointed out that, outside of this excellent comic, you really aren’t fans of the genre). So, discounting zombies, what is everyone’s favorite cause of the apocalypse in books, games, and movies?
We’ve got a lot to choose from here: nuclear war, environmental disaster, artificial intelligence leading to a robot/computer uprising, alien invasion, natural disaster, meteor, disease, et cetera, et cetera.
I’d have a really tough time choosing between robots and nuclear war. I think this is because both are caused by mankind, one through aggression, and one from lack of foresight. In the end, I’d have to lean toward nuclear war, but it’d be a photo finish.
I think on Friday Murphy will either have a blow to the head, or he’ll have found himself enrolled in a crash course on the consequences of the zombie apocalypse and defending his current group versus the normal law enforcement he’s always been used to upholding! 😀
Ol’ Murph is definitely at a crossroads.
I would not be shocked if Murphy thought her badassery was a major turn on. lol
I like the survivable nuclear apocalypse. Mostly because of Mad Max, a Boy and his Dog, Fallout, and many more Punk-Nuke.
A Boy and his Dog….really?!
Not a fan?
Just.. .its .. Don Johnson :/
Punk-Nuke is a good way of putting it. I’m a big fan of that too.
Another great example of nuclear post-apocalyptica is Planet of the Apes (the original form the 70s, of course).
There’s also the long book series Death Lands, and a few short stories like By the Waters of Babylon.
I haven’t read Death Lands, but By the Waters of Babylon is excellent.
So I think a apocalypse themed after a cross between ’28 Days Later’ and ‘The Last Of Us’.
I’m planning on a bunker built in my yard in 10 years or so. Three metres deep, with a drainpipe-style cover with a manual lock from the inside, air filter and rainwater-collection facilities, and 3 years worth of food inside. I think I could survive most apocalypses in there.
Then when all the looting and fighting is over, I can go out and just start living again.
I think until I get that built, I think the best thing to do is to set up some kind of system for BOTD users. Those that live in the same states, or countries, can meet at safe locations and travel to specially defended areas, like Military Bases or Prisons. What do you think?
Cool idea. Community is important.
I think a nuclear war would be the most survivable for me, since most of the nukes fired at the US wouldn’t even make it, the damage would be just enough to render the military, government, and other systems invalid and cause society to collapse. Since I live in a relatively less important state (to the foreign world) the nuclear damage would be relatively minimal, giving me a chance to actually survive. In the event of such an occurrence, I’d probably build some sort of paramilitary mercenary group, offering our swords (guns, rocket launchers, bats with nails, etc.) to anyone in need of our services. I’ve got this pretty much all planned out.
I grew up next to a strategic air base (now closed). I didn’t realize it until much later, but if a shooting war had started, things didn’t look to good for my area.
Also, bats with nails are awesome. I need to do a test video of one.
Part of me really wants to see that, and another part is worried about what the test subject would be.
I only use coconuts who freely volunteer for the project.
Bats with nails is my weapon of choice. I only worry about it getting stuck in something and not being able to pull it back out. Maybe I need to rething that.
Hah!
Murphy and Inez have a Come to Jesus in the next episode. I love it.
My favorite apocalypse setting is probably plague. H1N1 comes to mind. The first two acts of Pandemic is still my favorite almost-apocalypse movie. I also like EMP and economic collapse (Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse and Molon Labe! and Lights Out for example).
What did you think about Patriots, Bo? It seems like a very divisive book.
I thought it was amateur; but it was fun. I’ve been reading Rawles’s work off and on for years, and see Patriots as a springboard into his blog, and the prep movement. He’s definitely on the extreme end of prepping; but he makes a lot of good points. I guess I mean to say that I see Rawles as catalyst in the movement. Sure, folks love him or hate him. Most of the folks that hate him don’t want to set up a retreat in rural Montana or Idaho. People that love him do.
I’ve never really followed him, but it seems like a lot of people think he’s an elitist or something along those lines. Like you said, he seems to be a “love him or hate him” kind of guy.
I wouldn’t say “elitist” so much as very, very serious. He doesn’t seem to be a big fan of dabbling in preparedness. You’re either in or out. You buy silver at the dips, live as off the grid as possible, and actively participate in the underground economy; or you’re not really in the movement.
I take his point. My own writing comes off with a bit of that; but I also believe in preparedness by degrees. Yes, we have the same final goals; but it’s taking me longer to get there. I don’t want to be a pauper in the meantime.
Most likely will be a compilation of everything. For example:
A massive sun flare takes out computers with EMP leading to lack of communication or prediction of severe weather caused by environmental disasters that occur due to computers not managing pressures on oil well caps, nuclear power stations etc. Coupled with the initial food processing and distribution issues generated by the EMP this leads to famine and out of control diseases. Triggering wars topped off by a meteor mistaken for a nuclear attack, however luck would have it the computers are fried so the man made nuclear war is prevented. Sadly the meteor induced winter takes care of that. But somewhere deep in a cave some crazy people survive and become zombies as this dig so far down they unleash a virus buried from mankind. At this point the aliens arrive only to wipe out the survivors. But who really is to blame?
BTW when building a bunker a periscope might be a good idea to see whose out there. Just a thought.
Wow. That’s a hell of a set of circumstances right there.
Mandy.Is.Awesome.
o.O
As I’ve mentioned before, Robots. Especially now when there’s lots of technology
Cyborgs, like the end of Dollhouse…
I’m kind of getting to like how Dave’s webcomic posts regular episodes Mondays and Wednesdays but sometimes seems a lot like a zombie bit it on Fridays! 😀
With that in mind, I await with bated breath the next installment of BotD! 😀