Episode 620: Bugger Off

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Dave

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Zombie Cliche Lookout: Owner is Armed

I’m pulling today’s cliche lookout not from zombie stories, but from another, related genre: disaster stories. When things get bad, people should come together and work as one to help everyone survive. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t like that. I think this line from Agent K in Men In Black sums it up quite well: “People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.” This usually comes up with characters not trusting people, which is fair in some senses considering that there will likely be bandits and murderers out there, thriving on the chaos. In order to protect ourselves, we put up walls around ourselves. And I’m being literal here. Figurative too, I guess.

I love seeing signs of this in films, TV shows, and games, especially when it’s just something in the background that tells a small self-contained story. Just something little, like some hastily scrawled graffiti informing potential raiders of the fact that the homeowner has a gun and nothing better to do than sit there, pointing it at the door and waiting for a target to show up.

About this Episode:

When Sam left Emma’s, unfortunately he wasn’t allowed to grab any of the guns they seemed to have lying around. Sure, she let him grab an axe to protect himself with, but a gun would have been nice. Of course, he is responsible for killing her whole family, so I guess I can see her side of things too.

Other News:

Monday, May 25th is Memorial Day here in the US, and as such I’ll be taking the day off. We’ll resume our normal schedule with a review on Tuesday. As always, thanks again for your patience.

Discussion Question: Graffiti as a Deterrent

I mentioned above how much I like seeing things like graffiti in the environment used as a potential means to deter bad guys. How effective do you think this would be, and for how long? After all, the longer things go in the zombie apocalypse, the worse things are going to get, and the more desperate people will become.

18 thoughts on “Episode 620: Bugger Off”

  1. Typo alert: “nothing better to do that sit there” that–>than 😀

    “Of course, he is responsible for killing her whole family, so I guess I can see her side of things too.” I think Dave should replace the second “I” in this sentence with “Sam’s” because we already know Dave wrote the comic, and of course we can see Dave’s side of things! 😀

    • Found another typo: ” there will likely be bandits and murderer s out” Remove space from “murderer s” 😀

      • “I’ll be taking day off” Insert “the” in between “taking” and “day”. 😀

        • I keep spotting these typos: “thanks again for you patience” you–>your 😀

        • By the way, Dave, if ever you feel the need to take a day off, even if it isn’t a holiday, and there’s sufficient reason for you to do so, just let us know, writing a comic with 620 episodes that have gone so far with multiple storylines is a significant achievement, and you’ve earned the right to take a break now and then! 😀

        • Fixed all; thanks BrickVoid!

        • Thank you, sir.

        • I’m still getting feels from Ted dying and leaving his wife and kids behind. I think its a good thing you didn’t show him having a screwdriver going through his brains, as that reminds me of when you or Kenny have to kill Duck in The Walking Dead, where they don’t show him having his brain blown by a gun, but do an overhead view. Nice touch you thought of Dave.

          And now! *shuffles through papers* today’s episode! I think its possible the guy or girl inside does NOT have a gun and is trying to scare Sam away. I’ve known this happen a lot, but the person inside isn’t hesitating in his speech, so I’m pretty sure he or she does have a gun.

  2. They said they’ve got a gun, but do they have any ammo for it? Do they know firing it will certainly attract more zeds? It’s one thing to have a gun, but to know what dangers it can bring your way is another thing entirely. It certainly doesn’t sound like this person inside knows a lot about what they’re dealing with, and even just talking to Sam some more might go a long way to helping them.

    • All excellent points, I guess they’re just scared and desperate.

  3. what u think he let him in

    • Doesn’t look like it.

  4. Regarding the Discussion Question, I feel that graffiti will be one of those things that is either ignored or will start being used to let other survivors know you’re there. Whether people want to have graffiti letting others know they’re there will be of significantly less concern than trying to brave the hordes of zeds whilst trying to remove existing graffiti, as I’m sure most veteran survivors will be more likely to let graffiti be than risk becoming one of the zombie horde surrounding it. The zeds certainly can’t read – or can they? There’s little chance most zeds would be bothered to read signage, only hunt anyone dumb enough to stop to read it. 😀

    • Good point here. I really like seeing graffiti in general in zombie/survival stories. Warnings or signs seeking help, they just really make the world seem bigger and more realistic.

      • Yes, I agree with the awesome use of graffiti in the zombie genre, especially in Left 4 Dead in the safe houses. I play the game predominately for; A) Killing massive hordes of zombies, and B) Reading the graffiti in the safe houses.

  5. And after Sam knocked, that’s just rude.

    Of course if he hadn’t knocked he’d likely gotten his head blown off. 😉

  6. You’d think they’d let him in. After all, it’s a zombie apocalypse. Isn’t everyone in this together?

  7. We don’t know if anything “degrading” happened to that person (yet?), so it’s likely that they just don’t trust anyone. I’d be a bit curious, though.