Episode 775: Goodbyes

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Dave

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Zombie Cliche Lookout: Burning Bridges

Once again, I’m going to be banging the drum of working together in the face of a zombie uprising. Seriously, in the event of zombies, we’re going to need to cooperate. I’ll admit that zombies are pretty unlikely, but still, it never hurts to be prepared, right?

I’m making the point here because today’s comic is about splitting up. Not everyone can get along, and not all groups can come together. Sometimes, things just don’t work out. That said, you still don’t want more enemies than you can handle. There’s no reason to end things on bad terms if you don’t absolutely have to. A simple polite word can earn you an ally, or at least keep things from getting too out-of-hand.

That being said, there is still only so much one can do. I doubt Clark or Barb would be in a huge hurry to help the other out of a jam. I don’t think either of them would be outright hostile, but something has definitely been lost over the course of their short relationship.

About this Episode:

Aaaaand that’s it for Barb and Clark for a bit. I’m going to take next week off to get prepared for the next story arc, where we’ll be going back to our original cast at the cabin in the woods. I know, I know, taking a week off sucks. I’ve been trying to avoid it by working ahead, but life has been extremely busy lately.

I will, however, have a new review posted next week. It’s not a comic, but, hey, new content is new content.

Update – July 24th!

I mentioned last week that I was going to take a week off to get caught up. While I was scripting this weekend, I realized that I needed more time. I haven’t been too happy with the last few arcs of the story, and I know a few of you haven’t either. I want to review the series and take a more strategic approach to the next set of episodes and do this right. That means I need a bit more time.

How much time? I’m not really sure at this point. I think the story of Bricks of the Dead is reaching the point where I need to bring it to an end, but I want that to be as satisfying an end as possible. With that in mind, I’m planning to take August off, and pick things back up in September. If I need a bit more time, I’ll post an update.

As always, thanks for your patience.

Discussion Question: Last Companion

The zombie apocalypse is upon us, and you’re now facing a daily fight for survival. Luckily, you’re not alone. You happen to be stuck with the last person you saw before reading this. How do you think you’ll do? For the purpose of discussion, let’s ignore close friends and family for this, unless you think they would work particularly well or poorly, because that could be fun.

36 thoughts on “Episode 775: Goodbyes”

  1. Typo alerts: “Not everyone get get along, and not all group can come together.” “get get”–>gets ; group–>groups 😀

    “earn you and ally” and–>an 😉

    “over the course their short” add “of” between “course” and “their” 😀

    Only four typos! Not too bad, Dave! 😀

    • Fixed all. Until you find more later.

  2. I’m baaaack! Aaaand you’re gone for a week. Lol!

    I’m sorry for my absence lately. I’m sure all of you were really worried about me. Lol! I was busy with a wedding that I was in. But, anyway, I’m back now! 🙂

    The last person I saw before reading this, would be my mother. We’d be dead fast! Lol! 😀 I’m kinda out of shape, and she has back problems.
    So we’d be pretty screwed. Haha!

    But,other than family and close friends. It’d probably be a stranger from the wedding. Lol! 😮 That’d be fun! Haha! 🙂

    • That would be fun. What kind of strangers were at the wedding? Anyone look strong?

      • Well,my cousin was there. And he is a bodybuilder! 😀 So I’d pick him!

        But for the strangers, no. Lol!

        My aunt’s boyfriend was there. So he’s not really family,and he’s not a close friend. So,I think that’d be fun. He’s nice,but sometimes it seems like hes trying too hard to be nice and fun. You don’t have to try so hard to be one of the guys! 🙂 So that can be a little annoying at times. It would be interesting to see his serious side.

        I’d also like to ask him what is going on with him and my aunt.
        They were dating, then they were engaged, then they broke up, he wanted His Money back from a car he bought for her daughter, he broke into her house, then they were “friends” maybe, now I think they’re back together. But I’m not sure, everyone’s too afraid to ask. Lol

        We all think she’s using him. But who knows.

        He seems normal. Not strong, not weak. So we could make it. It would be interesting. 🙂

        Or maybe he hates me and would throw me to the zombies, day one. Lol!

        • Hah, yeah, stick with the bodybuilder cousin.

  3. Also. Dave, are you going to be reviewing “Fear The Walking Dead” this season? The first half of the season is done. Or is that the review you have lined up?

    I would love to see you shower it with negativity, like you do for the original series! 😉 Lol!

    • I won’t be, no. I don’t get cable, so I can’t easily watch. If someone is up for doing a review, I’m happy to edit and post it.

  4. Last person I saw before this was my mom. In all honesty I think one of us would be dead. 🙁

    My father taught me a lot about survival in various situation. He is a volunteer for MARS (Military Affiliated Radio Service) and helps coordinate communication for emergency efforts in case major communications drop for whatever the reason. Also he’s a bit of a gun nut, taught me how to use firearms, treat them with respect (VERY IMPORTANT!), and maintain and clean them.

    My mother…is none of these things. She is uncomfortable in the wild, doesn’t like camping, barely knows how to use a firearm, and doesn’t handle stress very well. I think either she’d die, or I’d die trying to save her…

    …probably both…wish us luck!

    • Hah, good luck Wacky and Wacky’s mom!

    • Good luck to the Wacky family! Lol! 😀

      • Thanks guys! We’ll try to do our best to NOT come back as something that would want to eat your brains!… 😀

  5. No! Please dont end it. Ill be so sad. I see this as the beginning of a great series. I dont think we’re even half way yet. I like this better than the walking dead comics. You put so much thought into your characters. More than a lot of tv series and movies. If it’s too much, maybe just do a set of episodes a year or something. Im so sad, I cant go with out my BOTD!

    • Please keep us posted

  6. Well, if you need more time, at least do it properly then. As for ending it, if you can take a bit more time and write up 200 more episodes before you end it, all properly scripted, I’d much rather have that than 50 half-baked continuity ridden episodes! You get what I mean? 😀

    • Actually, make that 225 episodes. Look at this episode number, you know why, and why wouldn’t you want the big 1,000? 😉

  7. Sorry to hear that “Bricks of the Dead” will be coming to an end. 🙁

    I really can’t complain as you’ve put in more pages than most other authors/artists of zombie webcomics and you’re even looking towards a proper ending rather than just stopping and saying “I can’t do this any more…”.

    So in short, THANK YOU for a wonderful story. I hope to see more work from you in the future and will be an avid reader then too…

    …and if you’re getting rid of any legos I’ll gladly give ’em a good home! 😉

  8. Hah, thanks for the kind words everyone! We won’t be going away overnight. I’d like to set this up to end on a reasonable story beat.

    • By the way, Dave, I’d like to make it clear that if you can do a better job of writing, photographing, and setting it all up for publishing, then by all means take an additional month or two if needed. I’d much rather wait for a better quality ending than have a rushed bad quality ending. 😉

      • Yes. Still so sad.

    • I was hoping that,somewhere down the line, we’d get a Governor level villain. And our characters would have to go to war with them. I just thought that be cool. To see how far it’s come from the beginning. But now it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen. 🙁 But I’m still excited. I just think theres so much potential. This could be the walking dead without the stupid writing! Lol! 😀

    • I hope youre doing this for you,and this is how you always wanted it. Cuz if you’re ending it because of what others think, or for convenience. Thats wrong, and you’ll regret it.

      • I just think I’m reaching the point where I’m repeating story points. I wanted to tell a fun story about the beginning of a zombie apocalypse, hitting every damn cliche I could along the way. I think I’ve done that, so it’s time to bring the story to an end.

        I’d like to do another comic at some point, but I’ll probably do it differently. I’d like to do it like an actual book, probably as a PDF download.

        • Well, it’s going to be unrepeatable when Murphy or Brent dies, I still don’t know which one yet. It’s also going to be unrepeatable to know the fate of Vicky and her kids. 😀 I’d say there are some loose ends to tie up, but certainly not repeatable ones! 😀

        • Also, it might bear repeating, but I still want to know what happens to Inez and a few other stray characters! 😀

        • Like I’ve said before. I think your comic is very realistic and true to what would happen in a real zombie apocalypse. And some things would happen again and again in the apocalypse. So you’re going to have some repetition. But I dont think youd have to repeat storypoints so much to where it becomes bland or anything. I’ve grown to love these characters. As i guess a lot of us have. And I would like to see these characters move forward and evolve. And go as far as they can go in the apocalypse. And maybe that’s what’ll happen. Im just scared youre going to rush it. Its okay to work towards an ending,but I dont want you to force an ending. Thats all. If im not happy with the ending, I guess I’ll just have to make my own. Lol!

        • Something we’d all like to see 🙂

          Would it be another Brick-format comic? We all love the legos, obviously. Another zombie story or something new.

          Wouldn’t blame you with whatever media and genre you picked. It’s said, “You only master a medium once you’ve moved beyond it…” so do whatever you feel is right for you.

  9. I don’t mean to burn bridges at both ends or anything serious, but does Dave have any idea of when he’ll have something ready, yet? 😀

    • I’m shooting for early September.

  10. Just as a thought, you might consider another series telling different stories over this same period. You might follow a National Guard unit and show them from emergency response deployment (starting a little before whatever it was that happened so we get to know the characters a bit) to the general breakdown of all order (or is there maybe more order in other places we’re just not seeing?).

    • That sounds like a cool idea. Dave, you said that you originally wanted to make a comic that covered all the zombie-cliques, but it might be cool to see your take on one that avoided them.

      Weather you choose to use Ballinabricky’s idea or not, be assured we’ll all read it 😉

      • Yeah. That sounds awesome!

  11. Last person I saw was my wife, before she left to teach a college neuro class. She is the more handy of the two of us, but she also needs contacts/glasses to see more than blurred shapes. She has a lot of experience killing… lab mice. We might do okay if it were like a stage 1 or 2 situation. Boarding up windows, hunkering down, that sort of thing.

    Before her, it was one of my few friends from work. He’s also very handy, and has some police training from back in the day. We’d definitely survive longer, but he also needs contacts/glasses to see. If we had access to his parent’s ranch, we’d be set on supplies and guns/ammo.

    The last stranger I saw was an older lady (late 50s, I’m guessing) in the BevMo! parking lot who interjected into our conversation to say that she liked moonshine. I’m not sure what skills she has, but at least I’d have a drinking buddy before kicking the bucket.

    • NEVER underestimate old people! 🙂

      They’re the one’s who managed to survive everything to get to this point regardless of how hard it was and with technology that is far less superior to what we’re using now! She’d know a few things that’d keep you alive in weird situations.

      Like Dale from “The Walking Dead”. Dude was older and slower than the rest of the group but knew things that were useful and saved them a few times.

      Who knows what knowledge was floating in her cerebellum. 😀

  12. I hope nothing untoward has happened. It is mid October and no word from Dave.

    • It might be better if you posted under the latest thread titled “Another Brief Update”, I don’t know for sure if Dave can access the recent comments sidebar on mobile devices. 😀