Zombie Cliche Lookout: Can’t Have Just One
You’ll notice that, in most zombie stories anyway, you rarely see a zombie all on it’s own outside the first act. That solitary zombie near the beginning? He’s just there to help estabilish the rules and gets things going. After that, they start showing up in twos and threes. Then tens and twenties. Then things get really hairy.
The reason is that zombies, as much as we love them, just aren’t terribly threatening on their own. Let’s face facts here. It doesn’t take a hell of a lot to figure out how to evade or destroy a single zombie. Anyone of sound mind and body should be able to accomplish such a feat. Now, when they start showing up en masse, well, that’s where things start getting scary.
About this Episode:
This and last week were the first episodes I shot with my new light tent. Like the lightbox I used to use, I made it all by myself. I’m quite happy with the results so far. I’m going to put together a how to article for making your own here in the next few weeks.
Other News:
It seems like we’ve had a lot of meta-commentary going on in the comments of late. By which I mean commenters talking about commenting, and other commenters. Needless to say, it’s not a lot of fun and I don’t believe it adds a whole hell of a lot to the community here. As such, I’m going to put together a brief write-up to outline the rules – for lack of a better term – that’ll we’ll be following henceforth. Don’t worry, nothing too heavy-duty here. I’d just like to see things stay more on topic and eliminate any sort of internet fighting.
Discussion Question: Your Insight
Okay, so lame discussion question this week. I want to know what sorts of things you guys like and dislike about the community here. What needs to be improved, and what do I need to keep my grubby mitts off?
yea! im the first one to read the new comic again, but i really expected whoever was in the tent to pop out and kill the zeds, oh well, you take what you can get i guess
Everything can’t happen in the same episode. Patience.
The community is great! (except for Evan, just joking with you Evan) Everybody is nice, wonderful, and working for the same cause, to make bricks of the dead a real life thing with real zombies!
Glad to hear it, Guy.
The making bricks of the dead a real thing or the community being great?
Mostly the community thing, but real BotD with real zombies sounds interesting too.
Yeah that would be awesome.
and im wasnt suprised when i saw the hippi back there as a “messy eater” face he’s probibly still high
Munchies, man.
Three is always enough, one to hunt the other two to play the gotcha game! 😀
Hah!
That made me think of the raptors in Jurassic Park.
“Clever girl . . .”
Precisely.
He really should have known that raptors were pack hunters.
heh, how many zombies does it take to skrew in a lightbulb? well the real question is how many lightbulbs to skrew into a zombie
“Skrew” looks like it should be the name of some sort of band to me.
really? ive never thought about ”skrew” being a band name, as far as im concerned, its not though
There was a punk/skinhead band in the late 70’s called Skrewdriver.
Also you screw in lightbulbs.
So zombies are like multiplication drills when you’re in the third grade, then? One by one, easy, but when they’re high speed…
I like the diversity of the BotD community – it seems that there’s not just LEGO fans here, and that’s pretty cool.
They are a lot like multiplication drills, Lich. I love the comparison.
lich, if anyone knows the zombies plans, its you
This comic has the most comments I’ve ever seen in a comic, I shouldn’t worry too much about the community
Right on. I just want to make sure everyone is enjoying themselves and that I’m not letting things slide too much.
maybe this is the most popular webcomic! then maybe you can sell the webcomic, into a real comic! then make some serious mulah
Hah, I wish I was the most popular webcomic. I’d probably make some actual money in advertising.
I like the meta-commentaries about comments and commenters, it’s like commentception.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist that…
In all seriousness, though, things around here are pretty decent community-wise. Other than the meta-comment issue things tend to stay fairly on topic, but even when they go off-topic it’s usually still interesting so I don’t see that as a problem.
I tend to feel the same. Commenting on the state of commenters is a little much.
Of course, that’s the subject of this episode’s discussion question, so I guess it can’t bother me too awful much.
As a self-regulating group, no need for explicit rule list. The occassional reminder seems to be sufficient. And as host & moderator, you reserve the right to have behind-the-scenes convos when (not if) needed; and you can dump the dumpable when culpable.
Well said, Luis.
I feel much better about this whole thing now.
Soooooo, Clark is very screwed up around this time one would guess. But hopefully Dave has a heart and shows him in next week’s comic with an M16. Also, I like to think that the first zombie is a scout, if his head is not blown, chopped, sliced, exploded, or mutilated, THEN the others advance. Thankfully this isn’t that kind of zombies.
The community is fine I guess. Free speech is allowed, unless it is in offense to someone. For me that is probably the biggest plus I ca give this website. Also, sense of humor is always appreciated in the comic description.
Last time we saw Clark he had a wooden spear. An M16 would be quite an upgrade for him.
M16s are very hard to find, and modern ones only shoot 3 bullets at a time, if clark teamed up with the looters then maybe
An M16 might be hard to come by, but an AR15 isn’t.
true, but an M9 would be really cool
Buy a 92F. Same gun, right?
Yep, the biggest, clunkiest 9mm handgun on the market. 😉
well theres an M9 pistol, and an M9 rifle, i think that your thinking of the rifle
I was thinking of the handgun; I’m not familiar with the rifle.
well its a pretty cool gun, i ordered it on brickarms, best weapeon that i ever had
Never heard of an M9 rifle, and can’t find anything with that designation on Brickarms’s or G.I. Brick’s websites.
For the sidearm, meh, it works as well as any other, reliable and accurate; but there are half a dozen others just as well that are smaller, lighter, and with equal or greater capacity.
Oh I just spotted the LEGO cattails. Very nice use of vegetation with bricks.
Clark is probably hiding up in a tree ready to show how bad ass of a zombie hunter and slayer he really is.
As far as the community goes, I’d say try to keep us on “topic”, polite language and behavior and to me, it should be obvious, no spamming the boards.
Thanks Fox! I’m super happy with the cattails. I’m sure someone else has used the design before, so if I’m ripping off, apologies.
I was thinking the same about Clark. He seems the type to set up the tent as a decoy rather than a real place to sleep.
I would. I’d keep my gear in the tent and sleep in a dear stand.
They’re like freakin’ Lay’s potato chips- can’t have just one…
Hopefully Clark is up in a tree stand takin’ a snooze. If he is up there, the zombies can walk around all day long and not see him. Too bad he never set those perimeter alarms we wrote about last week.
For the community, my problem regards format. With the blog setup we lose whole conversations down the memory hole. The only way to know who has replied to which comments is to read the whole convoluted thread or to check the “recent comments” sidebar. Unfortunately that only tracks the last five comments. A forum would be better; but that opens up another can of worms. Fora cost money and more server space. Then you have to have an administrator that understands the software and a cadre of moderators that aren’t bat-shit crazy. Good luck with that one.
The current setup is probably about as good as it’s going to get. One way to improve the blog would be to allow more reader submissions for content (creations, reviews, essays, etc.). I notice many of the posters are quite creative, and likely have a lot to offer in terms of content.
A forum is something I’m interested in. I figure it’d be a way to contain the off-topic chatter, as well as give people a reason to hang out on the site more.
I haven’t quite found a solution I’ve liked yet. I’m hoping to do some more testing soon.
As far as the user submitted posting thing, yeah. I want more of that. I need to build out some content to entice people to write for the site. I’ve had a lot of success with the writers we have now, and I’ve love to branch into some more topics (especially survival and preparedness, hint hint).
I can do that; but I need to get some inspiration before setting fingers to keys. What do folks want to know about? Getting started? Medical? Hardware? Software?
Frankly, the LEGO has been a break from survival and preparedness for me. I’d been so burnt out on all of it, plus school and looking for a job that my wife encouraged me to find something to distract me for a while. LEGO is a good fit.
For me, the perfect introductory post would be “How to build a basic first aid kit.”
I can appreciate the burnout. Job hunting is just the worst. Best of luck to you there.
Yeah, I am bummed that my first aid kit essay is lost to the void. I’ll try to recreate it in the next week or so. It’ll give me a good excuse to make revisions.
I’ve been sending resumes left and right. There is work outside the state. I just want to stay close to the grad schools I am interested in.
I’d hate the idea of moving out of state too. My support system is here.
A regular weekly post by Bo about survival or preparedness would rock on. He seems to have a great head on his shoulders and seems to be fairly passionate about it already.
I vote for. =)
Flattery will get you… everywhere.
I could likely do one bimonthly, maybe moving to weekly as I get my feet back under me. It’s been a while since I wrote about preparedness. Maybe I could write two a month and recycle one of my old entries a month.
Let me think hard about topics and content. Really, I am mostly here for the LEGO. 😉
Weekly is a hell of a commitment out of the gate; I’d be wary of that as well.
But zombies and preparedness just marry together so well.
Ohh ohh! I can help!
I was hoping you’d say that, Calicade.
[email protected] to get ahold of me.
Huzzah, I just found a copy of my first aid kit recommendations. I’ll go over it again this week, making additions or deletions as experience and education may require, and submit it to you this week. I may need new pictures, too.
OK, I’ll definitely need some new pics, as the server that was hosting them (imageshack) lost one of them. I hate when that happens.
Sounds fantastic, Bo! I can do image editing if you’re pressed for time.
I’ll take pics, enhance them and color correct them. Then you’re free to chop, compress, crop, re-size, or whatever. I have two or three of this exact kit in different bags. Let my go through them and check expiration dates and such, replace, add, or delete contents; and I will try to get it to you by Thursday or Friday for an entry next week. Really it depends on how long it takes to revise and edit the entry.
Outstanding!
Hey’yo’Bo.. I’ll contact you via Flickr when I get home if you’d like a bit of assistance? Or perhaps knowledge on my end? And I think I actually have the website’s email because of earlier parts of the comic.
You can catch me via flickr or email me at m14 DOT rifleman AT yahoo DOT com.
Any suggestions or criticism welcome.
Heh.. Yeah.. Yeah.. I’ll judge you, and I’ll make fun of you– Wait Yahoo? Why not Gmail? I already got something to start making fun of you with!
But in all seriousness, get off of yaho– Kidding again.
I would also like to look over any stuff you plan on writing, as I do kinda have a decent knowledge about it all as well. Though usually we don’t critique each other often in comments.
heh, why didnt i think of a base in a tree? all ive thought about is going to anelope island, or the hill air force base by my house
Sleep in a tree; just like in Hunger Games.
well my friend has a treehouse in his backyard, but the only way to get up there is the slide, its completley zombie proof, and little kid proof as well
Dump some cooking oil on the slide and you’ve got yourself a hell of a place to hole up.
Of course I doubt there’s running water or food, so it’d only be good for a short while. Don’t get surrounded.
Anyone ever read “The Baron in the Tree”? It’s the story of a guy who one day decides to climb up a tree at the age of 12 and he never comes down.
Is that a short story, Greg? Sounds really familiar.
I read it a loong time ago when I was at school. Can’t remember how long it was but here is the wiki link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baron_in_the_Trees
i was kind of thinking about a ”marking my teritory” if you know what i mean
the hunger games is a good movie, it did show me a few good tips of survival though, i think that we can all learn something from that movie
I thought it was pretty entertaining.
Although I still don’t know why anyone would genetically engineer killer bees.
You’d have to have read the books to understand the genetically mutated animals/insects. There’s a large bit of story they left out, and it nearly ruined the mood of the movie.
Ah, that makes sense. I guess that’s just the nature of adaptation.
I haven’t seen Hunger Games (any good?), so I don’t know what kind of killer bees you mean, but someone engineered killer bees in real life, and they’re spreading north through the southern states. Killer bees
They’re not really killers, of course, but they are a lot more aggressive than regular bees.
i wouldnt want to wake up from da tent and see all dose zombies
Not a great way to be awakened, that’s for sure.
hopfully clark didnt leave his tent open, or unzipped
Even if he didn’t, a nylon or canvas tent isn’t a hell of a lot of protection.
No, but it might be enough to stop a zombie who is wandering aimlessly. If they know you’re in there though, it probably wouldn’t last that long. I don’t know if they would be able to rip it, but they could uproot the thing and crush you inside it even if they couldn’t tear the fabric.
See now why I would be concerned by snoring? Small tent, nightfall, critters silent ’cause aware of danger; a snorer would be like, “Hey! Zombie Denny’s stop on in and have a Grand Slam!”
Speaking of Off Topic, Neil Armstrong died!
But I digress . . . As to group dynamics ‘n process, the place rocks; the majority are respectful AND fun loving (a rarity in social media). The getting off topic thingie is normative conversattional dynamics; especially since 3 convo prompts are provided by The Dave in each episode. Only when it becomes disrespectful and insulting that it should be addressed. By and large, it’s a self-regulating, mature group, considering the theme. 🙂
neil armstrong is dead!? but he owed me seven dollars, oh well
Rumor has it. AC, that it was due to the long-term use of Performance Enhanced Tang. The title of The First Man on The Moon may now be given to that guy in the capsule who nobody remembers.
Yuri Gagarin?
speaking of the moon, have you guys ever played call of duty black opps zombies moon base? its where 20 or so deseased aliens landed on the face of the moon, apollo 8 was sent up there to cheak it out, now that started a zombie apocolipse that any survivors were told to keep quiet about their horrible experience after it was cleared up, its a fun game
I haven’t; I don’t get a chance to play many video games these days. Sounds kind of awesome though.
oh but it is, and the best part is that zombie mode is endless, you simply cant beat it, no matter what round you get to. if one of your friends have the game, try it sometime
Wha-buh-huh Luis? The first man on the moon doesn’t change just because he died. And what guy nobody remembers? I’m pretty sure Buzz Aldrin is nearly as famous as Armstrong. Or did you mean Collins? He never landed on the moon.
Okay, the feedback I’m getting back here is pretty encouraging. I’m wondering if I need to bother writing up a rule sheet at all now.
I don’t recall this group ever being rude or insulting to eachother. I usually try to keep personal info related to the topic and, for the most part, I think everyone else does the same.
Besides, if you guys really wanted to hear about my kid’s soccer team, you’d just have to look on facebook. lol
As far as the rudeness, it’s pretty rare. I’m thinking I’m over-reacting here.
And, as a Facebook friend, I can definitely confirm that.
Well, if there is a dude hidden in that tree he is certainly clever to have waited a bit before taking down the first zed…
In what concern today’s question… first of all, I beg to disagree Dave, it is anything but a lame one. This community is what makes this site so special, not just the awesome comic or the incredibly creative posts of your writers (eh!)! And it’s you Dave that is the cement of the group and I am extremely grateful for everything you do to keep this site going. You are worried that things could subtly get out of control somehow and this is the mark of a careful man, I did not expect any less of you!
Now more specifically on what I like about the community. Well, a lot of things. The diversity of origins, age, opinions, the mutual respect that is shown, the humor, the capacity to talk about things as futile as Lego zombies and still be able to do in such an educated manner. In short I love being a part of this group, I am convinced that this place is a very special corner of the internet and feel gifted to have found it. My only fear is that one day the site will finally get the major attention it deserves and that we might loose a bit of the original spirit in the process.
Thank you for the kind word, Yatkuu.
“My only fear is that one day the site will finally get the major attention it deserves and that we might loose a bit of the original spirit in the process.”
My only counterpoint: someone might pull up to my house with a dump truck full of money. Not likely, I’ll grant you that, but a man can dream.
Hehe, not sure how to say that in english but a dump truck full of cash is the worst I’m wishing you!
According to Wikipedia, it’s a novel. Nope, I definitely never read it. Sounds pretty interesting though.
Yeah we tend to regulate our selves, and I tend to be the one that gets all up in stitches when stuff seems off or wrong. You might of expected me to like the idea of some rules, but I actually think it’s nice if it goes unregulated. We tend to regulate our selves and that’s how it should usually be, or possibly in all cases.
Fair enough.
“It seems like we’ve had a lot of meta-commentary going on in the comments of late.”
I haven’t even noticed I guess. I don’t have the time to participate in the comments like I used to now that I am not suffering away in a cubicle anymore.
I will just say this…
ATTENTION TROLLERS
Get your shit together!
thanks
Hah, well we should be all set then.
Regarding the “meta-commentary” – I haven’t seen that much going on here, but I will say this: If it’s some crazy poster demanding to know who’s in the tent by the time the next strip is out, don’t worry Dave, we got your back covered like it was bristling with porcupine spikes! 😀 They will be subdued and rather quickly I reckon! 😉
Testify!
well killing zombies isnt as easy as it looks, it might take a lot of sharpeners a lot of ammo, and of course, dipers for the next generation of kids amongst the walking dead, this generation will be much more stealthy than the other generation
Say what you will about the zombie apocalypse, but it will help us raise tougher kids.
Fewer of them, yes, but stronger.
Thank you. I love what you’ve done with the place.
Much obliged.
Nice job, Dave, the light tent really works well for diffusing the light and giving it that “nighttime” look. I love the hippie zombie, too!
It’s true, you can’t have just one, whether you’re talking about actual zombies, or zombie minifigures.
What format do you work in?
Format? Do you mean how I put together the comic? I use Photoshop.
When you export from Photo what format and size do you use? TIFF, PNG, JPG and DPI?
JPG
Maybe update the Character Bios? I’m not sure that’s that much to improve upon.
Yeah, this is one of my scheduled projects.
hey dave, ive got an idea for another contest “halloween catastrophe picture contest”
Sounds interesting.
I’m working on one as well. Need to line up prizes before I get too excited about it.
how about the zombie defence pack from brickforage? and the bugout pack? those are some pretty awesome things that i might want for a contest prize, and with the bugout pack, include a brickarms black minigun with brass ammo, it wasnt worth the $8, but neither are any the other guns on brickarms
And how much money will you be donating for the prizes, AC; or did you expect Dave to front it himself?
Last I notices, this is an unpaid enterprise.
bo, ive bought the minigun myself, but i have 5 other siblings in my house, its hard to keep them all out of your room. its not like you know anything about that.
Me? No. I have a two year old and six year old son that are always getting into the LEGO, and especially the smaller elements and custom accessories (Brickarms, BrickForge, etc.); so yes, I know all about that. Don’t go assuming, AC.
My point is that you want Dave to give all of these prizes in a contest. You admit they are expensive, then you say they aren’t worth the money, to you I presume; but you want Dave to pony them up, without making any monetary contribution to the same.
Seems selfish to me.