Zombie Cliche Lookout: All Alone
Surviving a zombie outbreak is tough enough with a group of people who are watching your back and picking up your slack. When you find yourself all along, the stakes get raised several orders of magnitude. When you’re with a group, you get the luxury of divvying responsibilities. You have some people who are naturally better at things, and make the group stronger and more efficient. At night, you can set watches so everyone has a fair amount of sleep. Going it alone, you reap none of these benefits.
About this Episode:
In the third panel, I wanted to make it look like Brent was all alone, one tiny man in a big world. Unfortunately, my set here is pretty tiny, so I don’t think it quite came out the way I had pictured in my head. But still, now you know where I was going with it, and that’s just as good. Right? Right.
Discussion Question: The Footwear Question
And once again I’m tapping into your discussion question suggestions. This time, we’re talking shoes. The original question was about your preferred footwear for the zombie apocalypse, but I’d like to expand it a bit. So not only do I want to hear about what you’d prefer to wear in a survival situation, but I also want to know how close that matches up to what you wear day-to-day. So if you prefer steel toed boots for kicking in zombie skulls, but walk around in flip-flops every day, what’s your plan when the shit hits the fan?
I usually wear either work boots or hiking boots, which is exactly what I’d want in a zombie survival situation. I’ve got a bad ankle, so I appreciate the extra support. They’re also durable and comfortable, which are two huge pluses for me.
Chuck Taylors. I wear them anyway, they’re pretty durable, and they look nice. Plus, I’d probably do a lot of running away…So, yeah. They’re also comfortable.
I honestly couldn’t see myself wearing anything else on my feet, tbh.
I’ve never owned a pair myself, but I know quite a few people who love them.
I’ve been wearing boots for quite some time and I think I’ll stick to them as they haven’t failed me before. Steel toed aren’t bad, but i haven’t worn them too much.
To specify why..
They’re sturdy and mine has lasted me through many many hikes and many days of wear. I enjoy the comfort that they give rather than the feel of normal shoes which tend to make my feat hurt, haven’t twisted my ankle in them, and kicking things tends to get a wee bit more support unlike normal shoes.
PS: they kinda also help build more leg strength on hikes.
All excellent points.
Dave really needs a fan in the next comic somewhere, you just know what’s going to be hitting it! 😀
Hah!
As for what I prefer it would be hiking boots, like you Dave my ankle isn’t as good and the extra support indeed is nice to have. What I do wear though is a completely different story, since it’s generally running shoes which are very comfortable and if I have to make a run for it well, the name of the shoe gives away what they’re good for. Only down side to those is that I’m not sure of how long they would last when you run all day and their grip on dirt/rocks isn’t as good, so those arent sticking with me for long.
Yeah, running shoes tend to be really comfortable, but also very lacking in the durability department.
I have a bolt in each of my ankles so I almost always wear my Mack steel toe boots. They have lasted through all that I put them through and great stomping shoes.
Both ankles eh? Yeesh. I just have one that’s messed up. I ended up with cadaver bone in mine.
Well that’s a lovely thought. Some dead guy’s in your feet?
Yes indeed. Well, part of some dead guy, anyway.
I think you have to update youre character bios
Gr. Stanle
I know, it’s on my backlog.
I think you have to update youre character bios
Gr. Stanley . I Love this Story!! But maybe you can combinate the storys a little.
Thanks Stanley. I like keeping the stories separate since it lets be bounce around and examine different things.
I hate shopping so I usually only have 1 or 2 pairs of shoes at any given time and the weather and prcie dictates that choice. So in apocolypse I’d probably have more options since I could raid the mall and take what I want not what I can afford. However, I’d imagine that the mall would be full of zombies BUT if I could kill them all and seal the place I think it wouldn’t be a bad way to spend a day without annoying customer service or other customers. Not alot of long lasting food there though so it’d be a short visit
To summarize:
1. Take over mall
2. Kill Zombies
3. SHOES!
I’m loving the second frame. The hair piece shape combined with the dialog and action is conveying a great sense of motion, which is extremely difficult to achieve with LEGO. Well done Dave!
Thank you, sir!
Typo alert: 4th line of Zombie Cliche Lookout, I think “Along” is supposed to be Alone, no? Maybe those frog feet shoes with toes. They’re made to get wet and dry themselves. Not that much protection, though.
Good eye, Nom Zoms! Fixed.
A lot of people seem to like those barefoot runners. They look uncomfortable to me, but I’ve never tried them.
I would prefer to be wearing my hiking boots, but I only wear them when actually hiking. Most of the time, I’m wearing tennis shoes so I’ll still be okay in the short term. In the long term, my tennis shoes wear out pretty fast because they’re so lightweight. On those rare days that I am wearing dress shoes, I’m a little concerned as they’re not as sturdy/rugged as my other shoes but at least they’re not heels so I can still run.
ps – divying instead of diving?
Ah, right you are, Kim. Fixed!
And dress shoes would make me sad. I have to wear them two or three times a year maybe, and I always hate it.
I have to buy new shoes every couple of months. I’m on my feet all the time and wear them down quickly. The only shoes/boots I can’t seem to break are my steel toed, construction safe Kodak boots that I’ve had for the last five years. I wear them for work and when I’m inbetween runnig shoes so my feet and legs are used to added weight. So I guess I’m wearing these boots during the fight against zombies. Zombies beware!
I used to be like that with shoes too. Now that I wear work boots most of the time (Red Wings), they last a lot longer.
I have a pair of “tactical” boots I use in winter, but for most of the year sneakers are what I wear. Sneakers are good all purpose shoes, allowing me to run, jump, climb, etc, all far better than I could with boots.
In my opinion, the boots only win the durability, warmth, and water resistant departments. To be fair, these are very important factors, but which would you prefer, running around with cold/wet feet, or failing to parkour your way over a set of walls and dying with your nice boots?
Also, I see a lot of people talking about kicking things with boots, and as someone who has had Tae Kwon Do training, kicking with the toes feels horribly wrong, not to mention tends to hurt my weird toenails. With a sneaker I can flex the foot more and kick with the ball of my foot as I am accustom to, something rather difficult in a stiff boot.
Of course, I would also argue that if you are striking out with front kicks instead of thrusting out with the ball and instep to push a zombie away, you are already in a great deal of trouble and screwed up something awful. You should be doing your best to keep the zombies away with weapons and careful planning before actually having to resort to toe to toe fighting (See what I did there?). A kick in such combat should be less about striking and more about knocking down so you can get away or apply a weapon. In that case, boots work for kicking just fine.
That should say with the HEEL and instep, as done by military forces the world over, ranging from knights of the 14th century to Special Forces today. (Not really the instep so much as the heel, but whatever. I’m low on sleep and sick to boot here.)
I have a pair of Danner Acadia’s that I have worn almost every day for the last seven years or so. Once a year, on the week between Christmas and New Year’s they go to the cobbler for a new set of soles. Sure, they’re three hundred dollar boots, and soles are about ninety bucks a year; but I have worn the heck out of them. I prefer them because they’re made in Oregon, not China. They have lug soles; so when I am walking through a hoarder’s apartment with dog shit on the floor, I don’t worry about stepping on an old insulin syringe and getting hepatitis. Because they’re quality, I can always get them resoled. They take a shine well, too. I am not worrying about them wearing out any time soon. I might get a second pair this year, just to have another pair in rotation or for a backup; but I can’t beat them for durability or quality.