Zombie Cliche Lookout: Body Count
If you want to show how evil a person is, there are a couple of well defined shortcuts. Having them abuse a child or a dog is usually a sure-fire way to get your audience to absolutely despise a character. Even those who don’t particularly like kids or dogs don’t want to see either abused. While that method is pretty heavy-handed, there are even more direct approaches out there. Discovering, perhaps, a grisly pile of victims at the character’s house is usually an obvious way to telegraph their true intentions.
While these techniques are certainly effective when the audience can actually see them, they lose a little something when being relayed second hand by another character. What was once a clear-cut demonstration of just how nasty of a character we have, is now a question of whether we can trust the person relaying that information. Do they have any sort of ulterior motives that might inspire them to do a little creative storytelling, or are they telling the truth?
About this Episode:
I like making bad guys in the comic, but creating characters with clear motivations is a little boring. That’s why I like to muddy the waters just a bit here. We didn’t see the bodies, so whether Lou is a murderer comes down to whether we can trust Inez at her word. Since she is, at least partially, responsible for his death, it’s tough to take her at her word. On the other hand, she is a reporter, which I think lends her a bit of credibility.
Other News:
I’m out of town until Wednesday, so I probably won’t be following up to your comments as quickly as usual. Apologies in advance.
Discussion Question: What Happened to Lou?
I have to wonder how many of you believe Inez’s story. Did Lou die despite her best efforts to save him? Did she allow the zombies to kill him? Or did she just murder him outright?
Typo alert, Zombie Cliche Lookout, second sentence: “Even for those” Remove struck out word (and associated space, of course) 😀
Same section, second paragraph, first sentence: characters–>character
About This Episode, second sentence: world–>word 😉
Fixed all
Regarding the discussion question, it’s really impossible to say since you didn’t actually show us what did happen to Lou, you just shoveled hints here and there into the story afterwards. I’d really rather prefer you told us via the actual story itself what your intentions had been for Lou’s fate, rather than guess at what Inez’s or anyone else’s motives were.
You could consider doing a flashback from Inez’s perspective, and show us what was seen from her point of view, and it wouldn’t have to include most of that which has already transpired, just the parts she saw and did. 😀
There are only two choices she killed him either by gun or zombie or she wasn’t able to prevent it. I go with she allowed the zombies to get him. She felt it was justified and he deserved it and she could explain it away if she needed to.
The other third “choice” is that her action of hitting him in the head with a sledgehammer and causing his lower limbs to be rendered useless caused complications that killed him and she was unable to understand what she’d done to him.
“On the other hand, she is a reporter, which I think lends her a bit of credibility”
Haha! Because there has never been evidence of reporters or media altering the truth to get a across another angle. I’m not saying she is lying, just saying the potential is there.
Gazing out into the distance while she tells her story.
I guess we wait and see. We have zombies wandering in, the boys heading to the truck, and Murphy and Inez having a heart to heart.
You’re good Dave, very good!
Gazing out into the distance or keeping an eye out for ye old shambling not quite dead yet persons of interest….
Hrm, I wonder if Dave’s auto-publisher messed up, or if he didn’t get back in time to put the episode for Wednesday up? 😀
I have no idea what happened to the comic. It didn’t publish and the image is missing. I’ll fix it when I get home from work tonight. Apologies for the inconvenience.
Wow those image eating bugs must be a bug of a different sort, huh? 😀
I figured it out. Posting the episode momentarily.