Remember what I said about having doubts about web comics? Zombie Ranch is an example of why I am sometimes skeptical. Set in a future after the Zombie Apocalypse, Zombie Ranch tells of a future where the horrors of the zombies have been turned into pharmaceutical miracles, leading to the big business of zombie ranching (on zombie horses, of course).
I read the first couple of pages in shock at how bad it was, then kept reading a couple more pages, then a couple more, then, inexplicably, it actually started working. The art is semi-amateurish computer graphics, but sure is better than what I could do. The writing isn't great, but it is fun, and since I have never buckled down and published a comic myself, who am I to criticize? Somehow when you throw all this together it actually becomes an intriguing story that you have to keep flipping through.
Zombie Ranch is, well... it's kind of fun. Clearly someone has put a lot of time and thought into it. There’s even a theme song:
Every sunrise they greet a new dawn of the dead
They’re out boltin’ and brandin’ and countin’ the head
No glory, no diamonds, no frills and no mansion
It just, just pays the bills when you’re out zombie ranchin’
They’re out boltin’ and brandin’ and countin’ the head
No glory, no diamonds, no frills and no mansion
It just, just pays the bills when you’re out zombie ranchin’
They’ve stepped to the call with one foot in the grave
So far from the walls of a Safe Zone enclave
So come on and ride with the bold and the brave.
So far from the walls of a Safe Zone enclave
So come on and ride with the bold and the brave.
Though this kind of strife, might set city folks to blanchin’
It’s just a day in the unlife, when you’re out zombie ranchin’.
It’s just a day in the unlife, when you’re out zombie ranchin’.
It’s just a day in the unlife, when you’re out zombie ranchin’.
It’s just a day in the unlife, when you’re out zombie ranchin’.
Zombie Ranch! Round up some walking dead today.
Hey, I'm one half of those someones you mentioned. It's our first comic project, definitely a DIY and hopefully something we're getting better at as we go along. I appreciate the brutally honest assessment, especially because it means you've got no motive to say you were intrigued enough to keep on reading, except that you really, truly were intrigued enough to keep on reading.
ReplyDeleteThat's arguably the most important core of any story. As for the rest, well, we'll be working on it and we'll see where we are down the road. Seriously, though, thanks for taking the time to write us up.
Clint,
ReplyDeleteI do trend towards some brutal honesty in this blog, and having consumed a lot of comics in my lifetime my standards are pretty high. For a first effort this is pretty good, better than the first efforts of some other comics professionals I've known. Thanks for appreciating some honest feedback. I'll stop by the Zombie Ranch again to see how them zombies are staggering.
Sounds good to me, and hey, at least by now we've worked out some things like how to do lettering properly, as opposed to that wild and wooly mess at the beginning. Webcomics have a tradition of not going back and revising the early mistakes, though, both so a reader can see how far you've come, and (I believe) so a creator can be eternally humbled into doing better.
ReplyDeleteNow if you'll excuse me, I have this newly discovered blog to nose around in for sundry manner of Western material...