Technically I might have wanted to delay this blog, for reasons that we’ve hinted at over the course of the comic but are due to bubble to the surface again soon. But hey, the aspect of generations is on my mind. In
Zombie Ranch, it’s at a core of Suzie’s character as she struggles to live up to the legacy her daddy left behind. In the just released
Luke Cage on Netflix, the legacy of parents and guardians (or sometimes the lack thereof) echoes down to the present, whether it’s in the full-on flashbacks of the Stokes family or a throwaway exchange between Misty Knight and Claire Temple after they beat up a bad guy:
“You got skills.”
“Likewise.”
“My father.”
“My uncle.”
Makes me realize I’m not exactly bucking the trend with the heavy implication that Suzie learned not only how to fight but most of the rest of what she knows from her dad. It’s rare in fiction to get the mom in the role of passing on the more rough-and-tumble sort of legacy.
I mean think about it — how many times in fiction have we seen this happen:
- Female character displays skill with firearm.
- Surprised male character comments on this.
- Female character explains that her father or some other older man in her life taught her.
Now, I’ve seen variations on that exchange in stories a hundred years old or more. Hell I think it’s even been in a drama from Ancient Greece (with the gun instead being a sword or bow, of course).
See, I was going to go forward with my personal thoughts that right now the Geekosphere is going through a period of transition where some of the daughters whose dads loved Dungeons & Dragons and comic books are growing up and inheriting that love, and are starting to have kids of their own… and so maybe now mom will be the one passing that on to the third generation.
But will she? What keeps happening where that exchange I refer to above, at least in fiction, keeps reoccurring? Shouldn’t at least some of those ladies whose daddies taught ’em to shoot be growing up and teaching their own sons and daughters (or nieces, or cousins, etc.) how to shoot in turn? It’s like those
genetically engineered seeds that are only good for one planting (which is going to make things really, really fun if an apocalypse ever does occur).
Maybe it’s a cultural thing where throughout history most of the fiction ever written, at least the surviving fiction, is from a male viewpoint, and the idea of a woman warrior seems to always be treated as an anomaly. Just think about how, regardless of whether he’s supportive or antagonistic to the idea that a woman can shoot straight, the male character is almost inevitably surprised that she can.
This is one of the subtly positive features of
Mad Max: Fury Road that I kept hearing women I know bring up — Max never questions the idea that Furiosa can fight. Hell, he’s even extremely cautious around the Wives. Furiosa might even qualify as someone who learned to fight from the matriarchs of the Green Place before she was taken away.
But who knows? I don’t think it inherently makes a story any weaker to have the learning of skills come from a male or female mentor. But I wonder if, given another generation, the age old dialogue will continue unaltered… or we might at last start to see some more badass moms and aunts and other lady elders of fiction passing on their fightin’ legacies alongside the men.
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12 thoughts on “540 – Trick Hello”
Scarsdale
Called it, she figured he’d do this, if by choice or by zombie voodoo. I’m sure the “friendlier” questioning will start soon, if she doesn’t just kill him out-right. Or just add him to the herd.
Crazyman
Gotcha!
Zombatar
This turn of events is a surprise only to Eustace. And, maybe, Eustace’s subconscious. After all, this way he doesn’t have to actually risk actually attacking Suzie, which gives him a greater chance of survival than actually attacking her. I wonder what he was promised/threatened with?
ConcordBob
Not to nit-pick, but since sights are on target, finger should be on the trigger. Especially this close.
The usual rule is “keep finger straight and off trigger until sights are on target”.
Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)
Not to nit-pick, but since that was current philosophies regarding trigger discipline have evolved.
Of course, it will depend on who you get/got your training from.
Experiments have determined that the fraction of a second to go from finger off the trigger to finger firing when appropriate is insignificant, and the risk of firing unintended is greatly reduced.
Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)
I did the google thing and I believe I saw how you reached this conclusion … but there are two parts to it – One should not omit the second part.
“Trigger Finger Discipline: · The practice of keeping your finger “off the trigger” until your sights are on target AND YOU ARE READY TO DISCHARGE THE FIREARM.” (Caps are my own)
Crazyman
She wants him alive so she can question him; otherwise, he’d already be dead.
ConcordBob
Good discussion on trigger discipline!
His skin is very pale / gray. Is this malnourishment, or has he been poisoned with a mind-control drug? I would have to go back and look a t all various of skin tone.
TKG
On a prior page we discussed what he’s likely got running in his system. I suggested that it’s probably Borrochero (Brugmansia arbora) which is already used by Colombian cartels to eradicate the free will of their victims.
ConcordBob
Oh, the gray is just the dim light. Here is McCarthy eating dinner, and has the typical white dude flesh tone.
https://www.zombieranchcomic.com/comic/531-inquisitional-etiquette/
Dawn
Yeah, I was trying to show that it was dark. But went with the old Hollywood method of adding a blue grey tint over everything.
Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)
Now can we satisfy my curiosity? Colt, Smith & Wesson, Ruger, or other timeline variant?