UPDATING OCCASIONALLY (FOR NOW)

9 thoughts on “542 – Catching Up”

  1. Keith

    Some friction, but yeah. IRL, I’d like these two…they should have kids. 😉

    1. Dawn

      I might have to draw out what their kid would look like. First thought is that their kid would look like Ongo Gablogian from “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”

    2. Scarsdale

      He’s pushing 60, she’s maybe 30, more likely less. Chuck is most likely shooting blanks, and besides, he’s talking to her like a baby sister than a love interest.

      1. Keith

        Up in these hills, sometimes family is all y’gots. 😉

  2. ConcordBob

    It is really hard to have a favorite character, as there are so many good ones. But I think Rosa is my favorite. Chuck is a good accomplice in sneaking work, but not much for romance. Uugh.

  3. Otaku

    I mean, if they don’t have at least an inkling of what’s going down, I’m actually disappointed in Clearstream. If anything, I’m starting to wonder if they caught on and realized “Wait, we can use this.”

    Because of course they can. 😉

  4. Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)

    I’m way ahead of you – I’ve been waiting for you to catch up. From November 2020:
    I would hope for nothing less – her and Chuck have the potential for a great deal of positive mischief.
    Speaking of which, I received the email notifying me that my order for the NSFW “Chuck and Rosa Finally Do It” (age verification required) limited edition hardcover is going to be delayed due to the pandemic. I think it’s really cool that you’ll be adding some additional stretch goal goodies when it ships – thanks for all your story and art.
    As for the inscription, ” We owe it all to you ” will be sufficient.

  5. Crazyman

    Partners in crime! 😈

  6. TKG

    A crime so perfect she went full on wall-eye!

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542 – Catching Up
Posted on April 9, 2025 by Dawn

Creeping in with the creepy…

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Clint
That title sounds like something Buffy Summers or one of her “Scooby Gang” would have said back in her vampire slaying heyday, but basically I’m just feeling pleased to hear feedback from several readers that the Huachucas are freaking them out. I think any kind of creative artist gets a certain smug satisfaction out of manipulating their audience successfully in the way they imagined, even if we don’t admit it… Wait, did I just type that out loud? Okay, well, please don’t get some image of me cackling and shouting “DANCE, PUPPETS, DANCE!”. Unless I look really awesome. In these days of thinning hair and getting tired before midnight, I can’t really afford to pass up any chance to look awesome. And be sure you stick Dawn in there, since she’s the one translating my concepts to unsettling visuals, as well as adding creepy touches of her own. I’m sure not everyone out there is equally unnerved, assuming they’re even scared at all. I still have the thoughts that real horror is challenging to pull off in a comic format, and that horror itself can be very subjective. I still figure that Zombie Ranch isn’t first and foremost a “horror comic”, even though I did declare horror to a matter of intent, and did come at these last couple of pages with an ambition to frighten. I truthfully had no idea if that would succeed, though. Zombie Ranch has been noted by more than one critic as not being very scary. Could I manage it if I tried? To be sure there are things you can do to try to evoke the proper response. You can play on the more universal fears of humankind, such as darkness and the unknown, which we’d been doing with the Huachucas up until now. They were a barely glimpsed, shrouded Other, known only by the whispers and shivers of the protagonists. They also had a silly name that sounded like someone sneezing, which may have undercut the menace. In my mind, though, I liked to think it heightened it, because none of my characters who knew of the Huachucas wanted to joke about them. I imagined them giving someone who did make jokes the same wide-eyed stares of fear and disbelief people would give the new guy at Doctor Doom’s cabinet meeting when he wonders aloud “Why are we listening to this tin can in a cloak?” It’s like being a newly minted NFL running back in the late 1960s and laughing at Dick Butkus for his name. Sure, it’s a ridiculous name. It’s a ridiculous name borne by a gigantic man who is just looking for an excuse to smash you into the ground. If Admiral Ackbar was around he’d be shouting his iconic warning of “It’s a trap!”. One of the reasons I always figured Zombie Ranch didn’t come off as being all that scary is because of the casual attitudes the main protagonists have towards things and situations we’d consider horrific. It’s just everyday routine to them. But precisely because of that, I think it becomes powerful when those same people lose their cool at the thought of crossing up the Huachucas. When Batman (or another iconic badass of choice) tells you he doesn’t want to mess with something, then we mere mortals have to wonder, “What the hell would make Batman afraid?” Suzie’s faced down an entire horde of zombies without batting an eye, and ordered Zeke’s throat cut with no more than a weary sadness… but the Huachucas make her shudder. It’s good to know she’s not alone.