Screenplay Page 2
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008Finally finished another page of the Last Blood screenplay. I’ve been incredibly lazy recently, even more than usual, which is hard to do. The strike appears to be ending very soon (although nothing’s guaranteed there), which would be a great time to sell a screenplay, so hopefully I’ll write a million pages in the next very short period of time.
Finished this page literally five minutes ago, so things will probably change before the whole thing’s done. Already made a few small changes to the first page, which you should obviously read before this one, although that link simply shows the original version from December.
Page 2 features the first significant changes from the comic, since we now see The First Zombie controlling his zombies much much earlier in an extended opening scene. Not positive that it’s a good decision at the moment. It serves two purposes: to make things more clear and to make things less clear.
What it makes more clear is the powers of The First Zombie, to help illustrate right from the start how it was possible (or at least a lot more possible, for you skeptics) for him to kill almost everyone on Earth so quickly. Even after the schaemiac situation was explained in the comic, people were still whining about how “zombies can’t kill everyone in only a month” and it seemed like none of them had even read the comic and understood that they had a leader who could control all the others with his mind. Zombies are dangerous enough without that — with it they’re unstoppable, especially if that leader has any brain at all and can smell us out from hundreds of miles away. What this page makes less clear is what exactly is going on in this movie for a first time reader/viewer. In the comic version people thought “Oh no, a zombie bit a girl!” Now they think “The zombie has fangs and telepathic powers? What’s going on here?!” Might be too much too soon, but I’m liking it for now. I can already picture it as a nice little deleted scene if it doesn’t work, though. I want a Last Blood DVD to watch right now.
And that’s the end of the first scene, by the way. Page 3 starts off with a new scene at the school that features dialogue from April, Jimmy, Murdo and Grady.
February 6th, 2008 at 2:03 am
Wow, it’s another screenplay page. And it’s got gripping action in it. This script is already brilliant. All two pages of it.
February 6th, 2008 at 2:13 am
She drives the car willingly?? Did I miss anything?
February 6th, 2008 at 2:16 am
“She drives the car willingly?? Did I miss anything?”
She was bit by a zombie who was bit by The First Zombie, then she was drowned (killed), so now she’s under his control too and he’s obviously telling them telepahtically to follow him and get in the car and drive it away and so on. He’s controlling everything they do. Did you read the first graphic novel where this was all explained? As I said, it makes things more confusing for a first time reader (until it’s explained later in the story, of course), but I assumed anyone reading this would have read the comic already.
Also, if you didn’t pick up on it, and I’m pretty sure you didn’t, she was killed like that for two reasons. One was to show that just a small bite is good enough to zombify someone (after they then die, of course), and because TFZ wanted her to not look as openly dead as his other two victims, since someone had to drive the car and look somewhat “presentable” to the world for a brief time here, as opposed to the girls with chunks of their neck missing and covered in blood. She needed that bite/scrape in order to become a zombie and be put under his control. Simply drowning her without the bite wouldn’t have accomplished anything other than her regular death (not zombified).
February 6th, 2008 at 3:00 am
Awesome! cant wait to watch it! keep the comic and the screenplay coming, really enjoying the colour, great stuff!
February 6th, 2008 at 3:31 am
I noticed another change from the comic. As we see on page 3 there are other people on the beach. Intentional or not, I bet someone will bitch about it as in a mistake without understanding that the film WILL have to be a little bit different.
Great to see this going on. I wish you a lot of strenght and will to keep it coming. I wanna Last Blood DVD as well =D
February 6th, 2008 at 3:35 am
The film doesn’t have to be different, but it’s going to be a ton different, since the comic sucked.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:21 am
I like the start. The screenplay obviously needs some changes to the original story or at least additional scenes. Without the comments it is impossible to fully understand the story from the comic in full depth. This page indeed explains a lot since you see that TFZ isn’t a mindless creature and he is able to control the zombies. Next scene: Looking for the airport? He probably wouldn’t know the way and he can’t be sure how transportation and security developed over time…
He doesn’t *know* everything his victims knew, right? I know he can make them do things they could do while alive like flying planes. If he gains knowlege though by biting it would be nice to see a short flash after the bite (maybe Wendy or Sarah is an air hostess) or we see TFZ searching for information in the next scene…
February 6th, 2008 at 4:31 am
“Next scene: Looking for the airport?”
Read the blog post. “And that’s the end of the first scene, by the way. Page 3 starts off with a new scene at the school that features dialogue from April, Jimmy, Murdo and Grady.”
February 6th, 2008 at 6:19 am
nice screenplay, im more of a visual person myself, so i normally prefer the comic version, but the writing is so graphic that its awesome to read!
keep up the good work
February 6th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Wow. Just thinking about hearing WLB talk for the first time gives me sort of a THOOM feeling.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Long time reader here, great comic. Don’t waste your breath on the movie script though, I doubt it will get picked up. You don’t need a good script these days to film a big time movie, just connections and capital. But Bobby, I would be delighted to be proved wrong.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:51 am
My guess is that, in the movie, zombies’ eyes won’t glow as in the comics (as far as I remember, it was an aesthetic decision by Owen, right?)… I mean a little scratch on back looks innocent enough, but a pair of freaky glaring eyes not so much. Unless dark glasses are sufficient to mask it… Or the glow effect kicks in after some time (a week or so, yeah, I know that in the comic it was practically instant after death…).
February 6th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Sort of continuing the conversation about vampire gifts from the last page, would Rage’s superior strength and general ass-kickery qualify for “gift” status? I recall you saying that he was already incredibly strong when he was turned (something like a professional wrestler or something), but it seems his sheer physical might is well beyond most of the other vamps. Was his already great strength simply magnified by vampirification, or was it massively magnified like Val/Math/Francis’ noses?
Also, I’m loving the screenplay so far.
February 6th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Oh thanks Anko. I confused page and scene.. of course the first 2 pages are one scene.
Still I think it would be good to show a little more about the outbreak…
The comic has this jump from day one to like week four – I don’t know.. maybe this dialogue at the school is on day one too or we’ll see scenes about the outbreak later.
Just wanted to point out that I think the change is very good but not sufficient to jump directly into the time where only few humans are left.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:04 am
This might have been answered (but I didn’t see it), and it’s not out of criticism, just curiosity . . ..
. . . I was impressed, at first, that Last Blood and Marry Me were already registered with the Writer’s guild back when they started (I’ve been reading MM since like page 2, and LB since page 8 or something) . . . but how does the Writer’s strike affect what Bobby is or isn’t allowed to write? Is he/are you allowed to write, but just not allowed to sell it to a studio until the strike is over? Is that how that works?
Kinda wondering how Guild rules work and all that. It’s interesting.
I love them both, still. And even though the “reward pellet” only comes every so often, I still end up clicking the refresh button on each multiple times most days.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:09 am
“Was his already great strength simply magnified by vampirification, or was it massively magnified like Val/Math/Francis’ noses?”
Here’s part of an old comment by Bobby that you might find helpful. “All vampires are super strong to some degree. Even Devian is much stronger than a normal human of her same height and weight, which isn’t saying much, though (still not strong enough to carry 200 pounds, twice her weight, while flying for 50 miles). Not all vampires have some sort of unique ability. Rage was already very strong before he became a vampire, since he was a professional wrestler who worked out all the time, and becoming a vampire enhances most of your abilities as a human. So if you were already strong, then you’re gonna be super strong, even more than a normal vampire. A “normal” vampire is probably twice as strong as the strongest human in the world of their same height and weight, but it varies from case to case. Devian is weaker than a normal vampire, for example.”
February 6th, 2008 at 9:24 am
wow very nice
I imagined everything as it would have happened.
February 6th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
“Without the comments it is impossible to fully understand the story from the comic in full depth.”
That’s false.
“This page indeed explains a lot since you see that TFZ isn’t a mindless creature and he is able to control the zombies.”
That’s obviously also explained in the comic in massive detail, just not this early.
“He doesn’t *know* everything his victims knew, right?”
He can ask them anything they want and they’ll answer.
“Next scene: Looking for the airport?”
Most likely won’t be seeing Francis again until Act III.
“Don’t waste your breath on the movie script though, I doubt it will get picked up.”
I’ve already turned down a five figure option offer and I’ve recently signed a shopping agreement with a major management/production company (they’re attached as producers for any LB film deal in exchange for their help in getting that deal done) and if I don’t finish the script somewhat soon they’d probably be a little pissed. “I Am Legend” is gonna make $600 million worldwide — this is great timing for “Last Blood.”
M: Not gonna put the glowing eyes in the script. Who knows what would happen down the road. In the comic they had sunglasses at the airport to mask that.
“maybe this dialogue at the school is on day one too or we’ll see scenes about the outbreak later.”
Did you fail to read Page 101 or what?
“Just wanted to point out that I think the change is very good but not sufficient to jump directly into the time where only few humans are left.”
That’s how it’s supposed to be. It’s just a tease, seeing the very start of it, and then you’re supposed to wonder what happened and it makes it more of a surprise when we find out that the humans at the school are the only ones left in America. It puts us more into the mindset of the characters, since they also don’t know a whole lot of news after that opening scene. They know a few days more, but at that point they still thought there were billions left alive on Earth.
“Is he/are you allowed to write, but just not allowed to sell it to a studio until the strike is over? Is that how that works?”
Correct, unless I want to be black balled from the WGA basically. I’m not a member. I’d never do anything remotely scabbish, though. Also, nothing impressive at all about registering with the WGA. Costs $20 each, as I recall. I only have treatments of MM and LB registered. I’ve only registered one script, the first one I finished in 2000.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Its been awhile since i posted but i want to say really good job on the screen play, I like how your going around with the changing making every one who is bit a carrier until they die, also does this mean your going to throw out the scene when murado is dumping the TFZs body just asking because he mentions that the TFZ had WWII tags on him but if no one saw him on the beach he couldn’t have known. i don’t no you could probably just change it around to work
February 6th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
The scene’s still in, but there’s almost certainly no longer anything about The First Zombie. Removing the element of him allowing himself to get shot and all that. That scene is now mostly about Grady and Murdo talking about how April is losing her mind, based on the previous scene that starts on Page 3.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
k thx
February 6th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Heh, this beats the shit out of the first screenplay. I’m also guessing these are gonna fill in a few gaps between pages and add a bit more filler.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I’m not sure if it was intended or not, but it gave me the feel that Francis was getting a hold of and testing his new powers with the small bite and the drowning. I really enjoyed it. Good luck on the movie and I can’t wait to see it!
February 6th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Bobby, just wondering… Have you taken any screenplay writing classes?
I don’t know much about screenplays myself, but this doesn’t seem to match up with what my Aunt (who writes screenplays in LA) told me about them. I vaguely recall her telling me that you are supposed to keep it very simple, and not put too much detail into describing the characters actions, because that’s for the directors to decide and they get really ticked off when you do that.
But then again, this is the screenplay for a movie that you are proposing, not a movie that’s in production, so there might be different rules? I dunno, just commenting.
February 6th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
This is looking more and more interesting.
February 6th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Well I can honestly say this will be a most awesome movie. Which leads me to a question, do you have a good make-up artist for all the Zombie work?
February 6th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
“I don’t know much about screenplays myself, but this doesn’t seem to match up with what my Aunt (who writes screenplays in LA) told me about them.”
LOL. Anyway, I’ve read about 30 books on screenwriting and I’ve read every column at wordplayer.com about five times each, which is the best resource for screenwriting in the world, in my opinion.
“I vaguely recall her telling me that you are supposed to keep it very simple, and not put too much detail into describing the characters actions, because that’s for the directors to decide and they get really ticked off when you do that.”
Almost all of the actions described were necessary for understanding what’s going on here, but I plan to direct this movie myself anyway, so I’m not writing it 100% as how a spec would be written. I’m only selling this movie if I’m getting a crazy ton of money for it and my screenwriting style will not affect that. I’m perfectly fine with not selling it and making it myself after the shopping agreement ends.
“do you have a good make-up artist for all the Zombie work?”
Good chance I won’t be making it myself now. Lots of interest from Hollywood without even seeking any. Plan is to sell this script, and then there’d be a very small chance I’d be able to direct the film in that case. And no, don’t know any make-up artists — that will be a top priority if I end up making it myself, though! Which will now be summer of ’09 at the earliest probably.
February 6th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
“Without the comments it is impossible to fully understand the story from the comic in full depth.”
I agree with Bobby – “that’s false.”
I didn’t start reading the comments until about page 100 (or even later), and I always understood everything – vampires, zombies, schaemiacs…
How I did that? Easily – I PAID ATTENTION while reading the comic itself!
A thorough reader should be just fine, even without any of the comments
February 6th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
to sacha, i would have thought that this kind of film would be written very differently to a romcom or something, as a lot of the actions of characters are integral to the plot and backstory. for example, while in a drama or comedy etc the director would decide if a couple kisses in a scene or just hug, it’s pretty important that the zombie actually just SCRAPES her teeth against marissa, rather than a full-blown bite. the things that bobby has put in seem to be things that NEED to be there, and anything he omits can be decided by a director.
but then again, i don’t know much about screenplay writing either.
x.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Sacha, I have to agree with Mr Crosby. This is his piece and he’s obviously done his homework on how to write a screenplay. He can put as much or as little direction as he wants in it. In my opinion, the more direction there is, the more of a chance you actually remember what you wanted the character to do at the time. I’m all in favor for more direction to the screenplay.
On the other hand, I know what you’re saying is true. I took a playwriting class (which is pretty much the same thing as screenwriting). It honestly DID suck because what you say IS true. They expect the director to make the final decision on how it’s supposed to be, and therefore WANT as little direction as possible. But remember that this is HIS piece; he doesn’t HAVE to follow any specifics on screenwritings.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Mr. Crosby, I have to say, you’re really lucky to have people interested in your work. I know a few screenwriters personally, and a lot of their best scripts never get made. As for this first scene, I like it, but I’m not sure whether it would work or not, it really depends on how it would be shot. Anyway, while we’re on the subject of Schaemiacs, I have a question. You’ve probably answered this before (if you have I sincerely apologize) but did you know that for any chance for humanity to survive as a species, the survivors of the Zombie plague and nuclear war would have to number in the thousands (about 3000, I believe)? It’s a scientific fact, and has to do with genetic diversity; every animal species on earth has to have more than fixed amount of individuals alive or it is doomed to extinction, no matter what. You’ve implied that the 24 survivors could mate with vampires-turned-human (whom I believe you said there were 100 of), but even if this happened there still would not be a big enough breeding population. If you’ve thought of this and have more surprises for us (Sofia?), pardon me for asking a stupid question.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
The stupid part was saying that it’s a fact that you need anywhere near 3,000 to survive. Many scientists have put that number at under 100, but it’s really a guessing game. Depends on a billion factors and as few as 24 could possibly be sustainable for thousands of years under a perfect combination of factors.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Really? I’ve never heard of this being true, and I am studying biology currently. But maybe you’re right, and I just don’t have my facts strait. Could you post a link or tell me of a book that supports this? Again, I am merely concerned with the suspension of disbelief in the story; I mean no disrespect towards it or its authors.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
All I know is what Google has told me and I don’t feel like looking it up again now, but I know for a fact that 3,000 is INSANELY high. You’re about the 100th person to bring this subject up in the comments and many of the others gave various numbers and I think the largest was maybe 500, while several others said between 100 and 200, as I recall. Google it and get back to me.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Wow,another nice screenplay =D
February 6th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
@Space Patton
You could also google this previous conversation in the last GN. There were many ‘facts’ thrown back and forth as well multiple links to material on the topic. And if 3,000 was the necessary number for a species to survive, then there are at least 2 endangered species we’re really wasting our time trying to save…
From the last page:
“Swag Says
If theres been dozens of shaemiacs throughout history, why would it be a children’s story to vampires? Also, judging from the reactions of AFP, it should safely be assumable that he already knew schaemiacs existed. Isn’t it then safe to take it one stretch further and assume all vampires knew they existed?”
By that horribly flawed logic many more humans should have known about vampires. Why did vampires turn to legend? There was a hell of a lot more of them around all the time then there have been schaemiacs. Some humans knew of vampires, so why didn’t everybody? Further more, (and I’m only speculating here Bobby, so forgive me if this is utterly wrong) but the vamps that do know about schaemiacs might not want other vampires to know in order to prevent this very thing from happening. Almost no one is going to go through 65 years of torture just to see what happens, but if they know they can gain power then any vampire that knew how to become a TFZ might be a threat.
And another point, Anko is the biggest fan of this comic out there and is almost always right. Usually her answers are researched or remembered from previous answers and often paraphrase or quote Bobby directly, so you might want to think about who you are arguing with as well as the argument itself.
February 7th, 2008 at 4:13 am
The only thing about this page of script that really interests me is that it makes it known right away that the zombies taking over the world are under the control of TFZ. I don’t believe that this will not turn out amazingly, although I did like that coming as a surprise in the comic: when it went from “mindless swarms” to “malacious entity”
February 7th, 2008 at 4:30 am
Space Patton,
you are right on minimal population size in principle, but numbers differ considerably among species. For the cheetah, it should be 200 individuals. On the other side, a single pair of mouflons successfully populated a Scottish island. All golden hamsters in captivity originate from a single female and her offspring. A single intruding male timber wolf saved an isolated poulation from getting extinct.
For humans, the minimal critical number has probably not been calculated.
B. C., Great comic, and good luck for the movie! In “I am Legend”, me and my friends found the zombies somewhat exaggerated; perhaps the impression of too much of artificial appearence should be avoided.
February 7th, 2008 at 6:15 am
I actually think the beggining of the graphic novel would work better for the movie. It may leave audiences confused at first over how zombies destroyed mankind in a month, but you explained it all at the perfect time in the graphic novel anyway. Considering a movie will be shown over a few hours rather then over the course of a year, I’m sure audiences will get it. I honestly think this would just confuse audiences more, and reveal a bit too much too soon. The cool thing about how it was originally was how the reader had about as much idea of what was going on as the characters (vampires aside) did.
February 7th, 2008 at 6:31 am
Ok.. maybe I am wrong but still there are a lot of questions asked and it wouldn’t hurt to make things a bit clearer in the screenplay. That’s all I wanted to say and personally I don’t like to be kept in the dark too much. I know it’s common to do so and tell the clue later but I would prefer to see more about the outbreak.. the schaemiac thing and the connection to vampires can remain a mistery – that’s fine.
A few short scenes about outbreak, panic and nuclear attacks… that’s all I ask for
Since the audience already knows that it was done somehow when we see scenes about the last survivors (or not yet last at that time) it’s not a big mistery but it would prevent some scepticism and again I don’t like to be kept in the dark and jumping through time to explain things later if not necessary. My opinion is that the reasons and the vampire-connection should be a mistery to create suspense but the “how” doesn’t create so much suspense (more disbelief) and therefore should be told right away.
This is my opinion as a viewer and not as a professional screenplay-reviewer. And please don’t tell me it is false… opinions can’t be false;)
February 7th, 2008 at 10:51 am
“just a small bite is good enough to zombify someone”
That explains it to me. From the screenplay I figured she was left alive to drive the car, my mistake. I HAVE read all the pages, but not the comments so this little detail wasn’t clear to me yet (Or I might have missed it). Then again, having seen a lot of zombie movies, I should’ve known this… No need to get this “mad” at me for not “picking it up”, I’m just a little fan of your comic because I like it as entertainment. No offence taken though and I hope you wont either.
Thank you for reading, keep posting pages and I’ll be happy
February 7th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
“I HAVE read all the pages, but not the comments so this little detail wasn’t clear to me yet (Or I might have missed it).”
Missed it, yes. It was explained somewhere around three trillion times in the graphic novel that TFZ controls the zombies with his mind and can make them do whatever he wants. We even saw him make a fighter pilot zombie fly a jet, remember?
“No need to get this ‘mad’ at me for not ‘picking it up’ ”
No one got mad at you.
February 7th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
…and I thought the beginning in the first GN was badass beyond belief. *is in awe*
This is going to be a kickass movie. I hope you get to direct it though, Bobby, ’cause I’m afraid of somebody else screwing it up, which is what happened to a lot of good book-to-movie adaptations… but either way, it will be bloody awesome.
Oh, and when you said ‘Summer 09 at the earliest’ did you mean the earliest date for beginning to film or the earliest release date? My common sense tells me it’s the first option, but my insane fangirlism and rediculously unfounded hope tells me to screw it and ask anyway, just in case.
February 7th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Summer of ’09 would be the earliest for me to start filming an LB movie on my own. (Got a 12-month shopping agreement, which can be extended by various things). I’m hoping that won’t need to happen, though. Hopefully I’ll sell the script for tons of money by the summer of ’08.
February 7th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
I’m picturing the zombies with slightly spaced out eyes that look like glass eyes, and a bit paler skin. IMO, I think that maybe the first zombie should be a little unsure when he tells the girls no, like he tells it to them once kind of subdued, and they pause, but continue, and then he says it with force… looks really good so far!
February 7th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. I’m tired of seeing zombies bite, grab and scratch, its cool seeing them do something actually smart.
February 7th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
“…and I thought the beginning in the first GN was badass beyond belief. *is in awe*”
Could you be sucking up ANY more there?
Kidding. This’s impressed me, too. The comic is more exciting, though, because Owen is a deity unto himself.
February 7th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Ah, yes. Good thing about the writer’s strike ending, both for you as a writer, and me as a Heroes nut.
C’mon, more Heroes…Jesse needs his fix…
February 7th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I hated the season 2 ending to heroes… I wonder what Last Blood would be like as a tv series?
February 7th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
The first season finale of “Heroes” was horrible and then almost all of the second season was horrible. “Last Blood” would probably be ideal as a TV series. HBO would be good.
February 8th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Space Patton – if you do study biology, you should know that stating a absolute minimum number is nonsense. The number depends on a lot of factors;
1) Do any of them carry recessive genes for significant genetic diseases? We cannot know, but if they do, it makes a huge difference. And if NONE of them do (a bit unlikely though)
2) How old are the women? The risk of significant birth effects such as downs syndrome increases dramatically with the age of the mother.
3) How many out of the population of 24 is women? And how many of the vampires? As less men are needed to repopulate than women (due to the simple fact that a women is limited to about one child per year, where a man is essentially unlimited when it comes to potential children), it would be a huge benefit with ‘few’ males, unless those few males have significant recessive diseases
4) How diverse is the population? A population consisting of specimens closely related are morelikely to suffer from the result of inbreeding. Here the humans in last blood has a *huge* benefit, per defination they are very diverse due to the vampires-soon-to-be-human.
Not to mention that as Darwin points out, there is many known examples of very small populations giving birth to very large populations without problems. Another of those are the rabbits in australia, before the discovery of australia, rabbits didn’t exist in australia, now? One of the biggests pest there.
around 80 humans definitely seems entirely possible for me, especially due to the vampires being so far removed from the current humans.
February 8th, 2008 at 7:54 am
“Missed it, yes. It was explained somewhere around three trillion times in the graphic novel that TFZ controls the zombies with his mind and can make them do whatever he wants. We even saw him make a fighter pilot zombie fly a jet, remember?”
Yes I do (again, I HAVE read all the pages) I just didn’t pick up the fact that the scraping of a tooth would be enough AND that Marissa died in the screenplay. I think “…finally fights for her life” got me confused. I mean, nothing indicates she died, this is only clear when you’ve read (or in your case, wrote) the comic and know how “your” zombies work. I imagine that someone who would be reading your screenplay for the first time MIGHT ask what the hell happened to the third girl…
Oh and I didn’t mean “mad”, I thought you were just a little too condescending to my liking, nothing wrong with questions from people who are interested in your work and want to know something about it. If you really grow this sick and tired of these questions, why not make some sort of dictionary or “explanation page” which takes care of most questions that might seem dumb or annoying to you. Little work for a (seemingly) big problem.
Thanks
February 8th, 2008 at 8:17 am
“Yes I do (again, I HAVE read all the pages) I just didn’t pick up the fact that the scraping of a tooth would be enough”
I referred you to Page 101 earlier. On Page 101 Addison said “It only takes a scrape of the teeth.”
“I mean, nothing indicates she died, this is only clear when you’ve read (or in your case, wrote) the comic and know how ‘your’ zombies work.”
LOL. 100% false. It’s very very very clearly implied. There’s no other logical conclusion and it makes perfect sense. All part of the off-screen movie, and a great way to make a boring movie is to show everything. He looks away from the murder, not wanting to see it, and he plans out his next move while they do their business and he orders them to follow him. Cooler that way.
“I thought you were just a little too condescending to my liking, nothing wrong with questions from people who are interested in your work and want to know something about it.”
Uh, I answered your questions in massive detail and you continually act as if some mistake was made, as if something very confusing happened, even after reading ALL the pages (but not actually retaining any of the information contained within them), and you say totally incorrect things as if they’re facts, like that there’s no way to know Marissa died. What the heck else could have happened? Two zombie girls were drowning her and then all three walk behind TFZ directly in step with him, clearly under his control, and we already showed how he controlled the other two clearly before that.
“If you really grow this sick and tired of these questions, why not make some sort of dictionary or ‘explanation page’ which takes care of most questions that might seem dumb or annoying to you.”
Obviously banned for acting like I was somehow the moron here and not even searching the page for the letters “FAQ.” Also, why the fuck would it take a dictionary or explanation page when all you had to do was actually read the graphic novel, especially the page I already specifically referred you to! Jeez. And don’t bother e-mailing me — total waste of time.
February 8th, 2008 at 10:54 am
There is something for your questions, it’s called a FAQ. Anko made one, and it’s linked, several times on this page. Look it up.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:13 am
This is the first time I’m commenting here, but I have to say the same thing as everybody else: Very nice job Bobby!
I’ve been reading LB for a long time now and I’m checking for new pages every now and then since your posting has become pretty random.
I just wanted to comment Hogi’s words although Bobby already said it there:
It’s not difficult to follow the story and even now that there’s a long long time since I read about the ways of creating zombies and spreading it, I do remember it and immediately got what was going on in the screenplay version.
I presume Hogi is not reading too much literature as it is indeed a very common and effective way to make things interesting by leaving gaps in the narration. Also stating the “obvious” like her death (basing on the steps and the GN) is not necessary as it wouldn’t leave much for imagination.
I’ve been trying to avoid reading these comments because they seem to include a lot of spoilers and that’s something I don’t really like.. And talking about the spoilers. I have either missed this (despite paying attention to everything) or it is yet to come: The FAQ page information about Sofia.. I didn’t expect any spoilers in there (how stupid of me), but it would be nice if somebody told Anko to include a spoiler warning like in Wikipedia.
Yes, I know that it says “A lot of the things listed are still subject to change, not finalized.”, but I guess it isn’t that clear if we’re just doing casual surfing here..
Keep up the good work mr. Crosby and I really hope that you manage to get your movie idea on the markets as at least I would like to see it and I bet that I know a lot of people that would like to do so too.
February 8th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
When someone claims to have read all the pages, you’d think they’d have te memory to back it up. ¬_¬
I forget lines at best, but remember the basics and pictures.
“That’s what I love about Americans, you cant even pry the guns from our cold dead hands.” Hehe, Grady when Sully saves the day.
February 8th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
“The FAQ page information about Sofia.. I didn’t expect any spoilers in there (how stupid of me), but it would be nice if somebody told Anko to include a spoiler warning like in Wikipedia.”
Ha, thanks for reminding me of that. I used to have a spoiler warning up when there was stuff up before the end of the previous GN (where lots of things were explained), but i took it down afterwards. Totally forgot about it now when I added the information on Sofia. Thanks for pointing that out.
February 8th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I know im late on this… but for the human species to survive you only need 11 breeding pairs. so 11 men and 11 woman. without all the genetic things to come into play. I saw that on the history channel last night as a matter of fact.
February 9th, 2008 at 4:36 am
Guys, could you all please take a moment to remember that Last Blood is a FICTIONAL story about vampires and zombies.
Arguing about how many breeding pairs are necessary to rebuild the human race, within the context of the graphic novel, does not make any sense. This is a graphic novel, NOT a Biology textbook.
All you achieve by arguing about the realism of human repopulation in LB is spoiling the fun of people who really enjoy the comic. (And you make yourselves look stupid.)
February 9th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Loyal reader, making his first comment here.
The number of humans needed for repopulation is not a determinate question. It will vary depending on the amount of genetic diversity in the breeding population. If the population is relatively low, there may be a higher percentage of negative recessive genes being expressed in a few generations, but in a relatively unforgiving environment such as these survivors will face, natural selection will select against negative genes and in favor of strength, intelligence, and fertility in an intense way. The genes of vampires who are willing to go back to being human will help as well, especially since they come from all over the world and some were born centuries before.
February 9th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Which raises the question, if genetics favoured abilities like Devian’s flight and Val’s sense of smell, what did it cut out of vampires? Oh well, stupid question, nothing to do with the plot. Peace out folks.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
@Lance:
The abilities of vampires could transfer according to Polygenetic Inheritance:
http://staff.jccc.net/pdecell/evolution/polygen.html
That would explain it just fine, and it would explain why when Val changes a human into a vamp, they don’t have smell as good as hers, and the mating of pure vampires, and those who use to be human, can have vampire babies with stronger powers.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Yeah, I’m agreeing with Demon! on this one. Besides, it’s not like they’re just going to be doing random mating. What gets me is people arguing about how many would be needed to repopulate, hell putting 3,000 (lol) extras in the movie would be pointless, cuz they can still get chopped down by zombies. They have immortal guardians, and who knows? Bobby might even break out Addison’s apprentice. Addison has single handedly saved us all from doom anyway from disease and all that jazz. Safe to say IF there was a pupil, he could at least handle a breeding program.
The guy saying he read everything and it wasn’t explained? Don’t even have to go to the one-liner that Addison gave. If you read all of the first GN how could you NOT remember Principal Howard? Even after they chopped off his arm, Murdo still smelled the change in his blood and took him out. And that was a scrape on his knuckles, so not like it needs to hit an artery or anything.
But enough of that, I’m liking how you writing the screenplay so far. Screw running Zombies, first talking zombies EVAH!! lol. One thing though, might seem minor and alot of people might not agree with me, but could you still have TFZ take a headshot at some point? It was his identifying mark for me (obviously won’t be the case since there will be real actors and not drawn faces) and it also sort of symbolized just how powerful he was. I mean you take a head shot and keep walking? A head shot even put Wolverine out for a minute (that will make sense to X-men fans). Just a thought, I mean there’ll be plenty of chances for one right, guy did invade military bases. Just my three cents, off to read Sofia spoilers in the FAQ to see if I’m up to date.
February 10th, 2008 at 1:21 am
Sorry, super long post then a follow up lol. Is it just me or does the color make everything look a bit chaotic? I mean the black and white was very fitting, I like that style, it gave everything a sense of suspense to it. The color makes it all look chaotic as if saying “But wait, there’s more!”
I just hope Sully doesn’t become Math. As is he was really important and then just kinda drifted into the background. Like somebody said (sorry i’m lazy and don’t remember names) he is kind of proving to be sort of useless right now. Yeah, he came in and saved the day and right now his army of 3000 is safe guarding a perimeter or something, but in the grand scheme of things, we don’t know how much control over his zombies he has. He couldn’t even talk and keep them shooting, he has to almost fully concentrate. Granted it’s not him being weak, just lack of experience. No telling how much practice TFZ had since, like it has been said, after putting a few on planes his work was pretty much done. Until he wanted to weed them out, he could have just been sitting somewhere honing his skills. And even still, we have Sofia who will more than likely emerge and assumingly has unprecedented control over hers, hinted that she might even be able to take over TFZ’s as well. Just would hate for such a cool character to get back-burnered. It’d be like leveling up Barret and then you get Vincent (FF7 fans can relate). Not a gripe, as this happens to many characters in stories, and I’ve enjoyed this story completely. Just thinking out loud….well… and I like Sully’s character and want him to stay badass lol.
Last thing that sort of bother me as an author, no, showing the zombie outbreak as it happens will in no way help. It’d probably prove even more annoying than the AniMatrix. It would only satisfy the appetites for mindless violence at best. What zombie movie shows the outbreak or tells it in real time? No, just dull. It’s always “So, it’s the end of the world (or Raccoon City). Now what?” Because the point is not the outbreak but all that happens afterwards.
And if a majority of people didn’t like to be kept in the dark about stuff, then alot of people wouldn’t have got punched in the mouth for three simple words…..
“Snape kills Dumbledore”
(Fiance is a huge Potter fan, i’m not, heard that and asked her, she hadn’t read that book yet at the time… that was a fun night >.>)
::goes off to ponder who would win in a fight between Luke Skywalker and Maud’dib::
February 10th, 2008 at 3:54 am
Okay, Theinen, I see what you mean if Addison had an apprentice that he/she could handle a breeding program. But we’re talking humans here, who would actually mate on demand for repopulation? The vampire turned humans probably, but I can’t imagine many people warming up to the thought of essentially being cattle.
Anyway, can’t think of anything else to say so Pop Tarts and Death to us all, good night.
February 10th, 2008 at 11:09 am
“But we’re talking humans here, who would actually mate on demand for repopulation?”
Probably won’t be necessary. A natural human response to loss and tragedy like this is to seek love and companionship, with all that entails (sex, pregnancy, childbirth).
February 10th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
No, the whole Addison having an apprentice thing was only to prove that instead of nitpicking by how many “survivors” Bobby put in the beginning of the story, they could’ve still been cut down. We already know that somehow the human race will be repopulated. So instead of telling the man how many useless characters he needs in his story, be quiet, relax, grab a chair, and patiently wait with the rest of us to see what creative idea he comes up with. How many humans there are right now is final, and he hasn’t pin pointed how many vamps there are. To be honest, if they had those “safe numbers” for repopulation the story would lose alot of it’s interest. Right now, all of those survivors, nameless vampires and humans included, are important and in a way makes you concerned about them. Constantly telling him he NEEDS more survivors is just pointless for one big reason. This annoying conversation has come up before and nobody could change his mind. What makes you think it’ll happen now? Let’s see what he has up his sleeve.
February 10th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
*shocked stare*
Heroes…insulted? By the author of my favorite webcomic?
I’m…I’m having serious conflict issues right now
…
j/k. Yeah, I loved that whole first season of Heroes, and when I saw the finale, it was kind of a…”So, that’s it?” moment.
Haven’t seen any season 2 yet.
Hoping season 3 will be better than I’ve heard season 2 was.
But, to make this a semi-relevant post, a TV series of Last Blood would be interesting, but I kind of feel like the first GN makes better movie material. But then, I kind of liked “Waterworld,” so my judgement on movies should be taken lightly.
February 10th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Bobby – Congrats on Book #2 starting up. Looking great so far.
Can’t wait to actually see this all on film.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:30 am
I’m not sure whether or not I like this opening more than the comic one, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. I do admit I like watching telepathy at play. Keep up the excellent work you two!
February 11th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I like both your comic and your screenplay. Its awesome and in my own weird way very beautiful. The action and chaos is awesome.
February 11th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
“Lance Says:
February 10th, 2008 at 3:54 am
Okay, Theinen, I see what you mean if Addison had an apprentice that he/she could handle a breeding program. But we’re talking humans here, who would actually mate on demand for repopulation? The vampire turned humans probably, but I can’t imagine many people warming up to the thought of essentially being cattle.”
Stupidest thing I have ever heard. Last surviving humans on earth, needing to repopulate for the very survival of their race, (which probably won’t even factor in very heavily this early in the story by the sound of it,) and they’re going to complain about being treated like cattle? Ludicrous. Absurd. Ridiculous. Preposterous. I think I’m out of words to describe how utterly stupid that is.
“Jesse Says:
February 10th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
But then, I kind of liked “Waterworld,” so my judgement on movies should be taken lightly.”
Don’t feel bad, when I was a kid I liked “Waterworld”. Probably have to pay me to make me watch it now, but we all have our guilty pleasures when it comes to entertainment.
February 11th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Micah Says:
February 11th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
“Stupidest thing I have ever heard. Last surviving humans on earth, needing to repopulate for the very survival of their race, (which probably won’t even factor in very heavily this early in the story by the sound of it,) and they’re going to complain about being treated like cattle? Ludicrous. Absurd. Ridiculous. Preposterous. I think I’m out of words to describe how utterly stupid that is.”
I’m stupid? Sir I do believe that you are severely underestimating the human ability to be a selfish and irresponcible being. Even in life or death situations people have been known to go against the good of others for themselves and I doubt that’s about to change. So I suggest you do yourself and me a favour and keep your trap shut about factors that can not be pinned exactly by scientific means. (Like the ability to overcome fear for the sake of what’s right. That previous sentence is dedicated to the Mac Attack #2 page from the first GN)
February 11th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Lance Says:
“February 11th, 2008 at 4:16 pmI’m stupid? Sir I do believe that you are severely underestimating the human ability to be a selfish and irresponcible being. Even in life or death situations people have been known to go against the good of others for themselves and I doubt that’s about to change. So I suggest you do yourself and me a favour and keep your trap shut about factors that can not be pinned exactly by scientific means. (Like the ability to overcome fear for the sake of what’s right.”
I agree with that statement to some degree, especially when it’s to save your life at the cost of others versus trying to save others also at the possible cost of your own. But the scenario of “have sex or be exterminated as a race”; are you serious? And as far as your comment about selfishness, and irresponsibility, well, in a “lets all have multiple partners’” situation those factors would probably be more of a benefit than a down side, especially with some of the men. And as to “the ability to overcome fear for the sake of what’s right”; what fear? Fear of having children? Fear of commitment? Also, I’m not looking at mankind as a whole or the human condition, but at the specific characters we’ve met so far. While some, probably many, will be very uncomfortable with what will be necessary for repopulation, I doubt more than a small handful, if any, would compare themselves to cattle, or would take issue with helping save the human race and thereby their legacy and for some of them the children they already have. *Wife to Husband* “Well honey, I want to stay monogamous even if it means that our children will probably die when we get old crippled and there’s no one to marry but each other or the smelly neighbor boy.” I can really see that being a legitimate argument. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that there would be problems, people not happy with certain pairings, and possibly even a few who don’t want (note do not want does not necessarily mean will not) to participate. Maybe even a couple that refuses. Maybe. However, they don’t have to “warm up to the thought” to do it. Many people who fight in wars don’t “warm up the thought” of killing people, yet they still do it. Having pre-arranged sex seems like much less of a problem than that. Oh, and I never called you stupid, I said that your statement was stupid. Very intelligent people sometimes say stupid things, just as dimwits and dullards sometimes have amazing insights or inspirations. It was not meant to be a personal attack, but a comment on what I perceived as a poorly thought out and somewhat outlandish statement. I’m sorry if you felt I was heavy handed with the word “stupid” but trying to apply all the faults of the human race on this small group in this one scenario, as an argument as why repopulation wouldn’t work just seems like a…I’m trying to think of a less insulting word than dumb or ridiculous… can’t think of one… argument.
February 11th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Okay, just gonna say this and just back off into the darkness and continue to read until the next time Owen shows amazing attention to detail, which I just can’t get over it’s crazy good. Humans not being able to have sex on demand? Seriously, wtf? What world are you living in? Porn stars? Prostitutes? Woman that’s been married for more than three years? Guys in general? Almost anybody as long as it’s not on camera or it stays private? Hell, I can come home from the worse day, sit up brooding over it and my girl want some and I’m good to go. You have an even harder time getting animals to do it simply because they only mate for producing offspring, we not gonna get into all the reasons people do it that AREN’T for reproduction. You telling me that if the vampire chick with pigtails became human and you had to mate you wouldn’t? Tell that lie and I’ll stake you myself.
That’s all still pointless though because you don’t know what he has up his sleeve. Don’t know what all might happen before repopulation efforts begin. This is all pointless, more than likely, even me telling you it’s a pointless argument, or “debate”, is pointless because you’ll find something to dispute anyway. I just had to comment on the crazy notion that humans won’t have sex on demand, that’s just laughable, and I shall proceed to do so…….
Ahem……ROFLMAO!!!!WTF!!!BBQ!!!!!1!!One
Say what you will and bash all you want, I’m just going back to enjoying a really good story.
“Hey! How did you have sex on demand like that?”
“Magic”
February 11th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
@Theinen:
Right on. Thank you. I think you actually brought up better points than I did.
February 11th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Oooh, that first zombie is a smart one. Keeping one girl without overly obvious bite marks to drive him around and not arouse suspicion.
Crafty.
February 11th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
AANNND Bobby explained that in his first post. I really should read some of those posts before thinking I’ve said anything interesting.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
“The zombie has fangs and telepathic powers? What’s going on here?!”
you wouldnt be the first to throw some unexplained things at the viewers at the start of the movie, then explain them later.
February 12th, 2008 at 4:37 am
Christ, this new page is taking a while.
February 12th, 2008 at 7:31 am
I think one think that we should understand is that the goal of this group may not to repopulate the world (ie, cover the globe again) but that it may in fact be merely to keep the human population going for as long as possible within a smaller area. This difference could allow the survivors to act very differently.
February 12th, 2008 at 8:07 am
“Christ, this new page is taking a while.”
I bet Owen got eaten by a whale. Or a very large tuna fish. That’s at least one of the million possible reasons. I keep myself entertained by thinking up as many crazy ones as I can.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:44 am
# Anko Says:
February 12th, 2008 at 8:07 am
“Christ, this new page is taking a while.”
I bet Owen got eaten by a whale. Or a very large tuna fish. That’s at least one of the million possible reasons. I keep myself entertained by thinking up as many crazy ones as I can.
::drops to knees and looks to the sky with arms stretched upwards::
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
February 12th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I’ve heard a lot of different people throwing out that you’d need “this many” or “that many” breeding pairs to repopulate the species.
But really, molecular biologists have traced all of humanity back to a single female, and a single male. (links go to Wikipedia, but the articles are well-sourced.)
With genetically healthy individuals bearing few recessive traits, I’m pretty sure you only need two. Unfortunately, as recessive genetic traits come into play, that’s when you need more genetic diversity.
February 12th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Okay, I see where the opposing argument is coming from, but are you honestly saying that if you were asked to hop in the sack with the most horrifying looking girl in the bunch for the sake of repopulation, you’d do it?
The fear part was more of an example for other situations, like running into a burning building to save someone, but I cant see anyone being thrilled with this situation especially with the obvious problem that repopulating the world might be a bit of a problem with six billion dead people looking at you for dinner. Well my arguments done, I see where you’re coming from and I only ask that you hopefully see my point of view as well. I’m going back to reading the story, peace and Pop Tarts to us all.
February 12th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
If Owen was eaten by a whale or fish, he’d get over it and keep drawing. He’d just color it using…
…wait for it…
…
…
…
…
…watercolors.
Thank you, I’m here all week.
February 12th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
“But really, molecular biologists have traced all of humanity back to a single female, and a single male. ”
Those two individuals were NOT the only humans alive at the time; they just happen to be the ones whose mitochrondria (for the female) and y-chromosomes (for the male) turned out to eventually be passed down to all surviving generations. In fact, the ‘Mitochondrial Eve’ and the ‘Y-chromosome Adam’ lived tens of thousands of years apart, based on molecular chronology.
It’s cool science but doesn’t tell us much about the number of humans needed to repopulate the earth.
February 12th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Eh, so the human race will be hillbillys from now on, at least they will still exist!
February 12th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
If you are, or the universe forces you to be, or the universe itself is, entirely ruthless about culling the herd of bad genetic combinations you can end up with quite a large population of healthy individuals when starting from a small group.
Sorry that sentence came out so long.
The problem in breeding back up to a larger population is the reinforcement of ‘bad’ recessive genes. If you make sure that everyone knows that they should only have kids with approved partners or with obviously superior individuals for the next five generations or so you will by default weed out a lot of the things that will screw up your gene pool.
It sounds kind of draconian, and to be honest it is. But any population faced with inbreeding that knows anything at all about inherited traits has come up with rules about this sort of thing. I’m pretty sure the survivors of the zombie apocalypse will come up with something once they put their minds to it.
It might not be pretty to us sitting here at home reading this off of a screen, but they’ll come up with something.
Makes me wonder if ‘Mustache Man’ a.k.a. the old principal has any surviving kids. One hopes the gene set for ‘exceptionally selfish ***hole’ did not make it this far…
February 13th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Hey, this is a great comic =D I love it, the storyline, artwork and everything is just amazing. I hope the movie come’s out really nicely, ’cause Iwould love to see it =D
Also, the twist with the zombies being bit y an original but blood starved vampire is genuis. Pure genius I think =D
Anywho, keep up the good work =D
February 13th, 2008 at 8:41 am
To Andrew: You’re right, the Y-chromosomal Adam didn’t live the same time as the mitochondrial Eve, but that’s also because scientists can only grab an estimate of the “most recent” Adam. That is, if the “Adam” had two sons, and 500 years ago the last of his first son’s male descendants died out, then the other son would be the new “Adam” (the most recent male from which all other males descended).
But you are correct that there were other ladies around at the time of the most recent Y-chromosome Adam.
To Lance: . . . even if you did not want to have sex with somebody, for the purposes of repopulation, you could certainly be a “sperm donor” and a “sperm recipient”. It would be kind of gross with limited technology, but even a Dixie cup would be effective over a short time period, and you’d avoid all the emotional entanglements of having sex with some guy (which, as a recently married man, I would say are definitely compelling . . ..)
And Brellchild’s right . . . once a male and female produce a deformed or genetically sick baby, you don’t let them have any more babies together . . . and you don’t let that baby have any babies, assuming its deformity is survivable. Given the need for human blood, I doubt the vampires would resort to killing off any deformed or sick babies, but they sure wouldn’t want to let them have kids of their own. Kinda harsh, but sometimes a lot of discipline is necessary . . ..
February 13th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Well here’s a thought for those that suggested Addison got his inteligence from his mentor.
Inteligence is not a genetic trait. One could argue that a person learns the bulk of their information from their parents thus influencing what they become, but the actually ability to thick quickly, store information or think logically all depends on the individual. As my dad says, genius doesn’t run in the family.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Hey. I love the book, but my #1 reason for dropping a title that I might otherwise hang on to is publishing delays. I have lost all hope for the final issue of Planetary, any new issues of New Universe, and I quit Ultimates a while back. If you say you are going to have new pages on MWF, have them or at least drop something in so we know we (the fans) have not been clown off. I’ve been reccomending this site to everyone I can get to listen because it is a great story and well presented, I can’t keep doing it when there are no new pages.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Louis: Oh no, I’m sorry, let me get my checkbook and write you up a full refund for all the money you’ve spent to read this free comic online.
“If you say you are going to have new pages on MWF, have them or at least drop something in so we know we (the fans) have not been clown off.”
LOL. No clue what “clown off” means, but anyone who is a “fan” of the comic knows that there is no set schedule for the comic and that sometimes weeks go by without a new one, so nothing you said there makes any sense. It’s been this way for almost a year now.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Damn good comic! Thanks that its free lol!
Look lets put this to rest ok? If I have a perfect genetic template provided by Addison F. Payne and his genetic level rewriting potion of humanity ;-D look @ what it did to the vampire guy it didn’t kill him and it rewrote his DNA!
Then with just a few rewritten vampries into humans I can repopulate the earth over time, quite a bit as a matter a fact because 1) as a perfect gene specimen i will live longer, procreate more
and my kids will be able to mate w/their 1st cousins etc because of the “Clean” gene pool and then during the next 500 to 1000 years the gene pool will get screwed up by radiation, various enviromental posions etc. but until that point its babies for everyone! Also by that point of genetic corruption we should have enough regular strain humanity to continue like we are today, just with less people for a while. like ummm 100,000 or so 500 years later…
Just my 2 cents.
tyvm Bobby and Owen! God bless your lives and your beloveds too.
AL
February 13th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
I noticed that you don’t have any slug lines or camera directions, you have huge action lines, but no other screen play tools
February 13th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Just wanted to balance out some of the negative bits about the “schedule.” I’m glad to have a consistently high-quality comic than a consistent, quicker schedule with less quality. If it’s that big of a problem for some fans, only check for updates monthly.
Even artists have lives outside of their projects.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Lance:
That’s simply the nature vs. nurture argument so prevalent in psychology.
But are you suggesting that all people on the earth have the same intelligence, or would if all raised in the same conditions? That would be untrue, and would indeed lend credence to the ideas that intelligence (or ability to process information) is genetic. So some of Addison’s ability to retain information/process that information could indeed be genetic.
But you’d also be wrong in the fact that sometimes a genetic defect causes intelligence loss. Look at Down syndrome, or any other form of mental retardation.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Okay, I know I said I wouldn’t say anything else for a while, but this is just a suggestion Bobby about the screenplay. Instead of having TFZ telling the girls “No” how about they just freeze up and look at him, maybe some kinda of distinct sound in the background that suggests that he’s doing his telepathy business, then the whole finger gesture and the rest as you wrote it. I don’t know how you plan on writing the rest out so that may not work. The way it’s written is good, it’s just that, and maybe it was because his speech bubbles were white on black, but when TFZ stopped his zombies from attacking in the school and said “You think I’m Sullivan Davis?” It was kind of “whoa”.
But then again, like I said, I don’t know how you plan on writing it out or if it’d work. Always easier to try and “improve” on somebody else’s idea so I try to keep my mouth shut, but maybe it still let’s the audience know that he can communicate with them but still keep some surprises other than his identity and motivation and stuff.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:17 am
“I noticed that you don’t have any slug lines or camera directions, you have huge action lines, but no other screen play tools”
None of that makes any sense. Read Page 1, where there is a slug line, and you’re not supposed to direct the camera much in a screenplay and others have complained about me directing it too much, and there aren’t any huge action lines, and obviously many screenplay tools are being used, so I have no clue what you’re talkng about.
February 14th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Hi, been reading from around the beginning and love the comic, it is one of the best on the web.
On repopulation:
Besides the fact that the last comic and this one don’t even deal with it, and if Bobby wanted to end the series with just two people left on earth (or none), I think he has shown us that the story will be great however he decides to end his story.
Ok that’s out of the way; I think that AL_tech has actually put the non-issue about repopulation to rest. So after all the zombies are taken care of and they get around to dealing with future survival, you have a population of around 20 or so people who can be parents (after some of the vampires change back, just a low estimate). Say those twenty have 10 kids, some of the other vampires a few years down the line take the cure, and some of the humans become vampires, 15-20 years later we have the original 10 kids of child bearing age (no issues about teen pregnancy in a post-apocalyptic world, please) Plus some Vampires who have switched back, say another 10, so we get 10 more kids, of significantly different genetic stock (due to the various genetics of the vampires from different cultures and ages) Some of the people switch back and forth for several hundred years and can mate with there great-great grand cousins and now you have a repopulation scheme that involves the vampires, one that I doubt we could find evidence for in any biology text today. The vampires change everything we can predict about genetics and repopulation. So let’s move on.
Can’t wait till whenever the next page shows up, both of you (Bobby and Owen) have done a great job, thank you!
February 14th, 2008 at 6:41 am
First off, I’ve enjoyed reading LB – mixing zombies and vampires is a great twist and you’ve been able to create a lot of dramatic tension in the process.
One thing that everyone should keep in mind about the screenplay… if it is sold (especially to Hollywood) it will most likely undergo any number of rewrites by a studio hired writer. Ultimately, the director, editor, producers, film company and another other number of factors will determine it’s final outcome. As readers of the comic, we can only hope they at least remain true to the spirit of LB!
February 14th, 2008 at 7:37 am
deprecate me all you want. I have patience threough delays, I understand that the creative process does not work on a time clock. The phrase was supposed to be “blown off”. that said, free or not, when you say you are going to release an update on MWF, release one, tell us that you are working on it and that it is going well, or that you are really trying to refine a story point to get it just right, or that, hey, I took two weeks off and I’ll get back to it when I recharge. Whatever. While free to us, the book is an attempt to generate income for the producers. Keeping the fans on the hook is part of the job.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:52 am
“While free to us, the book is an attempt to generate income for the producers. Keeping the fans on the hook is part of the job.”
Obviously enough fans are kept on the hook to produce a reasonable income, otherwise I’m sure the updates would either stop completely or become more frequent. And I’m also sure that there are perfectly good reasons that the comic doesn’t update as often as some people would like, but if those reasons aren’t made public I don’t mind. I doubt that pestering Bobby about this will do any good, since he obviously has better things to do with his time – instead of replying to annoying comments he could be out there actually writing the comic.
February 14th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
“I have patience threough delays, I understand that the creative process does not work on a time clock.”
What? Your entire reason for posting here is to say that you have no patience and that your #1 reason for quitting comics and not suggesting that your friends read them is because you refuse to wait for “late” comics, as opposed to some good reason like the comics being bad. So no, you’ve already said very clearly that you have no patience and don’t understand how the creative process works. And why in the world would you not suggest a friend reads the completed first graphic novel for free online simply because they’d have no clue when the next page would go up online??? Makes no sense on any level. People in general who whine about the schedule of online comics should basically just kill themselves for being so fucking stupid and pathetic. I’m an extremely pathetic person, but I’m nowhere near as pathetic as those people, people like you.
“that said, free or not, when you say you are going to release an update on MWF”
I don’t think I’ve ever once said that and no one who actually reads the comic and has a brain in their head cares in any fucking way if there’s a sign that says “MWF” when they KNOW from reading the comic and counting how many suns have passed since the last one that there IS NO SET SCHEDULE AND SOMETIMES WEEKS GO BY WITHOUT A COMIC AND THAT THAT IS VERY NORMAL FOR THIS COMIC. The only reason to whine about the schedule is just to hear yourself whine because you’re an asshole. Even brand new fans, and you implied that you’re not a brand new fan, can simply look at the dates of each comic or see the highlighted days of the calendar and very easily see that there is no set schedule. It takes half a second of using your eyes and brain. Fuck you for making me explain this for the 2,000th time in these comments.
“While free to us, the book is an attempt to generate income for the producers.”
LOL at someone as stupid as you having any clue about what this book is for and how its goal would be achieved. Putting this book ONLINE is simply a NICE THING FOR MORONS LIKE YOU. That was the entire goal of it, and it’ll be removed from the internet if assholes like you keep whining about stupid shit, and the stupidest shit ever to whine about is the schedule of it. The reason the MWF sign is still up, as I’ve said a million times, is just to piss off assholes like you, because there’s no way I’d ever do anything that a piece of shit like you wants. The point of this book is to help get a big movie deal and/or help raise money for the film I make myself and help to entice cast and crew to work on it (and work as a loose storyboard). The point of making the book has absolutely nothing to do with “keeping online fans on the hook” and that will have nothing to do with achieving the goals of the making of the book whatsoever. Also, last week lastblood.net had 10,000 more visitors than the previous week.
I sent Owen the script for Page 7 ten days ago.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
“One thing that everyone should keep in mind about the screenplay… if it is sold (especially to Hollywood) it will most likely undergo any number of rewrites by a studio hired writer.”
Just to let you know, I’m currently back in a phase where I’m very much wanting to make it myself. Not gonna sell it unless I get a trillion dollars for it and/or I’m also hired to direct it.
February 14th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I keep seeing a road sign with directions and distances as they pull back and fade, but maybe that’s just me and my vivid imagination.
‘Los Angeles 120 Miles’ has such possibilities…
February 14th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I’m not even going to begin an argument over genetic passed intelligence. I will simply say this. Although certain genetic problems create fluxuations in the inteligence of a person. It is by chance and life experience that determines a person’s overall views and ability. For example, just because genetics dicate a person can be strong, if they did nothing to improve this they can easily be beaten by a genetically weak person who has trained their body. So to put it simply Addison is the way he is because Bobby said he didn’t get it from his mentor, who hasn’t even been clarifyed as the one who made him and because HE’S ADDISON FUCKING PAYNE and kicks ass through his own ability. So take that annoying arguing people.
February 14th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Bobby.
When you make it big and become so powerful with your ideas and creativity and make it to hollywood.
Can you please kill Anne Rice in the ring of honor? Please?
Her stories are a tarnish on mankind and considering Last Blood is like the only thing involving vampires that is GOOD I feel you are the only one with the right to kill her.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
“Just to let you know, I’m currently back in a phase where I’m very much wanting to make it myself. Not gonna sell it unless I get a trillion dollars for it and/or I’m also hired to direct it.”
Awesome, I’m interested to see if your directing is as great as your writing. Will Owen have any specific part in the making of the movie? I keep wondering if he’d want to do some of the make-up/special effects.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Sorry about the wait gang. New page has been sent off. I was having some computer issues. Still working them out. Things will soon be better than ever though. Thanks for your patience.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:23 am
Hm, diabolical.
I LIKE IT! hahaha!
June 11th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Mmm. Your not bad at writing. I like it.