Page 67: Sullivan’s Tunnel
Sunday, August 5th, 2007LAST BLOOD #2 NOW AVAILABLE TO ORDER!
You may now order the second issue of Last Blood directly from me. Keep in mind, however, that the Last Blood comic (online and in print) will most likely end after issue #4 in November unless orders increase for issues #3 and #4, so CALL YOUR LOCAL COMIC SHOPS AND DEMAND THAT THEY CARRY LAST BLOOD! Last Blood #3 is in the current issue of PREVIEWS, Diamond’s catalog.
Also, you should all download a free copy of a zombie parody comic book that Last Blood artist Owen Gieni illustrated 16 pages of called Dead Sonja at wowio.com.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Hm, if it doesn’t matter anymore, he should just tell Math/April/the rest of us.
I already told you what I think of the page, Bobby. Anyways, always looking forward to new pages. And first comment, yay. Been a while.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
this comic just gets better and better!
August 5th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
He knows it’s Sullivan? Sick.
August 5th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Who knows it’s Sullivan?
August 5th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
And cue the page that has you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next. 😀 I just love Math’s hair!
August 6th, 2007 at 12:38 am
Nate, you mean if Murdo knows that TFZ is Sullivan? I really don’t think so, that probably is just the name of the tunnel.
August 6th, 2007 at 12:43 am
Correct, just the name of the tunnel. I think only Math and Val know at this point that Sullivan Davis is The First Zombie.
August 6th, 2007 at 12:47 am
hmm, this page raises a few questions:
1) why the secrecy?
2) how did TFZ know? (I can only assume he’s a veteran from this town, based on past comments from Bobby but it isn’t quite clear just by reading this page)
3) is April retaining water? She’s looking a little bloated around the … upper midriff section.
Or has Owen just been watching a lot of anime lately? 🙂
This is the first page that hasn’t had me “on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens next”. I knew it would have to happen one day or another. You can’t be 150% every time.
Keep it up, Bobby! And Owen. You guys deserve a cookie, I love this series.
August 6th, 2007 at 12:51 am
“why the secrecy?”
I honestly don’t even know yet. Might come up again in this first graphic novel, but might only be revealed in a possible prequel graphic novel about TFZ’s origin.
“how did TFZ know? (I can only assume he’s a veteran from this town, based on past comments from Bobby but it isn’t quite clear just by reading this page)”
Um, Sullivan Davis is TFZ. He built the tunnel in the first place (with help from friends, I’m sure — it’s a long tunnel).
August 6th, 2007 at 1:46 am
What seems kinda weird to me is that “they”, whoever they are, tell Murdo about the tunnel after he left the Marines, rather than during. was he told only after he left the service because he lived in this specific town and having this knowledge in an national emergency could be useful or was it a secret all marines get to know after they become vets?
August 6th, 2007 at 2:04 am
“They” are simply the people who knew of the tunnel, passed down through the past 70 years or so by residents of this town. It’s my thinking that at one point, probably in the mid ’40s, they made it a rule that only veterans (and not just of the Marines, but of any branch of the military) would be told about it. My current thinking is that it’s nothing too important, nothing even military related probably, but that’s just the criteria they decided to use for this exclusive club, veterans who remain living in this small town. Just some sort of secret society, probably a dwindling society at this point, possibly with Murdo being the last surviving member, and they had their meetings and various activities down through the passages of this tunnel.
August 6th, 2007 at 2:35 am
And who says the tunnel was in good repair before TFZ came back anyhow? Couple mile long tunnel that only a couple people in town know about could easily have collapsed in more than one place.
Actually, this would be a beautiful way for them to find out that the zombies redug parts of the tunnel. The reactions of Murdo and Miss Davis to this sign of intelligence on the part of the previously known to be, well, brain dead zombies will be interesting to see.
Murdo is smart enough to have figured the tunnel into the perimeter defenses. Probably went down to the school basement and checked it weeks ago just to be sure it really *was* blocked off.
As to why the tunnel was put there in the first place, who knows. If I had to guess I would say it was put there during Prohibition. Who would think to look for the secret booze storage room in the basement of the town school?
August 6th, 2007 at 4:38 am
secret tunnels ..oaths of secrecy … this plot line can be drawn out ..heh flash to another scene .. flash back to murdo finishing up with “and thats what the tunnel was for” followed by an oath not to tell anyone else ..not that it really matters anymore …with their ohs and ahhs of understanding … lol
p.s. the comics arrived thank you
August 6th, 2007 at 4:59 am
The plot thickens, digging into the tunnel is an interesting way of blocking it? But most likely TNT is not really available at the time.
August 6th, 2007 at 5:18 am
well, my problem is a bit more specific. As we know, each town has its secrets. and some secrets are only known to certain members of said town.
Now, lets assume that the tunnel is one of the simple kind. just one big long tube underground.
Now, I do not have military training, but wouldn’t it be easier to just pull out the main planks from the tunnel, causing it to collapse? I mean, if it is so deep that it can be reached through digging, it might as well be enough soil to collapse the tunnel.
now, if you have these methods, and Murdo deccides to open it on his own, this leads to several theories:
1. Murdo does not know what he is dealing with. As far as I would suspect, the tunnel should be filled to the rim with zombies having a good time. digging through the roof might mot be the best idea, because you would land on the head.
2. As for the attack, well, if murdo had barricaded the tunnel up weeks ago, there would have been no invasion of them zombies in the school. so. Murdo must have left the tunnel of on purpose. I suspect as a last retreat.
3. if the tunnel only was known to a limited number of people, and the zombies have used it, he must suspect that the zombies come from someone who has knowledge of the tunnel. Or, that the knowledge of veterans was not enough to hide the tunnel properly.
4. If we combine that the tunnel that is very hidden and secretive, we can suspect that they have at least some weapon-collection down there. Now, that is the only thing sounding promising.
well, I really hope I have guessed nothing right, and bobby comes up with his usually gigantic simple solution. Much more simple and explainable then I could think.
August 6th, 2007 at 7:46 am
well, I’m certainly happy with the explanations he offered me. 🙂
August 6th, 2007 at 8:16 am
Well, it certainly has to be a well-concealed tunnel if even the owner of the farm could not find it as yet.
August 6th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Maybe well-concealed, maybe not.
I mean, how many of us know every exact detail of the place we grew up in? Don’t we take some details for granted? Like, “The garage has always been filled with junk” and whatnot. For instance, I was told a few weeks ago in passing that there is a floor safe in my closet. It was the first I’d heard of it, and I’d never even seen it, let alone the floor in my closet. So it’s perfectly feasible that the tunnel entrance was in a root cellar or something and was just blocked off by boxes or a bookshelf.
August 6th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Good point there.
Using the tunnel as a last ditch exit from the school might indeed have been part of Murdo’s plan. But leaving it both open and unguarded when there are things out there looking to kill and eat you is stupid.
Plugging the tunnel with something you can remove given ten minutes or so of frantic effort (presumably while the doors behind you have been barricaded) seems more likely. Nobody who knew about the tunnel would leave it open if it connected with the gym where everyone was sleeping at night – if it was open it would have a guard.
August 6th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Better not to block it and just keep an eye on the exit. If you block it a something dangerous is behind the blockage, when you tear it down you might be loking at lots of angry teeth. Like a bear, or a venomous duck.
August 6th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
“Well, it certainly has to be a well-concealed tunnel if even the owner of the farm could not find it as yet.”
Also keep in mind that April probably hasn’t even set foot on that property since she became the owner, which was only after the rest of her family died in the tornado a month ago, and since then she’s been living at the school with everyone else.
“As far as I would suspect, the tunnel should be filled to the rim with zombies having a good time.”
Um, Math can smell all the zombies, remember. He’d obviously tell Murdo if there was any danger there, and I think it was made fairly clear that Math (and Murdo) killed every single zombie that came through the tunnel into the gym. The danger is gone for the moment, as will be confirmed in the next page.
“digging through the roof might mot be the best idea, because you would land on the head.”
Murdo knows what he’s doing.
August 6th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Anyone else disappointed that the free comic book can only be downloaded by US users? I wanted some zombie parody goodness. >’:
August 7th, 2007 at 6:11 am
Yeah srsbizniz, I’m from Brazil and no free comics for me neither :o(
btw, excellent job as usual, keep up the good work! :oD
August 7th, 2007 at 6:48 am
I am digging this comic. I like how every little thing that is mentioned is related to a much bigger matter. The artwork awesome and the vamps are too cool.
August 7th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Bobby, not to nitpick or be a pain in the ass, but I have a questions.
If the tunnel was built in the mid-40’s, by TFZ, and only Vets knew about it, how the hell did that work? Because you said, and I quote
I’ve said all this several times before in the comments, but anyway, Sullivan Davis was born a human, went to this high school, got some girl pregnant in like 1941 probably, went off to war, was turned into a vampire, the normal human baby he produced was April’s father, born in ‘42, and then he fathered April in his 40s. Pretty simple.
From this page(before the blocks and steals argument):
http://www.lastblood.net/main/2007/07/27/page-65-sullivan-davis/
Which means TFZ wasn’t a veteran when it was built, or even in the right hemisphere. You can just shoot me now if you want.
August 7th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
“If the tunnel was built in the mid-40’s”
Huh? Why would you possibly think it was built in the mid-’40s? It was built in the mid ’30s. In my earlier comment I said “passed down through the past 70 years or so by residents of this town.” 70 years, not 60. All I said about the mid-’40s was that’s when they probably made the rule about how only veterans were told about it.
“Which means TFZ wasn’t a veteran when it was built, or even in the right hemisphere.”
Once again, there was ZERO reason for you to think it was built in the mid-’40s, and yes, he wasn’t a veteran when it was built — so what? What’s your point?
August 7th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
*rises from the dead to see the new page*
Ooooh. Sweet.
And April does look a bit funny— I vote that they’re put back into their original skins (see the first few pages).
And April needs a smaller chest, and more cushion around her torso;; For some reason, while she was quite pretty in the beginning, she has transformed into a Barbie.
No offense is intended by this comment, but it’s a small observation I made back three pages.
None the less, though, the art is amazing, per usual.
Keep up the great work, guys!
-Neca
August 7th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
By “they’re”, I obviously mean EVERYONE.
Math, Val, April, who ever else that might have changed dramatically… And I need to stop saying ‘and’. Damn.
-Neca
August 7th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Oh, and Vo! As to your question on the previous page, at the bottom of the comments?
Because I can.*
-Neca
*Now, usually, I would give you a lengthly reason as to why I feel compelled to, but, I really don’t want to right now.
August 8th, 2007 at 12:21 am
Heh, might be a quirky local VFW.
August 8th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Sorry Bobby. I’m just a moron who misread. My bad.
August 8th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I begged our local books a million to carry this comic last night.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Good thing they weren’t conscerned with zoning laws back in the 30’s. Digging a tunnel straight into a school (which may not have even existed then) might have ruffled a few feathers.
Hmmm…maybe TFZ was a child molester who kidnapped chilluns from school and went Freddy Kruger Backstory #3 on them!
August 8th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
“Good thing they weren’t conscerned with zoning laws back in the 30’s. Digging a tunnel straight into a school (which may not have even existed then) might have ruffled a few feathers.”
Either way, it was a secret. No one knew about it except Sullivan and whatever friends he got to help him with it. I’ve since figured out why it was built, by the way, and, minor spoiler: It has to do with vampires, and it will play a major role in a prequel about TFZ’s origin.
Also, the school did exist. We just saw Sullivan’s school basketball records dating back to 1934.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:28 am
Cementery is misspell’d in panel 2 (cemetery?)
August 9th, 2007 at 1:38 am
“Cementery is misspell’d in panel 2 (cemetery?)”
LOL. And you’re so sure that it’s spelled “cementery” that you don’t even take two seconds to look it up? Crazy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemetery
August 9th, 2007 at 4:57 am
AAH!!!! sweeet relief! you have had a plan!
Now, just to throw in a few random guesses, to keep the staff on guard:
1. In the cover with the plane flying over the school, it looks as if some of the guys have guns.
2. The school, and the tunnel, look like something built to withstand an invading russian army.
Now, I would suspect the following: (disregard if it is false, because I suspect bobby to come up with something far more interesting and realistic)
The tunnel was built through the time of the prohibition, and was mainly used to smuggle. because, if you have an out of town farm, and a school, get the booze to the farm, in the tunnel, and have it distributed through the local custodian.
Now, as I would love to be TFZ, I would, as a child, have looked around every inch of the farm, and would have discovered the tunnel. Through the stats, we know TFZ has had a lot of exercise, which might have been a result from the digging of the tunnel.
Now, with the upcoming war, it would have made sense to just broaden the tunnel, and generally keep it in a good shape. you know, him and a few buddys, all eager to have a secret meeting place. Now, in the 40’s, when the guys deccided to restrict the membership to veterans, I suspect that something happened.
1. TFZ went missing in action, and the guys wanted to honour their hero
2. the guys deccided to store their war memorabilia down there, and wanted it kept safely away
3. Now, the guys thought like me, saw the upcoming war, saw the bomb shelters and suh, and deccided to get their own little defense line going. Maybe a few rooms, underground, a generator a little well, or such. And, o course, weapons and ammo. which would be a lucky find in such an emergency as the end of the world. The restriction to vets would have made sense, because in the case of an upcoming emergency, it would be sure that a vet would have the best chances of survival, and a vet would not tell anybody…
OOh, and I completly forgot… Yay for murdo being in the marines. I can totally imagine him yellin “Semper-fi, (children of unmarried parents)!” while emptying some military equipment in the zombies.
By the way, Question to owen, what is his tatoo? it looks kind of strange.
August 9th, 2007 at 5:47 am
Baltazar, I said this last night about the tunnel: “minor spoiler: It has to do with vampires.” I have a ton of it figured out now, and anyway, it’s called Sullivan’s Tunnel because he built it (with some help), built it in the early to mid ’30s, and I’ll just say for now (not wanting to spoil much) that it was built because of something related to vampires and the secret society through the years was in relation in some way to vampires (I know most of the details now). So anyway, had nothing to do with regular war stuff or smuggling things or anything like that.
August 9th, 2007 at 8:57 am
… Maybe it was Sullivan’s dad? XD
-Neca
August 9th, 2007 at 9:56 am
so I guess Math has put 2 + 2 together now…
August 9th, 2007 at 10:39 am
the tattoo looks like the globe and anchor symbol. kinda
August 9th, 2007 at 11:07 am
Hmmmm so if it has to do with Vampires, that means that TFZ came home after being turned into a Vampire then huh? I think that could be important somewhere in the story
Well, the very easy answer is that its a way from getting from the farm to the school without being in sunlight, but I think there’s probably more to it
August 9th, 2007 at 11:48 am
THat about sunlight isn’t really true… Math said that sunlight didn’t harm them, and he and Val were standing in sunlight at the begginning of the story. It’s probably something more like a defence measure against vampires (if they thought/knew they were “evil”), or as something like a secret meeting place. But seeing that TFZ clearly hates vampires, it was the first one
August 9th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Ok, after being a complete and utter moron earlier, The tunnel was built in the 30’s, is somehow related to vampires and a secret society, and in the 40’s was decided to be a veteran’s only secret.
Man, now I want to know about the secret society……..Must order books to make Bobby do prequel………and eat braaaaaaiiiiiiinnnnnssssssss…..but order books first.
August 9th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Okay, here’s a question that could yield all kinds of interesting answers –
When and how did Sullivan (now TFZ) first learn vampires were real?
It’s starting to sound like he knew long before he was turned into one. Prequel is going to be more complicated than I thought.
August 9th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
“Hmmmm so if it has to do with Vampires, that means that TFZ came home after being turned into a Vampire then huh? I think that could be important somewhere in the story”
No, opposite. He never comes home after becoming a vampire. Or at least not until just now, over 65 years later.
August 9th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
seas.
Yeah srsbizniz, same for me(Austria),..
just found this, great work, keep it up!
cu,
Vogel
December 12th, 2007 at 8:48 am
THIS IS THE BEST PAGE SO FAR!
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:46 am
Well it DOES now that you’ce SAID THAT.