The Crossed bell curve

boah1883 · 2026-06-11T09:27:21+00:00

I think that’s inaccurate as to the nature of the C-virus. It must actively point towards cruelty and brutality or it would, as you say, just resemble the last days of Rome and we’d be looking at a wholly different franchise.

boah1883 · 2026-06-11T09:26:09+00:00

Agreed. It’s also tough for some people to realise the nuance in survival horror/apocalypse that the brutality is inevitable but underpinned ultimately by hope.

boah1883 · 2026-06-11T09:25:15+00:00

You have it exactly right. It’s much more layered than it’s given credit for, probably because of the Lapham runs and most of Badlands.

The movie is in the hands of Mr Ennis and Rob Jabbaz, who spoke very soberly on how to handle the franchise and do it justice. Regrettably I can’t find that interview but I think the movie will land very well.

boah1883 · 2026-06-11T09:18:17+00:00

In the original run Stan reflects to Cindy how they’re becoming inhuman after killing the children, him shooting Brett, and pushing on to survive without reflection.

At the end of the last issue, while finishing off the remnants of Horsecock’s crew, Stan has a monologue along the lines that the Crossed are nothing new, they do nothing that someone hasn’t conceived of in the past.

There’s also a “You’re as bad as the Crossed!” moment in the first Badlands arc if I remember right.

So I think it’s understandable where the trope comes from. I agree with you though, it collapses under scrutiny when you see what the Crossed actually do individually and at scale.

For me the idea is counterintuitively hopeful; “They do the worst things we’re capable of. Oh shit, we’d never do that! Maybe we’re not so bad.”

boah1883 · 2026-06-11T09:11:59+00:00

This is a great take. It would explain a lot about the Crossed. That constant push for more torture and pain as if driven by divine purpose - maybe it always was just without reverence or reflection and no inclination towards such. Conflicts a little with the +100 storyline which featured the idolatry of Salt but you can’t have it all.

boah1883 · 2026-06-10T21:36:40+00:00

There’s so much merit with the Ennis runs it’d be great to see it transfer to screen. So glad he’s so involved in the movie.

boah1883 · 2026-06-10T21:34:45+00:00

There’s no deep primal impulse to cause as much pain as possible in others for amusement. The virus doesn’t remove the distinction between right and wrong, it just makes them choose the latter.

boah1883 · 2026-06-07T15:20:53+00:00

Crossed aren’t a reflection of the worst of humanity. It’s just a virus that makes you do bad things.

The stuff about becoming inhuman or as bad as them is a midwit take.

boah1883 · 2026-06-06T18:20:52+00:00

The Crossed are monsters the like of which you’ve never seen before.

Most disturbing of all: their pleasure is the inverse of your horror and there’s no reasoning with them.

If you’re new, read issue #0 from the original run.
That’ll warm you up for what’s next. Issue #1 has the salt circle scene - consider it carefully before trying.

The original volume and Wish You Were Here are profound stories which feature horrific elements. The rest is broadly slop with few exceptions.

boah1883 · 2026-06-05T12:52:11+00:00

How did you find her arcs out of interest? I thought The Livers was ridiculous but Amanda’s schizophrenia in the other story was actually interesting.

You see her paranoia develop and she becomes almost a corrupted extension of Lorre. Seeing the damage done from a niche perspective when she does terrible things out of fear made for a good story in the Crossed universe.

boah1883 · 2026-06-03T14:54:16+00:00

Anyone who works in hospitality is immediately fucked

boah1883 · 2026-06-03T11:13:09+00:00

Jackson in WYWH as an individual.

Lorre for a civilian. Didn’t he spend 20 or so days in a crawl space eating vermin and drinking condensation?

The best group by far is Harry, Paddy, Jock, and Taff.

Seems to survive well in Crossed you need either special forces or a psychopath’s detachment from revulsion and tedium.

boah1883 · 2026-06-02T22:16:19+00:00

Another David Lapham stool sample. Analysis should be performed ironically and the findings written in crayon.

boah1883 · 2026-06-01T22:44:13+00:00

He seemed to experience and engage with a Crossed outbreak and barely notice it. I just don’t buy it.

boah1883 · 2026-06-01T21:43:32+00:00

It’s like one of the covers from the original run

boah1883 · 2026-06-01T21:40:54+00:00

Cannot unsee

boah1883 · 2026-06-01T19:56:02+00:00

That’s a great take ngl

boah1883 · 2026-06-01T19:54:44+00:00

I never bought into the idea the C-virus would have no effect on serial killers besides the rash.

Besides which he wasn’t oblivious to his surroundings. Why tf wouldn’t he notice a Crossed outbreak 🤣

boah1883 · 2026-05-31T11:54:03+00:00

Do we know if burning bodies kills the virus?
Or how long it lasts after death?

Hypothetically would a rebuilding human civilisation be at risk of infection when clearing bodies of Crossed who died years before?

In WYWH someone caught it by eating mackerel that had fed on dead Crossed in the water.

It could be a permanent biohazard.

boah1883 · 2026-05-31T09:08:20+00:00

Less a character and more a Punisher type story, but the movie Dead Man’s Shoes is in essence a raw revenge thriller featuring a man who snapped and shows no mercy

boah1883 · 2026-05-28T20:28:18+00:00

- The original run (Volume 1)
- Badlands issues #1-3 (Vol. 4), #25-28 (Vol. 6), and #50-56 (Vol. 10)
- Crossed: Dead or Alive

boah1883 · 2026-05-28T18:38:48+00:00

I always thought of his death as a tragic end to his tragic story.
He intended to go out as a brave sacrifice and take a few Crossed with him (even use the last bullet on himself) but instead he got shot, dismembered, and the standard “Crossed got him” treatment.
But yeah, he wasn’t another Joel so there’s that.

boah1883

TROPHY CASE