History Fridge / Crossed

* In ''Lesser of Two Evils'', Morgan and Olivia's misuse of an {{Expy}} of Literature/TheZombieSurvivalGuide is said to be what undoes the group. Which is a fair enough point, however, [[spoiler: the specific advice used is advice to screw over everyone else if it means your own survival. The Zombie Survival Guide, while obviously about a completely different apocalypse than Crossed and likely full of poor advice, explicitly opposes that kind of thinking, with Brooks even writing at one point 'logic must sometimes yield to humanity. This does make it feel like an attempted TakeThat failing to land because it is ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch.]]

* In ''Lesser of Two Evils'', Morgan and Olivia's misuse of an {{Expy}} of Literature/TheZombieSurvivalGuide is said to be what undoes the group. Which is a fair enough point, however, [[spoiler: the specific advice used is advice to screw over everyone else if it means your own survival. The Zombie Survival Guide, while obviously about a completely different apocalypse than Crossed and likely full of poor advice, explicitly opposes that kind of thinking, with Brooks even writing at one point 'logic must sometimes yield to humanity. This does make it feel like an attempted TakeThat failing to land because it is ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch.]]

* The exact nature of the crossed insanity is never truly revealed, however, it's assumed in and out of universe [[WhatYouAreInTheDark that the C-virus robs the person of their inhibitions, causing them carry out their own evil impulses that were already there]]. But, here's the thing, what if this theory is ''wrong''? What if the C-Virus does indeed compels its infectees to act like they do on a genuinely involuntary level. What if the Crossed are awere of the nature of their actions but [[AndIMustScream are genuinely unable to control themselves]]?

* [[spoiler:Patrick's reveal of being infected by Horsecock's gang opens a lot of horrifying possibilities at how ''exactly'' was he turned, ranging from a simple spit in the face to an outright ''rape''.]]

* [[spoiler:Patrick's reveal of being infected by Horsecock's gang opens a lot of horrifying possibilities at how ''exactly'' was he infected, ranging from a simple spit in the face to an outright ''rape''.]]

*** The ''Lesser of Two Evils'' arc in ''Badlands'' more or less confirms that this is indeed the comic's purpose. A group of survivors who have been successfully evading the Crossed encounter two women who have been relying on a "zombie apocalypse survival guide". At first they are invited to join the main group, but following the instructions in the guide only causes them to either be killed or to become Crossed themselves. Eventually the entire group of survivors is wiped out, mostly as a result of the zombie apocalypse survivalists being WrongGenreSavvy. The point here is that so-called zombie apocalypse survivalists are narrow-minded in the kind of zombie apocalypse they are preparing for, and might find themselves woefully ''unprepared'' for a different kind of disaster.

*** Well, 'ZombieApocalypse' is used as a bit of an short-hand umbrella term these days -- it's used, with strict accuracy or otherwise, to describe everything from classic Romero-style zombies to ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater''-style rage-psychos and more. The premise has evolved beyond referring strictly and solely to shambling living-dead to any kind of scenario wherein people are reverted to some kind of savage, uncivilized state where they hunt, kill and convert those who are unaffected, pretty much leading to the collapse of civilization in the process (whether this is strictly accurate is another matter -- but then, it can often be argued that the differences between a lot of these are often so minor that it's sheer pedantry to quibble). ''Crossed'' doesn't strictly count as the living dead, true, but the overall ''narrative'' it follows is definitely that of the latter. What Ennis is basically suggesting is that the 'zombies' that show up aren't necessarily going to be the zombies that you've been planning for.
*** The ''Lesser of Two Evils'' arc in ''Badlands" more or less confirms that this is the case. A group of survivors who have been successfully evading the Crossed encounter two women who have been relying on a "zombie apocalypse survival guide". At first they are invited to join the main group, but following the instructions in the guide only causes them to either be killed or to become Crossed themselves. Eventually the entire group of survivors is wiped out, mostly as a result of the zombie apocalypse survivalists being WrongGenreSavvy. The point here is that so-called zombie apocalypse survivalists are narrow-minded in the kind of zombie apocalypse they are preparing for, and might find themselves woefully ''unprepared'' for a different kind of disaster.

*** Well, 'ZombieApocalypse' is used as a bit of an short-hand umbrella term these days -- it's used, with strict accuracy or otherwise, to describe everything from classic Romero-style zombies to ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater''-style rage-psychos and more. The premise has evolved beyond referring strictly and solely to shambling living-dead to any kind of scenario wherein people are reverted to some kind of savage, uncivilised state where they hunt, kill and convert those who are unaffected, pretty much leading to the collapse of civilisation in the process (whether this is strictly accurate is another matter -- but then, it can often be argued that the differences between a lot of these are often so minor that it's sheer pedantry to quibble). ''Crossed'' doesn't strictly count as the living dead, true, but the overall ''narrative'' it follows is definitely that of the latter. What Ennis is basically suggesting is that the 'zombies' that show up aren't necessarily going to be the zombies that you've been planning for.
*** The ''Lesser of Two Evils'' arc in ''Badlands" more or less confirms that this is the case. A group of survivors who have been successfully evading the Crossed encounter two women who have been relying on a "zombie apocalypse survival guide". At first they are invited to join the main group, but following the instructions in the guide only causes them to either be killed or to become Crossed themselves. Eventually the entire group of survivors is wiped out, mostly as a result of the zombie apocalypse survivalists being WrongGenreSavvy.

*** Well, 'ZombieApocalypse' is used as a bit of an short-hand umbrella term these days -- it's used, with strict accuracy or otherwise, to describe everything from classic Romero-style zombies to ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater''-style rage-psychos and more. The premise has evolved beyond referring strictly and solely to shambling living-dead to any kind of scenario wherein people are reverted to some kind of savage, uncivilised state where they hunt, kill and convert those who are unaffected, pretty much leading to the collapse of civilisation in the process (whether this is strictly accurate is another matter -- but then, it can often be argued that the differences between a lot of these are often so minor that it's sheer pedantry to quibble). ''Crossed'' doesn't strictly count as the living dead, true, but the overall ''narrative'' it follows is definitely that of the latter. What Ennis is basically suggesting is that the 'zombies' that show up aren't necessarily going to be the zombies that you've been planning for.

*** In fact, that could be considered a running theme throughout the Crossed saga. In all the story arcs one can see non-Crossed characters engage in Crossed-like behavior. Some examples are obvious, eg. Harold Lorre & Addy's father, while others are more subtle. This of course reinforces the concept that all the Crossed virus really does (apart from the facial rash) is strip its victims of all norms and concepts of civilization, society and morality, with some people already being like the Crossed even without the virus.
** ''+100'' makes it explicitly clear with Beau Salt, an individual so vile and insane, the virus did little else than giving him the cross rash. Even if they may be rare, there are humans who are already crossed-like without the help of the infection.
** From ''Wish You Were Here'': The revelation that the Crossed virus [[spoiler: is not only capable of being transmitted through the flesh of carrion eaters ([[ParanoiaFuel when's the last time you had some fish lately?]]), but is also apparently mutating into something even ''worse''.]]

* Arguably the darkest example is in Gore Angels. Many people watched Emiko's gang-rape video online....just how many people now think that she's a slut, not knowing that she was actually drugged and raped!?!?

* In Crossed #8, Stan, Cindy and their group bed down in a crashed Chinook chopper. There's a skeleton in there, with an ApocalypticLog; he was part of a special military unit that shuttled nuclear engineers and scientists around during the beginning of the Crossed pandemic, shutting down nuclear power plants so the Crossed couldn't blow them up. That's pretty smart. However, once they shut down all the plants in their roster (with other units doing the same around the country), ''they killed all the engineers and scientists.'' The justification from their superiors was that if they could shut the plants down, they could re-activate them again, and the [=PTBs=] didn't want that kind of knowledge floating around. '''''THE MOTHERFUCKERS [[LostTechnology KILLED NUCLEAR POWER]].''''' An entire field of science will have to be ''re-invented'', and it took decades and billions of dollars for the greatest minds in human history to do it the first time. Thanks a whole lot for condemning countless generations to freezing in the dark, you stupid robots.

*** But the point is that the crossed aren't zombies, so the lesson(You couldn't survive in a zombie apocalypse) still doesn't apply- the survivalists aren't saying "I could survive psychotic attacks by beings capable of thought in huge numbers" they're saying "I could survive a ZOMBIE attack, by ZOMBIES,", which the crossed ARE NOT.

** Also in regard to the chopper scene, if you pay attention to the art, you will see that it does not look like the soldier killed himself nor does it appear that the crossed got to him. Meaning that the soldier likely died alone of thirst and starvation. In this series, an peaceful yet painful and depressing way to go.

* In Crossed #8, Stan, Cindy and their group bed down in a crashed Chinook chopper. There's a skeleton in there, with an ApocalypticLog; he was part of a special military unit that shuttled nuclear engineers and scientists around during the beginning of the Crossed pandemic, shutting down nuclear power plants so the Crossed couldn't blow them up. That's pretty smart. However, once they shut down all the plants in their roster (with other units doing the same around the country), ''they killed all the engineers and scientists.'' The justification from their superiors was that if they could shut the plants down, they could re-activate them again, and the [=PTBs=] didn't want that kind of knowledge floating around. '''''THE MOTHERFUCKERS [[LostTechnology KILLED NUCLEAR POWER]].''''' An entire field of science will have to be ''re-invented'', and it took decades and billions of dollars for the greatest minds in human history to do it the first time. Thanks a whole lot for condemning countless generations to freezing in the dark, you stupid robots.