‘A Tale of Two Comics…’

Comic books have been on the shelves since, well… forever. I on the other hand have only been reading the things on and off for the last few years. It’s fair to say then that I have a lot of catching up to do with certain long running titles and my wallet recently put its foot down regarding how far I can go back in time with these (thank the comic book gods for the collected editions!) It was a nice surprise then to find a couple of ‘first issues’ that looked worth a shot, especially as they had zombies in them! :o) My little foray to the comic book store resulted in a bit of a mixed bag though…



‘i zombie’ (Vertigo) – Chris Roberson & Michael Allred

Gwen Dylan works as a gravedigger at the local cemetery, nice choice of career really as she is a zombie! When she’s not digging graves, she’s digging up graves so she can get to the juicy brains within (but only once a month, brains don’t taste that nice). Gwen’s flatmate is a ghost from the nineteen sixties and she suffers from the geekish attentions of the local were-terrier. Who’s the mysterious good looking guy in the car though…?

Hang on…

Zombies can run if they want but they mostly shamble. Their ‘lives’ are ruled by the overriding desire for human flesh, not their love life or a desire to catch the killer of the dead brain that they just ate. Zombies and that certain kind of Urban Fantasy don’t mix, if you try to make a zombie sexy then what you’re left with isn’t really a zombie is it? I’ll give you a clue, the answer isn’t yes.
The story itself sets things up nicely for future issues (lots of potential plotlines are introduced) and Michael Allred’s artwork did what it set out to do although it doesn’t do much else. To be honest though, I can’t see myself being around for issue two. I think I’d rather read some Kelley Armstrong instead. 4/10



'Marvel Zombies #1’ (Marvel) – Robert Kirkman & Sean Phillips

After my rant about the previous comic you would have thought that I’d be dishing out more of the same for ‘Marvel Zombies’. Not so. Robert Kirkman has a fine zombie writing pedigree already and he knows just what a zombie comic should be all about. The Marvel zombies may still all have their powers (apart from Spiderman) but at the end of the day it’s all about satisfying that hunger for human flesh. Kirkman has his ‘heroes’ go for it in style and they’re up against the most powerful mutant of all. I’ve never really cheered Magneto on in the past I had to this time round, you will too.
Issue one is fast paced and funny but ultimately very, very bloody; just the way it should be. Sean Phillips’ artwork complements what Kirkman’s story does in just the right way. Forget picking up issue two (even though it has the Silver Surfer in it), I might just have to go for the collected editions here. Anyone else read this series? 10/10