Apparently there’s no room left in hell, because the dead are taking over the independent/small press rack at my local comics shop. At last count there were approximately several billion titles in which the words “night,” “dead,” “walking,” “land,” and “zombies” have been combined in various permutations and grotty fonts. I have no idea what pop-cultural event may have spawned this weird glut of graphical necromancy, but evidently zombies are the new ninjas.
Having recently read Max Brooks’ highly entertaining World War Z, I suddenly find myself a-hungering for some juicy undead goodness like Mama Romero used to make. However, bearing Sturgeon’s Law firmly in mind, I would first like to solicit opinions on which (if any) recent comics are worth seeking out. I’d also appreciate insights on titles which might be better avoided. Anything with wisecracking zombies is probably out. Thanks in advance.
Kirkman’s The Walking Dead is quite good, although it treads some very familiar ground (the protagonist awakens from a coma to find the land overrun with zombies, a la 28 Days Later). What it does do, quite well, is just keep going, showing how the people (don’t) cope and try to rebuild some semblance of society. We don’t just see one story, the plotline keeps developing. It’s dark as hell though. Dark like a panther lost in a coal mine at midnight. The climax of the latest TPB Makes the soldiers in the aforementioned 28 Days Later look positively well-adjusted.
That’s what I like about TWD. The zombies are almost incidental to the story. Yeah, they are there and quite often pop up to eat someone’s face off, but they are not the main thrust of the plot. It’s the interaction between the survivors and how they are managing to deal with with the situation that drives the thing.
seems like everyone said what i was going ot, so i’l chime in with walking dead… it is odd to see such a serious book from the guy who also wrote “battle pope” though.
I’ll chime out on Walking Dead. I’ve only gotten as far as the second trade of the series, but I’m left with an overall meh feeling. As someone else mentioned it treads familiar ground, and while Kirkman does have talent as an author I’m not totally satisfied with the story or characters: I feel like I’ve seen it all before, especially in Romero’s Dead movies. I’m not saying it’s a bad book, just that unless you have an above average hankering for zombie stories or a bigger bank account than mine you’d probably be better off picking something else up.
George Romero has his own Zombie comic out there, called Toe Tags. Avoid this comic at all costs. It’s really, really stupid. I gave up when the protagonist’s zombie-stomping pet elephant showed up.