Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Max Dunbar, Aikau Olivia

I picked this up to review because I felt It was one I could give a more balanced view because I don’t automatically think the addage of zombies to a story equals win, I used to dig the zombie genre but well it seems like a genre that we have seen fold in pretty much everything else into it whether it be mash ups with classic literature, the entire Marvel Universe or parodies. Before I read it from the title I assumed it would be a parody of The Walking Dead but as I started reading I realised the comedy was more referencing various parts of the genre. Without giving to much away a zombie epidemic hits the US near Pittsburgh (Where Romero shot his best regarded movies) and the army utilizes the knowledge of a diehard zombie movie fanatic to base their plans for fighting the epidemic off of.

This book written by Fred Van Lente is humorous referencing everything from the bath salts hysteria, weapon manufacturers and zombie sex parties in here. So there is some appeal to fans of the genre and the uninitiated alike since there is mixtures of black humor and satire as well as the zombie fiction references. But I do think at times some of characterization suffers from what I would call Big Bang syndrome with the main character being depicted as a die hard geek who can only relate to people conversationally by referencing pop culture stuff or saying socially awkward stuff or wearing ‘geek’ clothing. Which may appeal to some but didn’t win me over to liking the main character or finding much depth to them from what I read in this issue.

And lastly the art in the book was really well done. It is in black and white (well with greytones) which is perhaps the thing about the book which mocks the dead not only said similarly titled book but also the original Night of The Living Dead with the only color actually shown being red which makes what blood you do see stand out more. Not to mention the Zed’s do look as good as they should with typical lifeless eyes and bloody faces, so a kudos to Max Dunbar and Aikau Olivia for nailing the look and coloring respectively.

If you aren’t drawn to zombie books or horror books I’m not sure if this will win you over but not all of the humor in this book is designed for fans so you may take something out of it or if you are a fan conversely there is lots of references and jokes for you to take out of it as well but if gore and chills are your thing you may find this light in the visceral.

Rating: 6.5/10.

The writer of this piece was:
Gary Kane aka (GK)
Article: Where are They Now (Prev: Under The Influence)
GK tweets from @Kanoclassic