Review – The Mocking Dead #4 (Dynamite)

Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist/s: Max Dunbar/(Greytones) Aikau Olivia
Release Date: 4th December 2013

The Mocking Dead is a terrible name for a series. Considering the slew of crap spoofs over the past decade or so I can’t believe anyone would name a comic The Mocking Dead. I’m certain that Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer feel jipped out of a title. It’s a bit of a shame as the book isn’t that bad and it isn’t a spoof at all.

There are some good ideas as the underwhelmed human populace deals with a nuisance zombie outbreak. The opening narrative is quite strong and there are a couple of good gags here and there. I personally love the thought of phoning a sickie and blaming the possible onset of a zombie virus for my absence. Not all of the jokes hit the mark though with some eye rolling moments. An entire page is wasted listing all the nasty side effects of a supposed cure that’s offered up by some shady pharmaceutical company. This is a joke I’ve seen/heard many, many times before and it takes up far too much space.

The black and white art is solid and always impressively detailed but overly obvious and familiar. It can also feel a bit flat despite under the dense detail. The art can feel at odds with the humour at times and a more exaggerated art style could’ve been a better fit.
Not the train wreck I thought it would be but not brilliant.