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Written by Robert Kirkman (Author), Sean Phillips (Illustrator)
Cover Art – Arthur Suydam
Published by Marvel Comics
Publication Date: 2008
Format: Color – 120 pages
Price: $19.95
The anticipation was killing me. I had long put off picking up a “Marvel Zombies” comic in the anticipation of purchasing the graphic novel collection. I wanted it to be fresh, to be complete and to be at the right time. As I set out with this one simple act, I came upon the editions, though the first was sold old….so Volume #2 will be my first introduction to the runaway hit of merging heroes, villains and zombies. Now if only a movie were in place??? So while my order goes into Amazon for the first one, I thought I’d review that which is on hand. So Marvel zombies TBP #2 it is…away we go
Set in the distant future after an outbreak of zombie-sims has broken out…(sounds familiar?)
The Marvel zombies have eaten everything and are now in starvation mode. Eating each other isn’t an option. Which is like eating old moldy skin. The heroes have come to the conclusion that some ingenuity is in order to find some new eating ground. If a few of them get slaughtered in the meantime due to flared tempers then so be it!
What instantly attracted me to this series was its high level of absurdity. It’s part drama, part action that is indirectly loaded with comedy. To summarize it a bit better. The heroes turned zombies are caught between being friend and foe. Up to this point foe, as the hunger as they call it is unstoppable. This means they have to eat everything. Though still with a conscious they fight between there former lives as protectors and heroes. This new version of themselves which is one of the undead feel no pain and still is able to use its powers on command. A sliced arm, half a head, a missing leg or even being squished to death is secondary to the hunger they have. It seems the only real way to exterminate them is by being pummeled into mush. Half of a body, serves as a slight inconvenience that is rectified by re-instating the shell with metal parts.
So these heroes travel across the galaxy in search of life (to eat). They come upon earth and Black panthers lair only to be outwitted by an electronic force field. Well, things seem to change just about every page. There living, there dead, there reinstated, there exterminated………the irony of lunacy is not hard to see. Most of the discussions involve the need to eat people and somewhere in the mix even a bit of compassion and friendship. This is great stuff folks. Mainly because it breaks “all” the rules and invents its own. I found it highly entertaining, highly graphic and filled with all the great art work that your used to seeing. The only catch though is much of that is exposed body parts, decapitations, gut spilling, dismembered limbs and well …you get the drift.
Add to that the concept that the folks locally are trying to get the heroes to teleport to another dimension so they can eat others instead of them. Then add in the vampire like drama of man vs monster and a unquenchable hunger that some of them are convinced can be overcome. This collection of series #2 which collects #1-#5 says farewell to a few regulars and perhaps an appearance or 2 of some thought to be dead for good. What gives?…when does the final mean final?
I’ve come to realize that “Marvel Zombies” is a world in its own that throws everything you know out the window. The book has some great one pager illustrations in addition to the cover art that is featured at the end of the book. Then for reference you get the original covers that were zombified and made anew into the gory haunting ones you see before you. Giant man seems to be running the show this round and Wolverine appears to take a backseat with very few lines being spoken.
Other heroes switch between hero and villain so fast you don’t know heads from tails. Being a horror fan and comic book fan …I could get used to this blasphemous interpretation of the marvel world. This issue had me hooked from start to finish….. if you haven’t gotten on board then your left behind.
