Soundtrack for today’s post: “Zombie Graveyard Party” by Be Your Own Pet, a song which quotes the first, if not the second as well, Return of the Living Dead film. Both films DO feature actor Thom Matthews as a zombie trying to pressure his girlfriend into letting him eat her brains (IT’S A METAPHOR). But anyway, this isn’t “Watch That Movie!” (though you should), this is “Read This Comic!”, so in the spirit of the fall that needs to come ever so much sooner, I’ll continue with some horror comic recommendations.
Let’s start off with iZombie by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred. This is a comic I’ve been meaning to catchup on myself for a number of reasons. What are those reasons? I’m glad you asked!
1) Mike Allred’s art is amazing. He’s got a retro-poppy style that’s fun to see contrasted with violence and gore.
2) Chris Roberson caused a whole big hullaballo a couple months back when he announced he would no longer work for DC Comics because he found them unethical in their treatment of creators. I haven’t read much by him other than this first issue, and I’d like to give him a shot based on his ethics.
3) A zombie is the main character. While I am a stickler for Romero-style zombies, the zombie in this comic does appear to be magical in nature, therefore, it’s up to the creative team to define their own zombie rules.
The basic concept of the book seems to be that our main character Gwen is a zombie, she has to eat a brain once a month, or she becomes your typical mindless zombie. When she eats a brain, she gets the brain’s memories, which I assume like in this first issue, leads to her solving mysteries with a friendly ghost and a were-terrier. Yup, were-terrier. Thus far, maybe it’s a stretch for me to recommend this as a horror comic, but I hope the scary side of these characters/creatures is shown in addition to their everyday quirks.
The first issue is pretty enjoyable and sets up a number of subplots while introducing you to some interesting characters. It’s a mere $.99 on Comixology. You can get the trade paperbacks on Amazon, or at your local comic book store.
Were-terrier gives me a perfect segue into my second recommendation: Full Moon Fever by Joe Casey, Caleb Gerard and Damian Couceiro. I sadly don’t have any images to share from this book right now, cause my buddy Rob has it. So join me in angrily shaking your fists at him!
(Pause for fist shake)
That was a rigorous fist shaking! Good job, everyone. Anyway, Full Moon Fever is like a lost John Carpenter film. The concept is…
wait…
wait…
WEREWOLVES ON THE MOON!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Long version of concept: Not necessary, just go buy and read this).
Couceiro’s art is very clean, his werewolves are horrifying, and I may nitpick that a few of his characters look alike, but that happens in horror movies too, and oh yeah, it’s about freaking werewolves on the moon, so I was grinning ear to ear while reading this no matter what. Casey and Gerard’s story is kept tight, they get in and out in 88 pages, and of course, leave you on the perfect classic horror note of “The End?”
As far as I can tell, this comic isn’t digitally available yet, so go ahead and order it from Amazon! They’ve got it right HERE and apparently only have one copy left, so buy it now! Again, this comic is pretty John Carpenter-y and that is one of the highest compliments I can give ANYTHING. If I ever compare you or anything you do to John Carpenter, I have said the nicest thing I will ever say to you. I love that man and his films.
Now, I’ll play you out with the classic Jewish Werewolf anthem, “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.”
Read This Comic! 