Marvel Zombies 2 Hardcover Review

Marvel Zombies 2

Marvel Comics
Oversized Hardcover
128 pages
$19.99 (2008)
$15.99 (2009) TPB
ISBN 9780785125457

Contributors: Robert Kirkman, Sean Phillips, June Chung, Randy Gentile, Rus Wooton, and Arthur Suydam

Reprints: Marvel Zombies 2 #1-5 (of 5)

Synopsis: It has been decades since the infected zombie heroes left Earth to devour life across the cosmos.  Under the leadership of the Black Panther humanity has rebuilt itself in the ruins of Wakanda.  Survival is still uncertain and the Panther has grown old.  It's time for him to step down, but no true successor exists.  The son of Fabian Cortez has inherited his father's reckless pride and plans to usurp the Panther's status. 

The undead Avengers eventually return to Earth in search of the dimension-crossing gateway technology of Reed Richards.  They instantly sense the last remnants of life on the planet and attack!  Breakthroughs by Forge and Janet Van Dyne (infected and captured in the first series) have identified a waning in the hunger assailing the undead.  Will it come too late to save humanity?

Pros: More great covers by Suydam, same creative team as first series, nice oversized hardcover w/dustjacket

Cons: Story gets more crazy and convoluted, writing is not as good as first series, the bloom is off this rose

Mike Tells It Straight: Marvel Zombies was a smash success and rapidly spawned this sequel, but the same winning formula didn't recreate the same success.  The story starts out too predictable and becomes a convoluted mess by the end.  Kirkman's ending felt forced in order to keep an opening for another sequel.  It's a decent sequel following precisely in the footsteps of the first series, but the novelty has worn off quite a bit.

TO BUY and Recommendations:
   

Marvel Zombies Hardcover Review

Marvel Zombies

Marvel Comics
Oversized Hardcover
136 pages
$19.99 (2006)
$15.99 (2008) TPB
ISBN 9780785122777

Contributors: Robert Kirkman, Sean Phillips, June Chung, Randy Gentile, and Arthur Suydam

Reprints: Marvel Zombies #1-5 (of 5)

Synopsis: It began with a flash in the sky and an unsatiable hunger took hold.  Our beloved heroes were the first victims and quickly spread the hunger throughout the globe.  Soon all of humanity had been eaten by the superpowered zombies once known as the Avengers.  Now the small pockets of uninfected must rally to survive this super plague.  How can the former heroes continue to go on after devouring their loved ones - and how can they possibly stop the coming of Galactus!

Pros: Good writing/art, lots of extras including the many cool covers by Suydam, sketchbook, foreword by Kirkman, nice oversized hardcover w/dustjacket

Cons: Completely off-the-wall story with far-fetched conclusion, a lot of hype, many reprintings with some less than spectacular covers

Mike Tells It Straight: This story was a massive hit and spun out of Mark Millar's run on Ultimate Fantastic Four when Ultimate Reed Richards came into contact with an alternate dimension overrun by a super zombie plague.  The team managed to stop more zombies from crossing dimensions, but the infected Fantastic Four remained becoming the Ultimate Frightful Four. 

Kirkman knows zombies (he writes The Walking Dead) and does an excellent job here, even having the heroes stop (after gorging themselves) to consider their grotesque plight.  They stay in character throughout as the scientists like Banner and Pym try to analyze the physiological changes of their new condition.  Having the Marvel heroes become zombies and eat people is a wild concept - Kirkman takes it even farther by adding a cosmic bent to the whole deal.  The ending is totally nuts and one thing is for certain, this is the best possible Marvel-heroes-as-zombies book you will find!

TO BUY and Recommendations:
   

The Walking Dead Compendium Vol. 1 Review

The Walking Dead Compendium Vol. 1
Image Comics
Softcover Trade Paperback
1088 pages
$59.99
ISBN 9781607060765

Contributors: Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Tony Moore, and Cliff Rathburn

Reprints: The Walking Dead #1-48 plus story from Image Comics Holiday Special 2005

Synopsis: Rick Grimes is a small-town Kentucky police officer who receives a gunshot wound in the line of duty and falls into a coma.  Awakening in the hospital with no staff or attendants present he stumbles upon a world filled with the walking dead.  While Rick was unconscious an epidemic of zombies has broken out leaving him to pick up the pieces of his former life. 

His first order of business is to track down his wife and son while avoiding the constant danger of the undead.  Rick soon discovers the old laws and structure of society have broken down in light of the zombie crisis and survival of his loved ones is paramount even to the lives of others.  The slow realization dawns that the undead are not the most dangerous threat in this new world order.  Death is hidden behind every corner and the ones left alive are the true walking dead.

Pros: Bad-@$$ f*%king post-apocalyptic zombie story, great characterization, comprehensive volume encompassing first 8 trade paperbacks, cover is resilient (it's black and didn't pick up much wear through my reading), paper quality is high

Cons: Book is heavy and difficult to read comfortably in any other position besides sitting up (good paper quality makes it heavier), easy to ding a corner due to weight/size of book (once ding/damage happens it tends to get worse due to size/handling), spine cracking is a major issue as with any of these paperback compendiums - my copy came with an almost imperceptible wrinkle in the middle of the spine and experience has taught me this means a proclivity toward potential spine cracking straight down the middle - the solution was to firmly grasp the book's spine in one hand while reading (although my hand got tired), story can drag on during the downtime between zombie/human massacres

Mike Tells It Straight: This is the way to read The Walking Dead.  This series is a major page-turner and you get an amazing story for your dollar.  I found myself reading into the wee hours of the morning many a night before finishing this serious tome.  Art is solid and the contrast between original Tony Moore chapter and remaining Charlie Adlard work is huge.  I prefer Adlard's work due to the stark shading and realism instead of Moore's highly stylized work (could be because Adlard's chapters are the majority of the book).  Only drawback is the sheer size of the volume and the fact it's a paperback.  It's not the most comfortable read and is highly susceptible to spine splitting (my The Darkness Compendium Vol. 1 suffered this affliction).  Overall I highly recommend this book due to the compelling characters and story.  Let's face it, zombie stories have been done to death, but Kirkman's TWD shines with drama and characterization.  Jean-Paul Sartre said it best and TWD exemplifies it: "Hell is other people."  Well, other people and zombies.

TO BUY and Recommendations: