Most People Have Fled for Their Lives
George Romero, The King of Zombies, is back with a look at his new movie, Diary of the Dead.
George Romero, The King of Zombies, is back with a look at his new movie, Diary of the Dead.
Category: Zombies
George Romero, The King of Zombies, is back with a look at his new movie, Diary of the Dead.
Living with the Walking Dead XXXombies
Zombies are in. Nearly forty years after George Romero recreated a horror genre, zombies have never been more popular. Let’s take a look a three currently running zombie comics.
The Walking Dead, which single handedly jump started the genre back to comics continues to go strong. I’ve been talking up this series since the first issue and it continues to be the only comic that I must read as soon as I get it home. Issue 42 [43 is on stands now] has the most surprising double page spread that I’ve seen in any comic in years… then there was an even bigger shock when you turned the page. The original issues are hard to find and pretty expensive when you do. If you’re just coming to the series you might want to seek out the paperback trades [Volume 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8] or spend a bit more for the hardcovers [Book 1 2 3]. However you get the stories, I can guarantee you a great ride thanks to the talents of writer Robert Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard.
Living with the Dead #1 just came out from Dark Horse. Writer Mike Richardson and artist Ben Stenbeck team to bring us a Shaun-of-the-Dead-type zombie series that has just the right mix of humor. Two slackers are making the best of a bad situation. These guys have been best buds for years and if a zombie infestation can’t break up their friendship, surely a cute babe won’t. Right… right?
XXXombies #1 also just hit the stands. Featuring the talents of some of my favorite comic creators [Rick Remender, Tony Moore and Kieron Dwyer] this zombie tale is definitely not for kids [are any zombie tales?] since it follows a group of adult film actors and crew having to deal with, you guessed it, a zombie infestation.
My guess is, if you are a fan of the zombie genre, you’d enjoy any of these comics. If not, then not.
Living with the Dead
While we’re on the subject of first issues of new comics as we were HERE and HERE, there’s one more that I thought I’d mention. It’s called “Living with the Dead” by Mike Richardson [writer], Ben Stenbeck [artist] and Richard Corben [covers].
It’s a “hilariously funny” look at the life of two slackers who’ve, at least until now, survived a zombie plague. When they discover a beautiful young girl across the way things get really interesting.
I’m giving it a shot since I enjoyed “Shaun of the Dead.”
XXXombies
Another first issue that caught my eye while going through Previews was Crawl Space: XXXombies #1 by Rick Remender, Kieron Dwyer and Tony Moore. The idea is it’s 1977 and a low rent movie producer has brought together a cast of adult film stars for a weekend shoot in LA… just as a zombie plague hits.Mix together Remender, Dwyer, Moore and zombies and I’m there. You can be too if you give your local comic shop owner a “heads-up.”
Diary of the Dead Update
George Romero’s “Diary of the Dead” has a MySpace page and has posted up some new images. You can get THERE by clicking HERE.
America’s Zombie Threat
It is so good to know that the zombie threat to America is under control. [Thanks and a tip o’ the derby to Bill Crider.]
George Romero Speaks
ComicBookResources.com has an interesting little piece on George “Night of the Living Dead” Romero. Be advised that the article does contain some words that would earn it an “R” rating if it was a movie!
No One is Safe
Nearly four years ago issue #1 of The Walking Dead hit the stands. I bought it and really dug both the art and story. I soon discovered that I wasn’t alone. A lot of people were buying and loving it!
Before long The Walking Dead was my favorite comic. After the first six issues, artist Tony Moore left the regular art chores and Charlie Adlard took up the slack. The book remained my favorite regularly published comic.
Each month The Walking Dead was the comic that I most looked forward to reading. From time to time, I’d talk up the series so that ZONErs who’d never heard of it would have a chance to jump on board. Robert [creator of The Walking Dead] Kirkman’s interview at Newsarama.com reminded me that I hadn’t crowed about The Walking Dead in a while.
So I decided to remedy that with this post.
The Walking Dead Book 1 [Collects the first 12 issues in an affordable hardcover] A+ rating
The Walking Dead Book 2 [Collects the second 12 issues in an affordable hardcover] A+ rating
Odds Are the Zombies Would Get Me!
Actually my survival odds are better than I would have guessed! (Sadly the quiz is no longer available.)
Zombie Pets?
Zombies are a popular genre here at the ZONE. Still, I’m not totally sold on “Fido” yet. I did enjoy “Shaun of the Dead” so maybe “Fido” will work. The jury is out. Watch the trailer and let me know your thoughts.
Zombie Survival Guide
Most ZONErs have a love for the zombie genre. We dig all things Romero. We can’t wait for each new issue of The Walking Dead. We knew about Zack Snyder [he directed the Dawn of the Dead re-make] way before 300. If you fall into this category [emphasis on gory], then you may want to check out The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks.
I say you may want to check it out because, unlike his highly recommended World War Z, the Zombie Survival Guide is just that… a survival guide. Where World War Z focused on well written stories of survival in a world of zombies, the Survival Guide is what it claims to be… a manual. There’s no doubt that it’s a cool idea. Brooks should be commended for creating a fun handbook for zombie fanatics. The guide is a well thought out and entertaining… manual.
I think that fans of the genre are going to really enjoy the ZSG, but I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking that it’s a prequel to Brook’s highly rated World War Z or even a novel about zombies. It’s survival guide… a manual.
The Zombie Survival Guide rates a C+.
Zombies on a Plane!
You’ve heard of SNAKES ON A PLANE… so, how about ZOMBIES ON A PLANE?
LOL! Well, why not?
And you have to love the play on words: FLIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD aka PLANE DEAD.
Raise the Dead
Raise the Dead is a new comic book that I think will appeal to most ZONErs. The story follows a “disparate group of seven people forced to cooperate with each other in order to survive” a zombie infestation. Yeah, not an original idea, but one that works. I know how much we all enjoy “The Walking Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “Night of the Living Dead,” “World War Z,” “28 days later” –
– Hey! How did that last one get in there? It’s not technically a zombie story??
– Yeah, but that’s not the point. The point is that we enjoyed all of those “zombie” stories and we ought to give Raise the Dead a chance. So check out the preview HERE and let me know what you think. I’ll bet Chad likes it!
Books – Best of 2006
Last year I read a number of exceptionally well-written books. Of course there were old favorites such as Andrew Vachss, Barry Eisler, Robert Crais, David Morrell, Stephen Hunter and others. Surprisingly, the list this year is dominated by authors that I read for the first time. And when I say dominated I mean it! Literally all of the authors in this year’s top five made it on my first exposure to their work.
5. Already Dead by Charlie Huston. Modern day vampire clans are at war and Joe Pitt has a missing girl to find. Huston’s next Joe Pitt novel, No Dominion, is available now.
4. Persuader by Lee Child. I’m coming to this series late in the game, but that doesn’t make me like it any less. Child has a winner with his Jack Reacher novels. In this outing, Reacher is working undercover with the FBI to catch an international gun-runner.
3. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A father and young son journey south through a bleak post-apocalyptic world. Food is scarce and only what they can scavenge. They must make the journey to escape the brutal winter that is almost upon them. If they don’t starve odds are one of the roaming bands of cannibals will find them. Still they press on.
2. World War Z by Max Brooks. A haunting book that Chad Hunt also recommends!
1. Stealing Home / Six Bad Things / A Dangerous Man by Charlie Huston. Yeah, he’s the same Charlie Huston that wrote Already Dead. In this trilogy we meet Hank Thompson. When we first meet Hank he’s ten years out of high school and working as a bartender in New York City. Had it not been for a badly broken leg, he would have been a big league baseball player. Now he’s the nice guy who drinks too much and lacks real ambition. That is until the night two strangers yank him over the bar and beat him nearly to death. When he gets out of the hospital he gets more visitors and another beating. Soon he’s on the run from crooked cops, mobsters and hit men. If he lives maybe he’ll get a piece of the millions of dollars that they believe he has. Six Bad Things and A Dangerous Man complete Hank’s story. I loved every page and wish that it didn’t have to end.
World War Z
Over at his blog, my buddy Chad, was talking up what an awesome book War World Z is.
And it is.
I read it a few months ago and regularly think about how cool it was. Chad had the great idea to get the audio version of the book. After seeing how much Chad enjoyed listening to it [and this is AFTER reading it], I may have to do the same. [It would be to fun listen to on a long road trip at night!]
Well, my post can’t just be about how cool Chad’s post was, can it? I guess it could, but I always like to bring something to the table. So HERE is a link to the official World War Z site. It has a lot of fun things to check out. For instance, I had a 34% chance of surviving the zombie war. Ok, maybe THAT wasn’t the best example I could have used for a fun thing… but you get the idea.
Ok… you guys check out the World War Z site and I’ll get to work on scooping Chad‘s next post.
