A Descent into Dullness

Marvel Zombies 3 written by Fred Van Lente, art by Kev Walker, colors by Jean-Francois Beaulieu, letters by Rus Wooten

The original concept for Marvel Zombies was simple enough. An alternate version of the Marvel universe that underwent a zombie apocalypse. Where the world is infected by a Hunger Virus that creates flesh hungry undead. Ones still capable of reason and what not. And if you wonder how invulnrebility or healing factors or already being undead aren't effective at resisting being infected? Well its hand-waved away with "because zombies, thats why". Marvel put out three series all written by Walking Dead and Invincible creator Robert Kirkman. Plus a Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness mini-series. And I fucking hated all of them. I mean one of them ends with super-zombies eating Galactus and becoming Cosmic Super-Zombies. Ugh...

But then Marvel handed the concept over to Fred Van Lente who has written some of the better comics out there, both for Marvel and on his own. And he went with an attempted invasion of regular Marvel Earth by Zombie Marvel Earth. And brought in Aaron "Machine Man" Stack as the major protaganist. Recruited by A.R.M.O.R. (Alternate Reality Monitoring and Operational Response). And then just made it all work. It still has its moments of "Oh Come On!" for me. Like why Ghost Rider is now a zombie. Seriously, how do you infect a flaming skeleton with a virus? But despite that Van Lente keeps up the pace so that the story just moves past it. And Kev Walker can draw some hella icky looking super-zombies...

iZombie: Dead to the World written by Chris Roberson, art by Michael Allred, colors by Laura Allred, letters by Todd Klein

Gwen's a brain-eating zombie. But not so much in the shambling around and attacking farm houses and malls kind of way. More in the working as a hipster gravedigger and hanging out with ghost girls and wereterriers and flirting with the new vampire hunter in town. Of course there is a new monster in town and he wants Gwen's help. But he's kind of a murderous vigilante mummy so she's not sure if she can trust him...

Chris Roberson creates Yet Another Urban Fantasy world, but he does it with style and wit and humor. And of course being backed by the art of Mike "Madman" Allred...

Look, sometimes a dude has just got to violate the Laws of God & Nature in the name of Science. Why do people need to get all judgmental about that?

Man, a giant pile o'comics this week...

Hey Marvel dudes. You know what works best for giving the full impact of a last page reveal, like say in this week's Young Allies? Not putting the guy on the cover of the comic...

So in the new Secret Six Deadshot once again shows how he's a great big softie. In a really fucked up way. But still, someone who goes out of his way to make things better for one of his "friends". Though the issue does have a subtle nod towards the current Deathstroke/Evil Titans craptastic book involving Dwarfstar and Giganta...

Jack of Fables continues to check in with various characters, including showing what happened to all the Golden Boughs escapees and Noelle the Living Mannequin. Though I'm confused as to what time line JoF is following in relation to the main book now...

iZombie has a pretty slow issue. Even with being full of monster hunters, walking corpses and angry vampire ladies...

The second half of the Astro City Special: Silver Agent has the Agent jumping thru time, lending aid at various crisis moments we see in short snapshots. Leading to him becoming part of the fundamental..heroeness I suppose..of the AC location. I especially like the glimpse of the post-apocalypse society of human barbarians riding giant guinea pigs...

Proof wraps its main run with issue 28 with a big decision by Proof and a major reveal about the Lodge's Leander. Oh and more info on what the Dover Demon is..er was. All leading into the upcoming Proof: Endangered...

King City is still so crazy awesomely crazy that it defies easy description. But it does have various mutant thugs getting taken out by weaponized kitty cats as part of a plan to rescue a sort of squid-girl from a brothel...

Aside from a brief couple pages checking in with Tyler and Ron, ps238 concentrates on the pint-size mad lads Victor Von Fogg and Zodon...

Stumptown wraps up with PI Parios finding the girl, losing the girl, getting beat up and then making a last attempt at rescuing the girl...

Its The Tick of Two Times! 1940s The Tick and his allies battle the minions of the Terror and his Evil-eers at the same time as modern The Tick and friends battle the Terror and the Evil-eers...

And finally Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard. This issue featuring a tale of a mouse raised by foxes by Katie Cook. An art critic who thinks to be a warrior by Guy Davis. A ballad of a folk-hero stopping a flood by Nate Pride. And an adaptation of Poe's "The Raven" by Jason Shawn Alexander. Oh and the cover features the Order of Wythrasher, a group of Mouse Guard who rode birds and fought using lances...

A light week, with only three pulls. Starting with the second issue of Turf. And the war between Falco the last of the New York mob bosses and the Dragomir family escalates. Plus a crashed alien spaceship...

Invincible lies comatose and so his father and brother sit out the Viltrumite War on a mostly barren world, waiting for him to heal. Leaving it to Allen the Alien, Techjacket, Space Racer and Battle Beast to serve as the core of the Coalition attack on the Viltrumite Empire...

Lastly Marvel Zombies 5 has Aaron, Howard and Jackie journey to the cyberpunk Marvel-8410 to chase down the E.A.T.R. virus cyber-zombies. Of course when Aaron's ex becomes involved it makes things more complicated. The Geof Darrow/Christina Strain cover is also very sweet...

[Poll #1530845]

Best. Celebrity. Cameo. EVER.

Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo written by Joe R. Lansdale, Drawn by Timothy Truman, Inks by Sam Glanzman, Colors by Sam Parsons and Letters by Todd Klein

Two-Gun Mojo was my introduction to both Jonah Hex and Lansdale. Its possible its even my first real introduction to Truman, before I found Grimjack even. Hex is a scarred Civil War vet turned bounty hunter. And thanks to various animated appearances on Batman: the Animated Series, Justice League Unlimited and Batman: The Brave & The Bold he's probably DC's best known Old West character...

In "Two-Gun Mojo" Lansdale mixes together his two favorite genres, Westerns and Horror. Here he uses a two-bit snake-oil salesman and his carnival of freaks that cross paths with Hex. And making them especially dangerous is that one of the freaks is the animated corpse of legendary gunfighter Wild Bill Hickock...

The story is as violent as a Peckinpah movie and darkly humorous. Lansdale and Truman are both recognized master's in their fields and letterer Klein has more Eisner nominations than I've got fingers. Together with Glanzman and Parsons they craft a classic tale of murder, vengeance and dark magics...

Dead West by Rick Spears and Rob G

And in the spirit of the holidays, zombie western!

Yeah, Spears and Rob G are the creative talent behind the too long delayed Pirates of Coney Island as well as Teenagers From Mars. This short tale opens with the massacre of an Indian village, leaving a single survivor. One who turns to bad medicine to unleash a zombie plague. For one small town the dead shall rise to feast upon the living. And later a nameless bounty hunter chases a fat man into the town, each fighting thru the undead to end up in different clusters of survivors...

A perfect book for fans of zombies or Deadlands or Spaghetti westerns...

Sadly, this week, there won't be a Friday Poll. And I think I'll be taking a break from doing them for little while. Mostly because I'm really running out of ideas for them. Going over the last ten I realized I did ones using Bad Super-Hero Concepts TWICE. And thats over a period of only two months. So no more until sometime in the new year. Though I'll probably do a poll on Christmas. Because I love Christmas...

But as to what I've learned:

1) Bad Super-Hero Idea (Take 1): The Oozing, Weeping Plague Sore Kid...

2) The most popular way to help kill zombies? If you had to borrow a gun from Firefly's Jayne...

3) Best Dracula? Bela!

4) Scariest ghosts are those made up of your own dead dreams...

5) Favorite Halloween treat? Mini-candy bars...

6) For destroying my Nemesis, its a tie between Karl Rove's brain in a robot alligator or a zombie-cyborg made from my roommate. Probably be best to use both then...

7) Most popular Sci-Fi/Classic Novel mash-up movie idea was Dumas' The Three Rockateers...

8) Bad Super-Hero Idea (Take 2): Drunken, Racist, Suburban Housewife Woman. Plus a bonus poll result showing the Comte de Mink is the most popular of the Weasel Lineage of Heroes...

9) Three way tie for showing them all. So obviously that means the Not-Mad-At-All Plan will involve a robot army, otter pups, 18 million tiny whirling devices, poison frogs, a selection of roses, a riddle fiendish in its intricacies, passages from King Lear, the power of STEAM and the ghost of Bud Abbott...

10) Another tie, as the best way of gaining revenge from beyond the grave is either your own re-animated corpse or bees. Maybe the revenant can spit bees?