Kirkman, Robert – Marvel Zombies #1 (art by Sean Phillips)

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Marvel Zombies

(art by Sean Phillips)

OK, granted, this isn’t like the typical comic I review on this site.  A tremendously successful Marvel comic, starring pretty much everybody from their universe?  Sounds like a big awful crossover type thing to me.  However, I recently went into the comic store I used to work at (G-Mart in Champaign Illinois) and asked the helpful proprietor (Colby) what I had to have, as I hadn’t really been in a comic store and looked around for months if not years.  He picked this book up immediately, and… damned if he wasn’t exactly right.  Apparently in the “Ultimate” universe, the Fantastic Four stumbled across an alternate dimension involving a planet of infected zombies.  Something happened, they were sent back to their original dimension along with the zombie Fantastic Four (I think), but whatever happened to that planet of zombies?  That’s where Robert Kirkman comes in, somebody that zombie lovers already know for his incredible Walking Dead series.  This story starts off with damned near everybody in the Marvel Universe already zombified, with the notable exceptions of Magneto, whoever was left on his Asteroid M base, and one prominent Marvel hero who’s being kept alive for… brain food.  See, when these zombies eat they briefly regain their intellect, so naturally Giant Man needed a reliable snack that would let him continue his research.  The bulk of this graphic novel deals with the first appearance of Galactus and the Silver Surfer, except with the obvious difference that these otherworldly creatures resemble nothing more than walking food to these zombies.  I’ve rarely wanted to give everything away in a review more than I do now, as there are bits and pieces all over the place that are crying out to be spoiled.  The fact that Marvel let the creative team make this as graphic and disturbing as they did is amazing (back when I was reading these comics regularly this never would have happened), and pretty much everybody you can think of is in this series, at least briefly.  Taken as a stand alone series, assuming that you like zombies as much as I do, I really can’t recommend this enough.  The trouble, or at least the potential trouble in the future, is that this series is so successful that there are at least 3 other graphic novels available with this basic storyline.  As a novelty this was a blast, but as a franchise?  I don’t know.  The fact that the vast majority of the characters are dead (as in “blasted to pieces” dead) makes me wonder how long a story can be maintained.  Regardless, the use of classic Marvel covers updated with zombies was a stroke of genius, and they’re all included in this collection.  The first issues had multiple printings so they gave them multiple covers, and Arthur Suydam deserves a ton of credit for his work.  If you can look at that sample cover above (and the sample below) and not be instantly intrigued, then skip this.  If it starts an instant internal war of “OK, what meals can I skip this month to afford this” like it did with me, then you won’t regret it for a second.  $19.99