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I was sceptical, I’ll admit it. I just wasn’t sure what to do.

I had thoroughly enjoyed the first two Marvel Zombies series’. Robert Kirkman is an awesome writer, I got onto him through his Walking Dead series, and he did some great things with a world of Marvel Zombies. Then he became an Image partner and has foregone any other Marvel work, and good for him, but that left the heroic zombies in a spot of peril. I figured they would let them rest for a while. Enough money had been earned and it was a fun ride, while it lasted. But it wasn’t over.

For those who don’t understand, I’ll concisely wrap it all up. Marvel Zombies was posited in a universe where a zombie plague struck, and struck hard. As soon as the Marvel heroes went down it all got crazy. Only the strongest could survive. Soon, the zombies of Iron Man, Colonel America, Giant Man, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, the Hulk and Wolverine are getting around trying to eat whatever/whomever they can find. It was full of great little moments, Giant Man knocking out Black Panther and slowly consuming him limb by limb in a surgical manner. Colonel America has the top of his head severed, but he undeads on. It great fun in the merry Marvel manner. In the end they battle Silver Surfer and Galactus and go off across the universe with their new powers cosmic in search of more life to eat.

Marvel Zombies 2 is many years later, the powered cosmic heroes have devoured all living forms in the entire universe. They need more. They find more back on Earth where the few survivors have formed a tight unit society. The heroes attack and more hilarity ensues. Luke Cage has his body cut in half, Iron Man get squelched in his armour by a rampaging Hulk, Thanos lasts a few pages and there is lots of quality gore from Phillips’ art again.

Marvel Zombies 3 was announced and began to ship two issues ago. I ummed and ahhed and finally decided I would not partake in this run around. There was a new writer, Fred Van Lente. A new artist replacing Sean Phillips, Kev Walker, and I needed to watch my pennies and really evaluate each title in my pull list. It just didn’t make the cut, but I planned on getting it in trade.

Then, my monthly package from the awesome elves working hard at Minotaur arrived and I was shocked to find Marvel Zombies 3 in there. They had assumed I would want it, as I had wanted the others shipped to my greedy little fingers each month. I didn’t complain, that’s just not my style, and instead simply read the issue. It’s not like I had been given a copy of Romance Comics, or anything else lame, this was still good stuff, I hoped.

I haven’t read any other Van Lente work, but I am suitably impressed. His first zombie issue was interesting, adding to Earth’s arsenal of protection, S.H.I.E.L.D. is the overall law enforecement agency with S.W.O.R.D. patrolling the space side of protection and now A.R.M.O.R. looking after inter-dimensional threats. They even operate out of a secret buried bunker so safe and hidden deep and dark down that the only method of getting there is through teleportation, man, ideas like that are what Marvel was founded on. I like these new agencies, and I think it is a comic creator’s job to actually create new stuff every now and then. Van Lente then ended the first issue with a nice cliffhanger that honestly left me wanting the next one.

Issue 2 was no disappointment. In this series, zombie Deadpool came across to the normal (616) universe and attacked the Floridian Initiative team. His remains, after being smoked by one of those awesome swamp motor boats with the huge fans on the back that you see in all Floridian based cultural undertakings, are taken to the A.R.M.O.R. headquarters. Machine Man is recruited to go to the zombie universe to get information. He is to accompany another non-human, Jocasta. What they find there is very interesting, a zombie Wilson Fisk and clones galore, to drop a few hints. I’m looking forward to the next two issues of the series, for many reasons not just because of the wicked third issue cover pictured above.

The covers really rock the shit, ish 1 doing Army of Darkness, ish 2 rocking out 28 Days Later and this one an obvious homage/rip off of Evil Dead. A poster/video cover I remember seeing a lot of in my youth. I hear that ish 4 is Shaun of the Dead, so that should be awesomeness in a page of art.

I’m glad that I’m liking the series. I love zombie literature, cannot get enough of the stuff, and I like that a new writer is, in my opinion, succeeding where many thought he might not. Van Lente seems to be everywhere right now, penning The Incredible Hercules, X-Men: First Class, Wolverine: First Class and the classy idea of X Men Noir. I’ll definitely keep my eye on this guy’s words, I’m always keen on finding a new writer to enjoy.

Posted on November 24th, 2008 by ryan
Filed under: comics