WEEKEND BLOG EXTRA: FRIDAY EDITION
Yeah, I know... the Blog Extra has been AWOL for a couple of months. Couldn't be helped, as life has thrown a couple of curves at me. But it should return within the next few weeks on a more consistent basis. In the meantime, please enjoy this review of a book due out next Wednesday.
XOMBIE #1
Written by James Farr and Drawn by Nate Lovett
Published by Devil’s Due Press
The first thing you think of when you see a book called XOMBIE is: dear God, do we really need another one?
Image has a zombie book. Marvel has one. IDW has published their fair share. Boom Studios built their company on zombie books. Dynamite has one on the way. So the market is pretty saturated by books featuring the walking dead. Therefore, when I went to crack the cover on this book, it was starting at a pretty severe disadvantage.
But damned if I didn’t get drawn into this one. The first thing that grabs you is the look; Nate Lovett’s art moves the zombie story away from the gritty realism of Charlie Adlard and others, and instead shifts it towards the more animated-looking style. It’s friendly and accessible, even with the dark topic at hand. Second is the story itself; Farr’s world is not only well developed, but it also has a kid at the heart of the story, and one who doesn’t annoy the reader right out of the gate. Most of the time when you put a kid in this type of situation, you hope for their quick and horrific death, but not Zoe (our heroine, if you will).
The main plot, in which a sentient and reasonable zombie is located and asked to aid the human population, has plenty of potential for interesting directions to go, and as long as the book plays fair and keeps Zoe from becoming too much of an ass pain, this should have a strong, successful run.
Written by James Farr and Drawn by Nate Lovett
Published by Devil’s Due Press
The first thing you think of when you see a book called XOMBIE is: dear God, do we really need another one?
Image has a zombie book. Marvel has one. IDW has published their fair share. Boom Studios built their company on zombie books. Dynamite has one on the way. So the market is pretty saturated by books featuring the walking dead. Therefore, when I went to crack the cover on this book, it was starting at a pretty severe disadvantage.
But damned if I didn’t get drawn into this one. The first thing that grabs you is the look; Nate Lovett’s art moves the zombie story away from the gritty realism of Charlie Adlard and others, and instead shifts it towards the more animated-looking style. It’s friendly and accessible, even with the dark topic at hand. Second is the story itself; Farr’s world is not only well developed, but it also has a kid at the heart of the story, and one who doesn’t annoy the reader right out of the gate. Most of the time when you put a kid in this type of situation, you hope for their quick and horrific death, but not Zoe (our heroine, if you will).
The main plot, in which a sentient and reasonable zombie is located and asked to aid the human population, has plenty of potential for interesting directions to go, and as long as the book plays fair and keeps Zoe from becoming too much of an ass pain, this should have a strong, successful run.
