Hey, a zombie story, I like those! Between The Other Dead and of course, The Walking Dead, my casual interest for a fun zombie comic has turned into an undeniable craving. So does this one shot satisfy that urge? Is it Good?
’68: Hallowed Ground (Image Comics)
A train has crashed and all of its human passengers have turned into mindless monsters. Although mindless, the creatures are quite strong. A few survivors have holed up in a church; among their ranks are a cranky young woman, a sheriff and his child (this is starting to sound like a story I already know,) a priest, a smart-ass and a rough, tough veteran. Although we’ve only just met these characters their personalities are compelling; by issue’s end they’ve all been characterized in distinct and easily distinguishable fashions.
Writer Mark Kidwell has made good use of his allotted 32 pages. Do we want to hear the origin story of a character we will only know for one comic? Hell no. We want to see some real, gritty, human interaction that creates satisfying drama. Was that delivered? Yes.
Aside from nice banter and human drama there is quite a bit of gruesome zombie killing. There are a couple of plot conveniences here; for instance, one of the characters just happens to be carrying a belt of grenades with him when the zombies attacked. I also found the amount of firearms and ammunition they were able to amass in a church of all places very unreasonable but maybe that will be touched upon in future issues.
Looking at this narrative as a piece of art is interesting. There is a lot of meaning and underlying themes cleverly and subtly placed throughout this issue. I am talking especially about the second half of this comic with the allusions to the apostles and very moral and human ways of dealing with a situation that is anything but. Although some may write this comic off as nothing but a stake-out against a horde of zombies, there really are some clever metaphors and comments hidden within.
The dialogue is one of this issue’s strong suits. Not only is it fun to read, it was so smooth and realistic that it further immersed me into the characters’ world.
9.5
- Much more than just a zombie stake out
- Interesting characters for a one-shot
- Art is for the most part great
- Not enough monster battles
The art by Josh Medors and Kyle Charles does wonders in giving this book the bloody, slightly comical tone it deserves. It is consistently nice to look at and carries the action well. My only complaint is that sometimes all the rotting flesh sort of meshes together visually in a cloud of zombie, making it hard to follow at times.
Is it Good?
Yes sir. Pick this comic up for a fun one-in-done story.
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