I’m not a fan of horror books or themes but the story just grabbed me; never would have picked it up but I’m a fan of Allred’s art. iZombie: Dead To The World is about a young girl and her group of friends trying to make it through the day, except she’s a zombie. Here’s the publisher’s blurb:
Gwendolyn “Gwen” Dylan is a 20-something gravedigger in an eco-friendly cemetery. Once a month she must eat a human brain to keep from losing her own memories, but in the process she becomes consumed with the thoughts and personality of the dead person – until she eats her next brain. Gwen sets out to fulfill the dead person’s last request, solve a crime or right a wrong. Our zombie girl detective is joined by her best friend, Eleanor, who happens to be a swinging ’60s ghost, a posse of paintball-blasting vampires, a smitten were-dog and a hot but demented mummy.
It’s hard to assign a label to this work: on one hand it’s teen angst title as they work through the social awkwardness and on the other it’s a monster title. The opposite of Buffy I’d be willing to suggest. We’re introduced to a world where the undead and arcane appear everywhere but are presented as the boy and girl next door. Everything is tongue and cheek, including a werewolf that turns into a terrier lycanthrope and an undead hunter that just wants to get a life.
The characters are quirky and easily likeable in this off framework that’s established; what’s not to like about an attractive zombie who works and lives in a graveyard to keep herself on a steady diet of brains? Dialogue is fast and snappy, coming off whitty and original like everything about this series. Sustainability comes from our lead Gwen’s ability to absorb a dead person’s memory when she eats their brains: this will lead her on a regular series of mystery adventures and allows for a long running ongoing series.
Art is solid Mike and Laura Allred. Mike presents clean lines and thick outlined inks while Laura gives her muted and slightly blurred colours. Great looking character design and right up their alley; odd monster type characters are the norm in their creator owned Madman.
This is a solid value at $15 for 144 pages. It’s a fun read, plain and simple.
iZombie: Dead To The World
Vertigo, 2011, ISBN 9781401229658
Originally published at Comic Book Daily.
