This chronic feature lets me review what recently has passed my bloodshot eyes. So pull up a chair, break out the sarcasm filter and welcome to Mr. Zad’s Halloween comic critique:
Marvel Zombies 4, nos. 1 to 4 and Marvel Zombies Return, nos. 1 and 2 (Marvel Publishing, $3.99 each) - Sequential-art readers’ insatiable appetite for the dining habits of the undead continues to fuel a five-year-old zombified Marvel universe.
The latest limited series continue the ghoulish trend of mixing a high level of disgusting visuals with a variety of infected heroes and villains.
Soon to be compiled in hardcover ($19.99) is the fourth limited series starring the new version of the Midnight Sons. The B-list roster of Morbius the vampire, Werewolf by Night Jack Russell, Son of Satan Damion Hellstorm, sorceress Jennifer Kale and the Man-Thing work as a team for A.R.M.O.R. (Alternate Reality Monitoring and Operational Response).
The monstrous squad finds themselves not only battling flesh-eating hordes of Fish-men led by Piranha, but also Dormammu, the Hood and an airborne plague of death unintentionally set loose by Morbius.
Writer Fred Van Lente picks up from his work on Marvel Zombies 3 with a winning story mixing the serious and often complex side of stopping flesh-eaters with plenty of humor. Most of the laughs come from the bodiless, decomposing - but constantly talking - head of Deadpool, carried around by Marvel’s original zombie, Simon Garth.
I could, however, do without the some of the heavy-handed dialogue, especially between Son of Satan and his fiery relative Dormammu.
Artist Kev Walker delivers the interior art, not as graphic as that seen in other Marvel Zombie series, but he manages to saturate plenty of panels with blood and entrails.
Much more amusing and repulsive is Marvel Zombies Return. Continuing the story line from the second limited series, we learn about the zombified versions of Spider-Man, Giant Man, Wolverine, Hulk and the Avengers teleported to alternate universes.
Each of the five one-shot issues stars some of the characters with plenty of body-part-munching opportunities.
The first highlights the decaying version of Spider-Man, still craving the tasty companionship of living humans but conflicted by his deteriorating mental capacity to stop a plague of which he is a part.
Written by Mr. Van Lente and set in an alternate 1970 Marvel universe complete with a tribute to John Romita’s classic style by artist Nick Dragotta, the story finds our hungry hero rip apart and devour most of the Sinister Six. It will not disappoint George Romero fans.
Much less clever is the second issue, which is devoted to Hank Pym teleporting to the universe when Tony Stark drank his way through the day.
A new creative team, writer David Wellington and artist Andrea Mutti, handles the duties with less flair - OK, so I’m not sure how one could make Pepper Potts eating her arm a stylish moment - and a more workmanlike “who’s gonna eat who next and what’s it gonna look like” attitude.
* Emily the Strange: Volume 2, Rock, Death, Fake, Revenge and Alone, trade paperback (Dark Horse Comics, $19.99) - Rob Reger’s pop counterculture icon stars in a sequential art mash-up that compiles some of her best one-shot comic book issues.
This gratuitous banquet of Goth attitude served up by a girl with a Tuesday Addams complex and army of black cats is never short of morbidly entertaining.
Short, illustrated stories in a predominant palette of reds and blacks filled with Emily’s life, opinions and styles arrive via a multitude of mixed-media art styles not restricted to classic sequential art, photo collages, cartoon strips, splash pages and pinups.
Highlights to Emily’s introspection include her 13 Favorite Ways to Die and an encounter with Big Foot, while music lovers will find tales devoted to her enrollment at Rock and Roll High School and preparation for Dinner Ghosts especially amusing.
A small team of writers and illustrators helps Mr. Reger bring his macabre vision to life with standout segments, including Winston Smith’s Last Supper.
I’ll call it Mad magazine for the alternative culture starring a girl who’s always ready to see the darker side of life.
* High Moon: Volume 1, graphic novel (Zuda Comics, $14.99) - An award-winning DC Comics’ Web comics imprint project created by writer David Gallaher and artist Steve Ellis goes to print in a 8-by-6-inch color format offering a 192-page supernatural spaghetti western perfect for the Halloween season.
The title’s pun refers to an Old West where werewolves and vampiric creatures exist amid 19th-century gunslingers and a selection of mean hombres and back-stabbing women.
With tales surrounding former Pinkerton agent turned bounty hunter Matthew Macgregor, his bounty Eddie Conroy and steampunk brother Tristan, the action covers each helping small towns get rid of pesky occult problems and helping the occasional American Indian lady in distress.
Mr. Ellis’ art style complements a trio of stories with a gritty, muted palette that kicks up dust and wolf spittle with nearly every turn of the page.
My problem is with the lousy paper stock. It absorbs too much of the artist’s fine detail. Hey DC, High Moon deserves better.
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• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com.
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