iZombie 1

Witness that I do not just read Marvel comics or Green Lantern tie in books.

A problem that can plague #1 issues is the writer attempts to set something up in the issue rather than provide anything dynamic in the book. What is great about this book is that, while it is a set-up piece, at $1 for the book, it is a cheap entry way into the world of Supernatural Eugene, Oregon.

Boy does this book set up the world too. We get our protagonist, Gwen, her best friend Ellie, their 3rd wheel hangeron Spot, the Vampire paintball ref, and some monster hunters. Nobody is really doing anything in this issue except establishing themselves and what their role is in the book. They are all interesting characters. I'm excited for these people. But, again, this issue is just meant to set up the world. I suspect issue #2 will be where some action will begin.

Now, for the real critiquing. While this book was good, I'm sure we don't need to wait until story page 20 to find out Gwen is a zombie nor story pages 21-22 to find out what the purpose of the book is. What is most frustrating about this, though, is that 18-22 were the previews of the damn book. Your big reveal is not clever if the last 5 pages of your comic were the preview of your book in just about every DC comic printed over the past month. That makes you a giant waste of my time. Why the hell can we not get these five pages as the beginning of the story, and then the next 17 is Gwen and the gang solving the mystery of the murdered man? Can the reader not be introduced to them over the course of an investigation? I hate asking rhetorical questions because these should not be asked. There is no reason to hide the fact Gwen is a zombie until page 20 if everyone who has seen an advertisement for the book already knows this.

Now, on the plus side, Allred's art is beautiful. It is interesting to see a zombie rendered in his pop-style art work and how the fact that there is a zombie rendered in this way can expand on the possabilities of zombies in a person's eyes. While Roberson has changed the myth of the zombie slightly to suit this book, Allred's work on the physical appearance of the zombie does the same, and for the better. It is not as if Zombies haven been featured in comics before.

*cough*Marvel Zombies

However, I cannot remember a recent comic that uses zombies in this fashion. Bravo to the creative team of Roberson and Allred for that.