Rufus wrote:Mr Bill wrote:Are you interested in zombie comics generally?
Most of the comics that I've read are the obvious ones that people recommend (Y, Transmetropolitan, Invisibles etc) so as far as zombie comics go I've only actually read The Walking Dead. I didn't know about
Blackgas, but I've just looked it up and ordered it. Have you got any more zombie recommendations?
Mr Bill wrote:Anybody tried the Battle Royale manga?
Read a few volumes but it didn't really grab me - I really liked the film and I actually thought the lack of backstory was a feature. Might try it again though. I've heard bad things about the English version of the novel, apparently it's really badly translated.
Other manga-to-film that I've read:
Oldboy - This starts off similarly to the film then diverges a lot. It's OK, but much more like a conventional thriller than the film.
Uzumaki - A lot better than the film, genuinely disturbing rather than quirky and played for laughs.
Zombie comic recommendations? Sincerely, you've made my day by asking,
check out these:
-Remains, by Steve Niles (big horror comics author, wrote 30 Days of Night) its expensive and short and i'm not as big a Niles fan as others but is very beautifully illustrated and a pretty good yarn. Niles has also adapted original Dawn of the Dead to comic book form, is well done but nothing at all new if you know the film.
-Zombie Proof, pretty obscure but great zombie 3 comic series from Moonstone comics, find it if you can.
-XXXombies, Remender and Moore from Image comics, clue's in the title zombies in porno-land, read it to believe it.
-Zombies, series from IDW two arks complete Zombies Feast and Zombies Eclipse of the Dead, both available in tp i believe, Zombies Hunters not finished yet.
-Deadworld, classic zombie comic franchise, see what's available start as early as possible in complete arcs, two arcs i'm collecting are still unfinished.
-Living Dead series from Avatar comics, begins with Escape of the Living Dead 5 issue arc, also Plague of the Living Dead and official prequel, George A Romero's Night of the Living Dead The Beginning, as well as many others.
-Toetags, also George A Romero but this time from DC comics 6 issue series.
-Raise the Dead, 4 issue series from Dynamite.
-Living with the Dead, 3 issue from Dark Horse.
-Everybody's Dead, 5 issue from IDW.
-Xombie Reanimated, 5 issue from DDP funny, great dead parrot joke!
-Graveslinger, 4 issue wild west zombies from Image/Shadowline
-Zombie (and follow up The Zombie Simon Garth) from Marvel Max 4 issues each.
-Zombie Sama, short prestige format available from two different publishers- one in colour one in black and white.
-Zombie Cop, from Image/shadowline
-War of the Undead, kinda silly don't bother, IDW
-28 Days Later The Aftermath, very disappointing although it is Steve Niles again.
-Shaun of the Dead- again a decent adaptation, but if you've seen the film...
-Super Zombies, only bother if you want a superhero crossover.
-Marvel Zombies, does exactly what it says, all the Marvel superheroes as Zombies, you've sort of got to be a Marvel Heroes fan, although it is written by Robert "Walking Dead" Kirkman.
I have around a dozen more waiting to be complete releases before i will read them, often being independent publishers they can be very slow periodically, but:
-Crossed, by the legendary Garth Ennis looks very promising and is nearly finished
- finally The Mammoth Book of Zombie Comics, is a big fat good value anthology/collection, good for bedtime stories.
Garth Ennis is brilliant and, if you've not already, get stuck into Preacher and then The Boys which is still ongoing.
Give Battle Royale another chance, i admit it's so paced out that it realy only gets going by 4 or 5 but by 6 or 7 you'll be totally hooked, once the proper plotlines get going, Mimura's fight back, Sugimura's doomed love quest, the lighthouse, the evils that are Mitsuko Souma and Kazuo Kiriyama, these all really drive the story forward. At least for new readers it is all already completed, when i was following it at release it went from being intended for 9 volumes to 12, then to 15, with the publishing being delayed from it's already slow by-monthly english release. Once it got into the teens i was impatiently waiting for each new volume shaking and sweating like a crack whore. It does get a bit drawn out toward the end, Kiriyama takes best part of a whole volume to dispatch Mitsuko Souma and then his final defeat by the protagonists takes almost two whole volumes, but still- it's immense.
Good Luck, and happy reading.
I've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum