Zombies!: Feast

Zombie stories seem to fit into one of two categories...There's the epic, global outbreaks of the zombie virus where the world is completely changed (think Dawn of the Dead or 28 Days Later) or the smaller, more rural type stories (think Night of the Living Dead or Return of the Living Dead). Zombies Feast falls into the latter category. This trade paperback collects the complete series from IDW, the leaders in modern horror comics. A bus from a maximum-security prison is transporting eight hardened criminals...murderers, rapists, and worse...when it overturns along a deserted stretch of road. A marshal and a pair of prison guards is left with the unenviable task of leading the chained prisoners from the wreckage in order to call for help. They eventually come to a small farmhouse that seems to be deserted. A small figure shuffles toward the prisoners, a little girl, missing a large portion of her stomach and rib cage! This is perhaps the most terrifying scene in the book. Cinematically laid out, the prisoners grow more terrified as the girl grows closer. It's a terrific piece of storytelling. The group flees to a nearby town, only to find it crawling with the undead. The murderous group now has to settle in with a handful of other survivors, battling the zombies in the grim hope of staying alive. There isn't much in the way of character development, but then again, this is fairly consistent with other zombie stories and films. The only character who is somewhat fleshed out is the hulking Mace, the clear-cut leader among the prisoners who does his best to keep them in line and protect them and the other survivors. The paces is frenetic and before long, like caged animals, the prisoners soon become their own worst enemies as they battle amongst themselves. The only real negative to Zombies Feast is the artwork. The book begins with Chris Bolton's grim and gritty style, well-suited for the book. It then switches to the more cartoony and cleaner art of Enrique Lopez Lorenzana, a complete contrast to Bolton. Then they switch back and forth yet again making it very inconsistent. It's a solid little zombie story, quite gory and filled with pathos. REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON