However, there are always exceptions. In my mind there are such things as Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead, because they bring humor to the situation at hand. In comics, though, you can't go wrong with The Walking Dead, which is more about the characters trying to live in the world that has been turned upside down, rather than about the zombies themselves. In books, World War Z is a must read, as it is what feels like a very real historical account of an event that hasn't happened. It is so well told that it you would swear that we all lived through it. So, while the whole zombie movement is, for the most part, lost on me, I still do dip my toes into the world from time to time.
Case in point, iZombie. I had only encountered this title as a preview on the back of another series that I read. It interested me, a woman who is a zombie who must eat brains from time to time to survive, only when she does, the memories of the dead person become stuck in her mind, forcing her to deal with the problems that may have happened to the person during their life. It got my interest, but not enough for me to invest in the comics themselves. When I was looking for something new to try and read, though, I decided to give the trade paperback a whirl.
The book is written by Chris Roberson and drawn by artist Michael Allred. There are good and bad points when it comes to this title. For instance, I like the character designs of the several of the characters including the main character, Gwen, and her ghost friend, Ellie. They are well done even if there were sometimes noticeable uneven changes from panel to panel. Even Spot, the Were-Terrier, isn't bad (yes, I said Were-Terrier). Unfortunately, the rest of the characters seem roughly drawn and their art is very inconsistent. There is a group of vampire women, and they all look very amateurish and very incomplete.
The book is made up of an interesting mix of supernatural elements brought together. There is the zombie girl, a ghost, a vampire girl and her group, a monster hunter, a "were-terrier," and a mummy. It sounds good, until you start reading it and you realize that there are too many characters running around, and a lot of them are not given time to be introduced properly. We (the readers) are just supposed to accept them for who they are, and allow them to grow, I guess. Plus, a lot of the dialogue feels empty. Some of it feels like there are elements missing from the current conversations, and we are getting bits and pieces and are supposed to be alright with it.
This is reflective of one of the biggest problems that this book has. It feels like a lead-in story, rather than a complete thought. I realize that what I read was just a few first issues, but I never really warmed up to these characters. I guess Gwen is given the most, which is not surprising, but she still isn't developed properly. The mystery of how she died isn't ever discussed, which really bothers me. Nor was the fact that somehow she became this zombie, who is still sentient enough to continue her life as if normal. These aren't mysteries that need to be withheld for very long, as it will help the reader to be able to move on from those questions. By the end of the book, however, nothing was cleared up and it was a bit irritating.
Another problem is the way that this story is being sold. I thought it was about a zombie girl who would get readings off the brains that she ate, and that would set her off to solve the mystery of the person's death, with the help of her supernatural friends. It was almost a morbid version of the Scooby Doo gang. While this holds a tiny bit true, this isn't the way the story plays out. In fact, while it starts off a bit this way, it takes a turn later in the book that doesn't make any particular sense. My disappointment stems from the fact that I wanted it to be the story that I was expecting. That story sounded more interesting and more engaging. Imagine a zombie, a ghost, a were-creature, and a vampire - they fight crime! Now that sounds good to me.
At the end of the book I was left with a bunch of characters doing things and very little resolution to the actual story that was being presented. Too many questions are left open. Who are these characters? Why are they here? Are they going to work together, or are they going to have separate story lines that cross from time to time? At the end, I got nothing but set-up. It's like if The Fellowship of the Rings was spent giving us characters who were somewhat developed, only to have the movie end with them finally coming to a decision to start talking about leaving Hobbiton. It would feel like a waste of a movie.
Will I continue the story? I might. I am sort of interested to see what is going to happen next, but not enough to seek out the individual issues. I'll buy the next book, if I can get it on sale. I just hope that, by the time it is released, the authors will have had time to get the story more in order and start making me care about what is going on. Otherwise, I am done.
In conclusion, if you are looking for something of a new twist on the regular zombie fare, and you are looking for something that isn't dreary and has a sense of humor to it, this could be for you. However, it has a lot of story and art problems that are either going to excite you or make you irritated. I know that I fall into the latter category more than the former.
While iZombie is definitely not geared towards kids, teens should have no problems with it, as it only has some suggested nudity and there are the expected bloody scenes from time to time.
In my heart I want to say read this, but in reality I'd give this a pass for the time being and hope it develops furthur.
---MGS
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