By TAG
This week’s pull theme is zombies, or the undead, or things that were once lifeless and have risen anew. Too bad this week’s comics didn’t come out for Halloween, but, hey, what are you gonna do?
The first comic in our pull list this week is Osborn No. 1. But how is this zombie-related, you ask? Well, Norman Osborn was dead for quite some time before popping up a few years back, which was when we all found out that he raped Gwen Stacy (and she was all for it). So I guess he didn’t really rape her as much as that storyline raped our childhoods. But, as tenuous as it may be, Osborn is one of the comic undead, risen from the grave (though really, who hasn’t now that Bucky is back).
All rising aside, Osborn No. 1, out this week from Marvel for $3.99 by the creative team of writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Emma Rios, is poised to be a very poignant book regarding the Marvel Universe as a whole. After the events of Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn was America’s number one son, but after Siege he learned that the higher you go, the farther you have to fall, and now he’s found himself in the deepest, darkest hole they could find to bury him in. Luckily he’s surrounded by the worst super-villains the world has to offer, and they all owe him a favor. Check out the first issue of this five-part miniseries to get the lowdown on the underbelly of the Marvel U, with a special back-up tale by the man who writes Norman so well, Mr. Warren Ellis.
When you’re done with that, there’s another Marvel offering out this week: Chaos War: Dead Avengers No. 1 of 3. I think the title speaks for the zombie relationship here. When the Chaos King returns, the dead shall rise. How often has this happened in both Marvel and DC in the last couple years? That’s rhetorical, because the answer is way too much. So why mention this book? Because I like Doctor Druid, he’s one of the risen Avengers, and he went out like a punk, so I think he deserves a redo. I don’t feel I need to explain myself or this book any further. Just pick it up for $3.99, with writing by Fred Van Lente and art by Tom Grummett, and watch these classic Avengers assemble again for the first time.
If you’re not up for Marvel this week, you can go the way of the DC with Vertigo Resurrected: The Extremist. See what I did there? (It’s not a book about something or someone being resurrected; the book itself is the zombie). OK, that’s lame, I admit, but I’m going for a theme… What can I say? This $7.99 book from Vertigo features the entire four-issue miniseries reprinted for your reading pleasure in one handy tome. This mature-readers story from Peter Milligan, with art from Ted McKeever, and is an account of three ordinary people whose morality comes into question as they look at the world through the eye-holes of a mask. Is reality perception, and does that perception dictate our morals? Check this book out from the superstar writer who brought you X-Statics.
Last up is Super Real Graphics Presents: Zombie Tramp. Finally, the blatant zombie book! Honestly I just wanted to pull this book, but I threw in the others and made up some lame zombie theme just to loosely string them all together… How did I do? This book is a no-brainer, like Garth Ennis’s The Pro, but instead of a hooker with super powers, we get one that’s undead. This 112-page trade is written and drawn by Dan Mendoza and collects the entire run of this underground hit. What’s not to love? A high-end, Hollywood escort gets escorted by the wrong client and finds herself on the wrong side of a coffin, but not for long. Poor Janey Belle, she always wanted men to appreciate her for her brain and not her body, and look how that turned out. Now this lady of the night of the living dead is out for some payback. For a mere $11.99 in full color, this is a book we recommend you definitely check out.
Is it wrong that I think the zombie bikini girl is hot?
Sir, we at Geeking Ally never judge, especially when it comes to a pretty, undead pair.