There are a lot of characters in the Marvel Universe that deserve to be eaten to death. Sadly, due to a long-running ‘no cannibalizing profitable characters’ policy, we’ve never been given the opportunity to see Giant-Man pull of Rhino’s head and pop it like a tick. But the demand is there. I can’t think of any comic fan I know who wouldn’t pay good money to see most of the Chris Claremont-created X-Men get devoured and then consequently passed through the bowels of continuity and into the toilet of obscurity.
And thanks to the power of alternate universes, such a thing is now possible with Marvel Zombies. Written by The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman, Marvel Zombies spins off from a story arc in Ultimate Fantastic Four, in which the Fantastic Four accidentally teleport themselves to a world where a space virus has transformed all superhumans into cannibalistic killers and weird imitations of Richard Corben characters. Zombies carries on where UFF left off, with Magneto being among the few survivors left uninfected on the planet. Casting Magneto into the role of the reluctant hero is an interesting, if not wholly original, choice, as it plays off the character’s constant vacillation between villain and revolutionary. And if that doesn’t interest you, there are a lot of people eating brains.
The story is not strictly horror, though it is horrific. Kirkman laces the plot with a heavy dose of grim comedy, which is often amusing, though occasionally distracting. What the lighter touch of humor does do, however, is allow him to get away with a lot more exposed brain than you’d expect from a Marvel title. The distance the comedy provides combines with the mildly surreal look of Sean Phillips’ art to create an otherwordly feel, that both fits the material and allows it to push the violence further. While it never really reaches the plateaus of either great horror or great comedy, what the comic does do well is elevate the gore and horror of traditional zombie fiction to light self-parody, while simultaneously poking fun at traditional Marvel characters. While that may seem a little strange, as fans of, say, Captain America, rarely mix with zombie geeks unless they’re in line to see Star Wars, it ends up being a satisfying mix. Provided, of course, that your definition of ‘satisfying’ involves eating intestines.
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