Broken Frontier

If the thought of Nazis, zombies and classic monsters splashed upon a canvas in true pulp fashion makes your blood boil, look no further than War of the Undead.

With the release of War of the Undead, IDW continues to prove that they have a knack for publishing entertaining—though unconventional—comic books. It is because of this often recusant approach that IDW has forged a close rapport with horror enthusiasts in comicdom as well as in Hollywood.

Our story unfolds at the end of World War II. Russia has invaded Berlin and all hope appears lost as Hitler takes his own life. Receiving a call from a mysterious caller, a Nazi officer named Schenker is called upon for a most… unexpected duty. And trust me when I say that you will be shocked by what he has been asked to do. His mission complete, Schenker delivers his bizarre prize to another officer known simply as Herr Jabs. Unbeknownst to our uninformed protagonist, a mysterious Nazi scientist has hatched a diabolical plan to preserve Hitler’s… goals using the most unconventional of soldiers: MONSTERS. Accompanied by Herr Jabs, this insidious scientist has collected an army of monsters which they plan to use to mount a last ditch stand against the advancing Allied forces.

I realize that this is not the most thorough recapitulation of the story, but giving too much away about the book would be doing a great disservice to the singularity of this wonderfully contrived story. Audacious, over-the-top and wonderfully absurd, War of the Undead is sure to please fans of classic pulp serials of yesteryear.

I also realize that because of this fact, War of the Undead will not appeal to everyone. The art is rendered to compliment the pulp aspect of the story which may alienate some readers, and those looking for a sober, cerebral experience may come away with a more harsh criticism of the book. I, however, truly enjoyed it for what it was: good, fun, unconventional pulp. The best encapsulation of War of the Dead would be simply to say that if Wally Wood and Rob Zombie produced a comic book in the 1950s, it would be extremely close to what Johnson and Flanagan have produced in the pages of this wonderfully weird tale.