Broken Frontier

Zombies, alien robots and sorority girls—not a bad start to a comic book series. 

Zeroids is what happens when somebody takes all the clichéd plot devices from every horror and action movie, and treats them right.  It reminds us why filmmakers and comic book writers still use the same story elements even though we as readers have seen them a million times before.  

This captivating first issue accomplishes a few things: it shows us the veiled origins of the Zeroids, introduces three continuing storylines/character groups and establishes the problem, which is that an alien crash landing has somehow caused zombies to walk the earth.  The story follows two tough pilots trying to fight their way home, a team of robot heroes, and a group of hot sorority girls trying to stay alive in upstate New York.  It’s Transformers with zombies and more than one Megan Fox.  If that sounds like your cup of tea, then this book will not disappoint.

Writer Aaron Shaps knows his way around popular culture.   He makes a lot of genre references, sort of to acknowledge that this book is full of clichéd characters and plot devices.  Not all sorority girls are hot and ditzy, and not all pilots are fast-talking ruggedly handsome supermen.  Still, these things do make for a more fun and exciting story. 

The art is ideal for a story like this.  It uses very standard anatomy and framing to create a classic sci-fi/ zombie story.  While the writing is substantially more witty/contemporary, the art pays respect to the origins of the characters.  While we have yet to see the new Zeroids in action, Shaps’ afterword talks about how the original character designs from the toys in the 70s remain in the book.  From what we can see in this issue though, all of the robots seem to keep to a traditional 70s retro style.  Still, the artist manages to make the story seem new and interesting.

Since this is my first time encountering the Zeroids, I can honestly say that unlike many other reboots and revivals, nostalgia is not what sold me on this story.  While many of the story’s elements are familiar to me, the story itself is full of intrigue and promise.  After finishing this first issue, readers will find themselves asking a lot of questions that they actually care about the answers to.  Shaps does an amazing job of drawing the reader in by creating a sense of mystery and obscurity.  He masterfully manipulates the concept of the new and the unknown that was so popular in the 70s. If you are a fan of stories from that era, you will find this book a pleasant read.