Broken Frontier

With the rising cost of war in the Middle East, the US needs help as it escalates into Iran. A draft is out of the question and the rest of the world is hesitant so we do what anyone would... we sic zombies on the "forces of evil".

Zombie books are a dime a dozen these days. What you really need to set yourself apart is a genius hook. I think this book might have figured it out. Well, figured out enough to get me to go ahead and add a book.

Zombies as weapons. There is a certain amount of precedence for the concept. The government experimented with zombies in Day of the Dead and the Return of the Living Dead movies placed the zombiepocalypse firmly on the military’s shoulders. In fact, as far as needing an endless supply of brainless and expendable soldiers for a war with no end in sight, it’s really not that bad of an idea. I wouldn’t be half surprised to find out that the government had a secret zombie program in the works. Who gets down to the bottom of the Pentagon anyhow?

There is a certain amount of amped up liberal conspiracy at play in this book. The beginning battle is narrated by a news broadcast ala Crossfire examining whether or not the United States are involved in the fighting reported from Iran (or even if that fighting is happening at all). Making no quips about it, this book wears its politics on its sleeve. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it will affect the book’s readership.

There are some things that stray away from normal zombie dogma here as well. It's not that heresy is a problem when it comes to the living dead, it is just that you need to have rules in place. The word "zombie" brings certain expectations to the readers and if you change those up, it’s fine, but the reader is going to expect some explanation. These zombies are closer to the kind seen in 28 Days Later, which is a good thing, given that they are used in combat. Slow monsters who tend to only be truly dangerous in large groups would make for a useless weapon. That one goes without saying. How the monsters are contained is explained rather well, but it is the shots to the head of one combatant that will bug most readers. The darn thing just doesn’t die. Cool, but unexplained. Head trauma is the one thing that seems to be constant in the lore... after, you know, the whole reanimation bit.

The story does build up to a certain amount of coming doom, which is good for a horror book. The last page was heavily foreshadowed, but it is the only way that this book will work. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that I am getting ready to read a retread of Predator, but I can deal - just keep me as entertained as this issue did.

The art is okay, for the most part. It is nothing spectacular, but it effectively conveys the script. Gore and explosions make up most of the action in the first half and then our protagonists are introduced. The designs are not the best in the world but the art is consistent and Borges does a good job keeping the action clear. The consistency may be its biggest flaw, actually. All of the Iranian soldiers appear to be the same guy. This caused me to have to reread two pages, because I was massively confused. Other than that, it is exceedingly average.

Special mention should be made of Paul Ballard’s cover. While zombie homages are cliche at this point, I am not sure I have seen a zombie homage to old military propaganda. Sure, there was Suydam’s Uncle Sam homage on Raise the Dead , but this is someone else. Someone who had not tired of comic covers and I think this one works better as it replaces normal people, not an icon.

Not a bad start, just kind of underwhelming from the guy who thought up Underworld. Hopefully, Grevioux has some surprises in store and my fears of retread are unfounded. Check it out, war and zombies make for a neat mix, just don’t be expecting the next revolution in horror comics. This is entertaining, but it is not The Walking Dead.