Marvel Zombies 2 #1

Zombies 2 – Electric Boogaloo

Several years ago I had a freak out, and stopped eating meat, stopped with the caffeine, and processed sugars. There are a couple of good things about avoiding those things. First there’s that whole healthier living thing, and second, I got to eat all the veggie pizza, been burritos, and tofurkey sandwiches that I wanted (really tofurkey isn’t as bad as it sounds). The toughest part about my sudden conversion to semi-vegetarianism (I still ate eggs and cheese), was the first two weeks. Every Big Mac commercial, every KFC ad, even the smell of steak was enough to nearly drive me out of my mind. Then after that passed, all was right with the world. My head cleared, I had more energy, and I lost a ton of weight. After a while, that Quarter Pounder with Cheese ad did nothing for me, it even made me a little disgusted (like that is anything new). What’s this have to do with Marvel Zombies 2 #1? Well, what is a zombie to do when it’s eaten all the flesh in the universe?

The last we saw our Marvel Zombie brethren Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Giant Man and the Hulk had killed Galactus and were using his technology to hurl themselves through space to find some food stuffs on other planets throughout the universe. And by food stuffs, I really mean living beings like you and me. Marvel Zombies 2 picks up forty years after the original and along the way the zombies have picked up a few more to join their zombie crew.

At the edge of the universe, the zombies have discovered they’ve eaten everything, and there is nothing left to fill the gaping hole that was once their stomachs. This leads to some name calling between Thanos and the Hulk over who eats more. Hey, the Hulk isn’t fat, he’s just big boned, and he’s not taking crap from prune face, and a quick punch to the head is all it takes to end Zombie Thanos’ days.

The zombies are still hungry, and Giant Man suddenly has a recollection of a transdimensional teleporter that would allow them to slip between worlds. If the zombies can only remember how it worked they might open the refrigerator to other worlds to satiate their appetites. So it’s back to Earth they go!

Spidey has been quite the entire time, and when questioned he points out that the longer they go without eating the more the hunger pains subside almost like they don’t even need to feed to survive. It sounds like Zombie Spidey is experiencing the same feeling of Zen I did when detoxing from years of caffeine; he just doesn’t know it yet.

There were a handful of survivors on Earth, and they’ve managed to come together in New Wakanda with an aged Black Panther as their leader. The biggest problem facing the administration isn’t just the limited gene pool from which to rebuild the human race, but Fabian Cortez’s followers trying to oust their leader.

There are also a couple of other surprises awaiting the reader. Zombie Wasp is able to live among the living because she has gone through the detox process and no longer needs to feed. The same thing has happened to a body-less Hawkeye who is found by a young boy wondering through the wastelands. He no longer wants to eat, just to talk and have someone to communicate with.

This seems like a natural progression in zombie tales. 28 Days Later attempted to answer this question of what happens when all the food is gone, by having the zombies simply die out, but Kirkman has come up with a different take by having the zombies actually come to their senses and live among us. One could argue this isn’t highly original as Day of the Dead and the more recent Land of the Dead featured zombies that were able to think. Of course those zombies used their knowledge to overthrow and devour their masters, but I digress.

Issue #1 isn’t all about gnashing on the living. Sometimes the living turn on each other, as is the case when one of the Acolytes attempts to assassinate T’Challa in his sleep. The gut wound is deep (and not pretty to look at) and in order to save his life, Wasp does the only thing she can think of to keep the leader of the world in place – take a bite out of him.

The bite turns T’Challa into a zombie, but it also creates another problem.

When I was dating my future wife, she knew I was one of those crazy veggie eaters, and did her best not to cook food that had meat. One day she made a great smelling Thai shrimp dish that I was keen on at least trying. That one bite was all it took to turn me from vegetarian back to my old ways – complete with all the problems associated with those ways.

The same happens to Wasp. That one taste of flesh brings back the hunger, and to keep from devouring Black Panther’s wife, the two feast on the remains of the would be assassin. With their mental state still in tact (but slipping) they agree to isolate themselves in one of the underground bunkers until they can once again detox.

So, if the remaining zombies on Earth can rid themselves of The Hunger (like I did with those evil toxic foods), perhaps those hurtling through space on a collision course with the remains of humanity can do the same.

Yeah, I laughed too. If it were that simple, this wouldn’t be a multi-issue series setting us up for a Marvel Zombie Civil War.

The Good

• Zen and the Zombie
• Talking Hawkeye head
• Prune Face

The Bad

• Zombies are so 2005

The biggest problem with Marvel Zombies 2 is it is another zombie tale. There have been a few zombie tales that have worked well in comics (Marvel Zombies, and the Walking Dead), but by and large zombie tales are pretty much played out. I think everyone has had their fill of zombies for now, and it’s time to put them away for at least 10 years before letting them burst forth from the cellar screaming for brains. That’s not to say this isn’t a fun story. Robert Kirkman is the man when it comes to telling Horror Comedies. There are certainly plenty of funny parts that create a very weird relationship between the writing and the grosstastic art by Sean Phillips. And I hate to say it, but if I never see another Arthur Suydam zombie cover again in my life, I’d be happy. Sure the first issue gives a slightly different take on the zombie tale, but how far can it go before the fresh breath is a rattling death call? I’m giving Marvel Zombies 2 #1 4 out of 5 Stars, hoping the rest of the series can hold up as well.