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Published by: Image Comics
Released on: Nov. 05, 2014
Writer: Mark Kidwell
Artist: Kyle Charles
Cover artist: Nat Jones
Purchase at Amazon
Go here to read the write-up for issue #2.
So we know Vietnam and Cambodia are infested with the living dead, and we know the United States is dealing with zombies on their lands, but what about the U.S.'s neighbors up yonder? It's zombie mayhem, Canadian style. Well not entirely. Some of the characters are American in this two-part story, which takes up the second half of the four issue series '68: Homefront.
Draft-dodging American twin brothers Bobby and Doug find themselves in the frozen white north of Alberta along with Mel, the driver, and they're on their way to rendezvous with their friend Claire. Her uncle owns a cabin somewhere out there on the outskirts of Black Falls, and the two couples are planning on spending some time there for a while. All the meanwhile, there's been a violent robbery at the concrete plant with a shoot out and pursuit into the hills, leaving lots of people dead including four of the five robbers. The fifth robber has a little sick fun with the corpse of a Mountie and leaves his dead companions in the snow to rot.
As the dead rise and leave the hills, lumbering towards town, the kids drive their way to the cabin but end up on foot when Mel goes off the road, ignoring the whining of Doug to keep her eyes on the road. Not really sure where they are, and with temperatures freezing and dropping fast, they break into a cabin that has a fire going, and once inside realize they are not in a friendly place. And unbeknownst to them the owner is on his way. Guess who it is…
The team of Kidwell and Charles (with great colors by Jay Fotos, as per usual) puts out another entrails-filled issue with plenty of zombie nastiness for those looking for a bit more action than The Walking Dead comic delivers. Although highly entertaining, it's pretty superficial stuff, going for less of an intriguing story and more of just rotted, flesh-eating corpses (that decompose at an amazingly alarming rate) running amuck. Not that there's a single thing wrong with that, and if you've read any '68 series or one-shot you know everyone is disposable and no character is off limits to be ripped apart. But sometimes we need a character to muckle onto for the ride and that person hasn't been in this series. Both of these stories might serve better as tales for one-shots (or a two-shot), and sticking these two unrelated stories in between the last series, '68: Rule of War, and the next series is a bit of a letdown. Now we have to wait even longer for that story to continue, which appears to be connected with the infamous and never-captured Zodiac killer from the 1960s and 70s. That's the story that needs to be told, not draft-dodgers in Canada. Even so, it's still a fun read, just not as memorable as previous '68 stories. Maybe next issue will be a game-changer.
