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Zombie #1

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    Ian Jane
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  • Zombie #1



    Zombie #1
    Released by: Eibon Press
    Released on: July 25th, 2016.
    Written by: Stephen Romano
    Illustrated by: Stephen Romano, Derek Rook, Michael Broom

    With this first issue, Eibon Press have officially launched the premiere of their new Fulci Comics line, adapting and expanding on some of the stories originally told in the films of the late, great Lucio Fulci. Zombie #1 starts out with a scene that takes place on the island of Matool. Here a horrible voodoo ritual is taking place - a ritual that results in dormant corpses coming back to shambling life. We learn this by way of some back story relating to Dr. Menard (played by Richard Johnson in the film). Cut to Manhattan where we meet an intrepid reporter named Peter West. For better or worse, he winds up helping a young woman named Anne Bowles (Tisa Farrow in the movie) find out what happened to her father. Soon enough, they've secured safe passage to that very same island we saw in the prologue…

    Taking the black and white comic adaptation that was published sixteen years ago and giving it a massive full color facelift, this take on Fulci's most notorious film doesn't just take the movie and put it into comic book form. The prologue, for example, expands on the backstory, providing us with a good bit more information on how and why the zombies in the story exist in the first place. It's a great and it's clearly in good hands as the source material is treated with the utmost respect. It would have been easy to deliver an ironic take on something like this but the fact that it's played as a completely straight horror project makes it all the better.

    The initial four issues are going to adapt the movie and then, from there, continue the story and take things into uncharted territory. This first issue gets pretty much everything right - the dialogue is spot on, often quoting from the film directly but obviously using new text in the expanded portions like the prologue. Romano has an obvious love for the movie and that comes through here in a big way. There are a lot of little details here that fans of the movie will notice (a subtle nod to leading lady Tisa Farrow's more famous sister being only one of them). The comic also does what the movie could not - it gives us a bit of insight into what certain characters are feeling as they experience what they experience here. Smaller characters that, in the film version, existed only to be eaten, get more 'screen time' here and wind up playing a more interesting role in the events that occur.

    The artwork is great. It's very fluid, it has a lot of movement to it and without wanting to spoil things too much, this helps convey the intensity of a few key scenes. There's a lot of detail in the line work, and while sometimes coloring can eliminate some of that detail, this is not the case here. The coloring has been done very carefully so that instead of just a massive splash of red, that shot to the head shows all the gory brain and skull bits blowing out with the blood! The living characters are well rendered and show a strong resemblance to their live action counterparts (as they should) while the shambling corpses are almost obsessive in how much detail they show. The harbor scene in particular is really well laid out here, but the whole thing looks great from start to finish. The comic is quickly paced but doesn't shortchange the storyline and it sets up the second issue in a pretty big way.

    On top of that, there's the quality of the physical product itself. Not only are all thirty-six ages nicely colored but they're on a good quality thick glossy paper stock which gives the comic itself a very premium feel. The comic, which can be ordered directly through Eibon's webstore, comes housed inside a cardboard sleeve (with alternate artwork) which is then shrink wrapped with the comic and a few other tidbits tucked away inside. In addition to the story itself, the comic also contains a lengthy but interesting essay on the history of the project from Romano. The first printing of the first issue has already sold out (quite a feat considering it was only available direct through the website) and a second printing with a new cover and some other 'extras' will be made available soon. A very impressive first issue - expect great thing to come!








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