Deadworld - War of the Dead Series - Graded B

Title:	Deadworld - War of the Dead
Contributors:	Gary Reed Sami Makkonen
Publisher:	IDW
Issue #:	1 - 5
Year:	2012
Pages:	32 Pages
Age Rating:	18 (Language, Violence, Gore)
Story Grade:	B
Art Grade:	B

Deadworld - War of the Dead was an accidental find by my wife She found issues #3, #4 and #5 at our local comic shop and I ended up having to buy issues #1 and #2 online because my local shop didn't have them in stock and couldn't order them. All in all, this was a good find.

This series  is short followup to the original Deadworld comics. The world is already overrun with zombies and small band of scientists are holed-up at war against an army of undead ruled by a king of the zombies trying to find a cure.

While this is a nice stand alone series, it would definitely help a reader to read the original story first because there are far too many unexplained character relationships and backstories that are briefly referenced throughout these five issues. Frankly it leaves the reader a little lost. With that said, I found that the Deadworld omnibus is available for $19.99 online and am thinking about picking it up simply because this small series was simply that good.

It is nice to have a story that doesn't try an explain the origin of the zombie apocalypse yet again, though it may in the original series, this series did not. It was simply that the the world was already over run with zombies.

The is one of the main issues I have with most zombie stories these days... they simply try to retell the origin. I think every possible way has been covered:

- Chemical Origin - Night of the Living Dead/The Crazies
- Space Origin - Body Snatchers/Night of the Comet
- Virus Origin - 28 Days Later/Resident Evil
- Magic Origin - White Zombie/Army of Darkness
- Nuclear Origin - Chernobyl Diaries
- etc., etc., etc.

 Like many comic stories, we don't need another origin. We need a fresh take on the story. This story is just that. A fresh take on a story that doesn't try and set itself apart by redefining the genre itself.

The artwork is dark, a little disjointed and surreal. The anatomy is drawn disproportionately and the use of textures is heavy handed. But with the story being told, these art elements all work together in the telling of that story. The grit and dirt add to the unlying dirtiness of story itself.

I give this series a Grade B. The art is nice and complimentary to the story, but isn't anything I haven't seen on Deviant Art before so I couldn't go above a Grade B. The story moves nicely and doesn't always have happy endings for everyone, but is broken if you don't read the original.

Until next time - happy plucking.