THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

This comic begins in New York City, years after the undead have risen as bloodthirsty Zombies. Quarantine has kept the foul demons at bay, for the most part, allowing survivors to continue civilization on Manhattan Island. However, those hopeful few are not safe. Not only do they have to deal with the occasional ghoul that gets past the defences but an entirely new evil has infested the city - Vampires!

MY VERDICT:

Empire of the Dead is written by the legendary George A. Romero, instantly giving it some street-cred. You definitely get the sense of his hand at work with the comic clearly following (or using the same vein as) Romero's recent movie Land of the Dead; people living to some semblance of normal life in a protected city, gladiatorial Zombie fighting and individual Zombies showing minor intelligence. There is also a brief nod to Night of the Living Dead - the 1968 movie that started the Zombie craze. Despite the inherent coolness Romero's influence brings, I was slightly disappointed with this all-too-short comic book. The Zombie undead seem to take a backseat to the new and unusual Vampires - themselves not doing much other than plotting against the humans. The story did however get me asking some interesting questions such as whether the appearance of another type of living dead (the Vampires) has somehow raised the intelligence of the usually imbecilic Zombies? Sadly, I am not totally convinced the second act in this series will answer these difficult to answer questions, seeing as this first act seemed primarily focused on the setup to a more action-oriented act two. In conclusion then, would I continue reading the Empire of the Dead series if it did not have the infamous "Godfather of the Dead" tagline? Well, probably not - I just didn't find any hook to drag me into the story which is a shame in a comic I had such high hopes for.