THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

Following on from Act One, the Humans vs. Vampires vs. Zombies story continues with five more issues written by the legendary George Romero. New York City - or the still inhabited parts of it - teeters on the edge of chaos. The Vampires who have secretly taken control of the city continue their bickering and infighting, seemingly fearful of a human resurgence. The Zombies, once used for sport and the brutal entertainment of the humans via senseless gladiatorial battles, are learning, slowly developing a rebellious streak. A new threat also rises - an unknown foe from outside Manhattan Island's defences lays its evil plans against the city, raining death from above in a deadly opening salvo.

MY VERDICT:

Act Two of this initially disappointing comic book series is, I'm glad to say, far, far more entertaining than Act One. For a start, the questionable art-style used previously has been replaced with crisp, clear images - still dirty and grimy enough to adequately portray the post-apocalypse but much starker, vivid and detailed resulting in a story which is significantly easier to follow. Also, the story itself is more interesting as the outnumbered Vampires begin to lose control. At last there is an exhaustive description of Romero's Vampires - after all, the series marks the first time the "Godfather of the Dead" has ventured towards these fanged ghouls. Disappointingly though, it does come at the cost of the more familiar undead - a failing continued from Act One. There simply is not much about the Zombies in this act - there is only really one plot point involving the slow-moving horrors making them feel neglected and out-of-place, unneeded extras to the fiction. I wanted them to break out of quarantine, to cause trouble for the humans, to act a bit more feral and Zombie-like but sadly, after reading from cover to cover, this was not to be.