THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

You read the story of how the heroes faired during the Zombie apocalypse in DCeased - now it's the turn of the villains! Vandal Savage, an immortal supervillain who has lived for thousands of years, was prepared for the imminent cataclysm and has begun to assemble a team of mercenaries and evildoers to help him ride out the end of civilisation. He thinks he is safe from the carnage but, in a world overrun with infected, no one is ever truly safe, especially given the infected superheroes that retain their powers. The band of survivors are about to learn that, after the world goes to hell, it does not matter if you are a hero or a villain - death does not discriminate.

MY VERDICT:

The morale of this story is clear, and one I completely agree with; heroes are rubbish, it's the villains that will come out on top. DCeased: Unkillables is a much more concise and well-structured story than the series mainstay, DCeased, which seemed only to have the idea of a Zombie apocalypse in the DC universe and forced stories involving the multitude of DC's superheroes around that single premise. Unkillables focuses on a much smaller group of villains, hold-up in, primarily, a single location after the dead rise - doing the typical villain thing of waiting out the storm to finally emerge into a barren world, ripe for conquering, after the chaotic action outside has dissipated. The story flows a lot better because of this central focus and, because the band of villains is small, the comics actually introduce them (albeit briefly) which is excellent for readers unfamiliar with DC's universe. The artwork for the comic is also top-notch - showing ample detail on the Zombies and characters, one frame even contains realistic-looking motion blur which is incredible for a static image. As with the predecessor comic series, the heroes/villains with special powers, keep those powers when they become Zombies. However, as the villains are more physical than 'magical' - them relying on brute force to solve problems - the book this time is far more 'grounded' than its outlandish cousin. This falls down at the end though where everything seems lost for our 'heroes', only for them to be saved by a superhero that had never been mentioned in the story before, coming along at just the right moment, with just the 'powers' needed to save the day. Despite this unfortunate ending, I definitely enjoyed reading this three-part comic book and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the DC universe, hardcore fan or casual observer.