Marvel Zombies: Halloween

A couple weeks ago, Rusty mentioned a book that he sincerely enjoyed called MARVEL ZOMBIES: HALLOWEEN. You’re probably well familiar with the idea at this point and may have even read a couple of the mini-series that bear the Marvel Zombies name. The idea of course is that many of the heroes of the Marvel Universe have been turned into zombies, and the first mini-series in particular (written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Sean Phillips) is hilarious. The five or six mini-series since have definitely been hit or miss, but I can assure you that this one shot is a total hit. Check it out…

MARVEL ZOMBIES HALLOWEEN
MARVEL COMICS

Written by Fred Van Lente
Art by Alessandro Vitti

Trick or treat, give the Marvel Zombies your brains to eat!
Fred Van Lente, writer of fan-fave MARVEL ZOMBIES 3 and 4, returns to the freaky franchise-for its first ever Halloween one-shot special!

Okay, so that doesn’t tell you very much. But that’s why they sent me! So here’s my version of the solicitation: Mother and son defend themselves against Marvel Zombies that include such excellent B-Listers as Karolina Dean from the Runaways and Squirrel Girl from the New Avengers, all in the shadow of Halloween. That’s a little tongue-in-cheek but it’s totally true.

The whole story opens up as if it’s kind of a Walking Dead type landscape with the mother and son living in a farmhouse, quite possibly being the last two humans left on Earth and being surrounded by zombies. In a sense it immediately had a different feel than some of the more recent Marvel Zombies tales; focusing not on the zombies but on the humans. Naturally, the son gets off the farm and we start to see some Marvel Zombies proper. Obviously, I don’t want to give too much away but there is definitely some drama, some excellent zombie action, a couple solid twists and an excellent surprise ending as we learn exactly who the mother and son are.

But honestly, all the plot stuff wasn’t what I walked away thinking about. What I really appreciated was the heart that was clearly at the center of this story. Call me a softie if you will, but I loved the saccharine ending and the general feeling of warmth and devotion. I mean… what more would you want from a story that takes place on Halloween, a holiday that celebrates pillowcases stuffed with Snickers bars, than an ending that is sugary sweet?

- Andy B.