Revival, Vol. 1: You’re Among Friends by Tim Seeley, Mike Norton
My rating: 5/5 cats
yeah, like i am going to be able to write a review that says anything my godparents of zombie-intelligentsia, mike and ceridwen, haven’t already said in their reviews.
but a book read is a book that needs to be reviewed, so i will add my tiny mew to their roars.
because this is good stuff. and even if you are “over” the whole “zombie thing,” you can pretty much shusshify, because this is one of those “revitalizations of the genre” situations that twists the zombie mythos into something way more emotionally rewarding than the norm.
in this tease of a first volume, which collects issues 1-5 plus a free comic book day story, there is still so much left unanswered. it is tantalizing. but what we do learn is that one day, some of the dead of a small town in wisconsin came back to life. not as brainless drooling monsters, where it is easy to say “that creature is no longer your mother, put a bullet in its head,” but…unchanged. talking. walking. behaving as they have their whole lives. but still—dead.
so the town is quarantined until further investigation can be done, the CDC is called in on a special task force, and the town carries on as usual. family grievances, racial tensions, affairs, jealousies, with all of this “revival” hanging over them. until suddenly, the (un)dead start showing their teeth.
which precedes the best shudder-scene ever.
the story-trickles are masterful. there are a many tales being told here, and just as many remaining tucked away, hopefully for later. there are hints, half-revealed subplots, unplumbed depths…it gives me the reader-shivers, when you can tell that your story is in good hands, and all will eventually be brought to light, but you are only given the suggestion of what is to come, although with plenty of excellent action scenes.
this is a really haunting little graphic novel, and let’s just pause a moment to love on the cover a little:
yeah. like that.
truly great beginning to a story i can’t wait to continue. WRITE! DRAW! WHIPCRACK!
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