Comic Book Review: Marvel Zombies Halloween

Sunday, October 28th, 2012

I stopped buying monthly comics years ago and strictly read trade paperback or hardcover collections these days. I still scan the racks, however, and on occasion a cover will capture my attention. Such was the case with Marvel Zombies Halloween. Francesco Francavilla isn’t a name I’m familiar with but his zombie renditions of Black Panther, Daredevil, and Power Man were solid enough to get me to drop $3.99 on the counter. It didn’t hurt that Power Man was in his old costume instead of the t-shirt and jeans he currently runs around in.

Before this, my only exposure to the Marvel Zombie Universe was from its two-issue introduction in Ultimate Fantastic Four. It was a really good story, but I was never eager to read any of the other Marvel Zombie books that followed in its wake. Still, there’s very little you need to know going in. In this reality, the superheroes are zombies and they’ve pretty much decimated the planet. They’re super-powered, and hungry for flesh. This self-contained story follows a young boy who’s lived the majority of his life in this undead apocalypse. Having never celebrated a Halloween, he becomes intrigued by the idea of dressing up and trick or treating. Mom, a battle-hardened veteran of this nightmare world, puts together a costume for him, but knows the streets are too dangerous to do any actual trick or treating, plus…just about everyone else is dead. The boy’s newly acquired cat thinks otherwise, and bolts from the house. What’s a boy to do? Head out on the streets to retrieve the cat, of course. Enter the zombies…Marvel Zombies! Darkhawk, Squirrel Girl, and Alex Power are among the undead in pursuit of the boy. Luke Cage is there too, but the cover lied to me and he’s not in the old costume. When things are at their worst, help from a very unlikely source arrives.

The story is well paced and Allesandro Vitti’s art adds a great amount of tone as he seems to use a lighter hand when drawing the quieter moments of the story as opposed to the heavyer, bolder linework in the scenes of violence. Overall, it’s truly entertaining story and fits well with the Halloween season.

Marvel Zombies Halloween is published by Marvel Comics, written by Fred Van Lente, with interior art by Alessandro Vitti and a cover by Francesco Francavilla.