And we’re back. The first month is over and we’re moving on from there. For these next two months, with Convergence going on, the DC reviews will be more frequent than the Marvel ones. For now, let’s continue the needlessly long saga of “Marvel Zombies.” Last time I forgot to mention the writers and artists, and this is a very important thing later, but I’ll fix this now. Our writer for the first two Marvel Zombies is Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) and the artist is Sean Phillips (Hellblazer.)
We begin 40 years after the events of the first Marvel Zombies at the edge of the universe. We see the Marvel Zombies,not in their Galactus outfits for some reason, and they are joined by a couple of other zombies: Firelord, Gladiator, Phoenix, and Thanos. They talk about how there is no food left, which Thanos blames on Hulk, so Hulk kills him. The zombies decide to go back to Earth, and Spider-Man mentions that the hunger might be fading. We cut to Earth, where a little boy finds the head of Hawkeye. He takes Hawkeye back to New Wakanda, Black Panther’s new colony, and a scientist named Reynolds gives him a new body like the Wasp’s. Elsewhere, Malcolm Cortez, the son of Fabien Cortez who also fought to become leader of New Wakanda, is trying to rally up a revolt. We cut to the night, at Asteroid M, the space base, where Black Panther is sleeping. He is attacked by one of Cortez’s people, and the Wasp shows up and saves him.
The Wasp decides the only way to save Panther is to infect him as well. We see the Zombies flying through space, and Giant-Man gets angry because Spider-Man keeps saying “Are we there yet?” Spidey and Luke Cage discuss why Peter keeps making the jokes, and he tells him that it’s to hide what monsters they have become. Back on Asteroid M, Wasp and Panther have been locked by Forge, a close friend of Panther’s, until they get over the hunger. They are released, and Cortez tries to take advantage of the situation by parading around the zombie Panther to the colony. Nobody seems to be listening, so he looks up and notices that the Marvel Zombies have shown up. Giant Man tells the others his plan of turning the colony into a breeding camp, which caused Spidey to lose it and Luke Cage and him attack the other zombies. Reynolds puts up a force field, but leaves Bruce Banner and Gladiator on their side by accident.
Gladiator rips Spider-Man almost in half, but is stopped by Forge, wearing Tony’s old Iron Man suit. Spidey and Luke shoot Gladiator in the head, killing him. The other zombies outside the force field fly off to the Baxter Building to use the old teleporter. Forge reveals that they took the teleporter a long time ago in case the zombies ever came back. When Peter mentions that they will come back to get it Reynolds reveals an ally to help them fight, Colonel America. He says that they found his brain and implanted it in the body of Panther’s dead son, T’Channa. Later, the zombies return and the heroes offer them a deal, that they leave in the teleporter, and don’t eat the rest of them.
They accept the deal and they shut the force field off. When it’s down, the obvious happens, and the heroes attack the zombies. As they are fighting, Bruce Banner wakes back up and attacks Reynolds, who is operating the force field. He pushes him into this giant, freaking red lever that looks out of place, which puts the force field down again. The other zombies rush in, but when Giant-Man goes to eat Panther’s wife, he realizes he isn’t hungry. He tries to discuss a truce, but Bruce becomes the Hulk again, and kills Phoenix, Hawkeye, Firelord, and Iron Man. He also eats Reynolds, which causes his hunger to fade and he becomes Banner again, so they kill him.
Three weeks later, a funeral is held for the dead, and Giant-Man talks to Wasp. They mention a meeting, and we see the heroes gathered around the teleporter. Giant-Man says that they fixed the teleporter and remarks how easy it was. Cortez then reveals that it was because he sabotaged it years ago, and that he fixed it now so he can get rid of the zombies. He also reveals that he killed T’Channa and planned to kill Panther. He teleports the zombies away and Forge rushes in. Cortez kills Forge and shouts that the Marvel Zombies are now someone else’s problem, ending it on another “The end?”
And with this over, the story of the original Marvel Zombies is over…or is it?!
Plot: The Marvel Zombies returning to Earth really doesn’t interest me. With the book starting off with the zombies having eaten the entire universe, not much could be done besides that, though.
Characters: Now this is the major misfire for this comic. They added 4 new characters to the cast, and did nothing with them. Thanos is killed quickly, Firelord can’t even talk with his removed jaw, and Phoenix barely talks. However, Hawkeye, Gladiator, and Colonel America are great additions.
Action: The action is weaker than in the last series. Most of it now is just energy blasts, which removes the character’s individuality.
Art: The art is basically the same as last time: Dark, heavily shaded, and appropriate for this setting.
Ending: Another “The end?” cliffhanger, makes this lose tons of points. The double cross from Cortez is predictable as well.
Final Thoughts: This thing really has no point unless you actually care what happens to an alternate universe full of zombies.(Hint: it won’t end well) I will give it credit for the continually funny dark comedy. Hawkeye and Colonel America are portrayed as insane and they just ham it up.Other than that, there’s not much here, and it doesn’t even tie in to the next book (it does lead to “Marvel Zombies: Return, but that’s for another day.) I can’t be too harsh on this because it is alright, but I recommend it to only big fans of the series.
Rating: Buy for a bargain
Vintage Bullet 
Good review. It seems as though this graphic novel has a lot of stuff going on in it.
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