Vol 1: Dead to the World
Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Michael Allred
2011
Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/
Vol 2: uVampire
Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Michael Allred
2011
Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/
Vol 3: Six Feet Under and Rising
Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Michael Allred
2012
Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/
I've never watched Being Human (a BBC sitcom about a vampire, werewolf and a ghost who share the same flat) but if I was to describe what iZombie is like - I'd say it's a lot like that (or at least how I imagine it) with an added dash of Daria (the Beavis and Butthead spin-off starring Daria Morgendorffe "a smart, acerbic, and somewhat misanthropic teenage girl" - which was quietly awesome in all sorts of ways). But yeah: nowadays all the familar horror monsters have all lost their ability to be scary/taken seriously on their own merits: I mean compare the ammount of films that are just a single bad monster (when was the last time there was a film that was just about Frankestein? Or just vampires? Or just werewolves? In fact the only one I can think of is The Wolfman (2010) with Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins - and that wasn't exactly a major hit - in fact I'm surprised I can even remember) compared to the films and books that rely on monster mash-ups (and just off the top of my head there's: Being Human (yeah I can mention it twice) Harry Potter, Twilight, Hellboy, Chew and Cabin in the Woods: and that's not counting the higher level stuff like: The League of Gentlemen, The Unwritten - and (even if comics had the idea years and years ago) The Avengers movie shows that this smashing together different worlds has become mainstream*). I realise that this isn't a brand new thing - Hellboy first appeared in 1993 - and going back further I'm pretty sure (or am I dreaming this?) that Santa Claus appears somewhere in the The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - but my point is that in that recent times this kinda loosening of genre walls has become a hell of a lot more prevalent.
Of course none of that matters unless you've got a good story to tell: which thankfully iZombie does. Artist Mike Allred (whom some of you may recongise from his Madman series) has an artstyle that makes it look like all his characters have just been freshly released from vacuum-packs. So far I'm only a bit of a way through Vol 1 - but so far it's light and breezy and pretty good fun.
Things you should know: yes - it's called "iZombie" which (come on) is a little much. But if you think of it as more like "I, Claudius" or "I, Juan de Pareja" or "I, Robot" (which is what it feels like they were aiming for) then it's easier to swallow. And (just so you're prepared) it's not really a "proper" zombie thing - so all you George Romero fans will need to set aside your pre-conceptions, like I said with the Daria thing above: it's much more "really?" than that.
*Because - yeah - Harry Potter and Twilight aren't mainstream enough for me. Although they're different because their mash-up was of different types of monsters - as opposed to The Avengers movie (of "Avengers Assemble" if you really insist) which mash-ups characters (or superheroes whatever).
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Further reading: Chew, Hellboy, Xombi, B.P.R.D., Seven Soldiers of Victory, The Umbrella Academy.
All comments welcome.
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