28 Days Later #24 – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Alejandro Aragon (art), Nolan Woodard (colors), Johnny Lowe (letters) & Ian Brill (editor)

The Story: 28 Days Later comes to an end.  Selena and Clint were in a pretty dangerous position when we last saw them.  Will they survive?

What’s Good: First, let’s give the tip of the cap for an outstanding series from Boom! and writer Michael Alan Nelson.  I generally loathe licensed property comics and they’re usually not very good because they don’t have to be: People buy them just because of the brand on the cover page.  But, the 28 Days series told a wonderfully rich, post-apocalyptic tale set in the timeframe between the 28 Days and 28 Weeks movies.  As it became clear that the last 4-5 issues were actually set in London during the beginning of 28 Weeks (when the Rage virus has a nice rally & everyone dies again) we really start to be concerned for our protagonists: Selena and Clint.  Will they survive?  The beauty of this series is that it could have ended just fine with any sort of resolution, but since we care about these characters sooooo much after 24 issues, we really do want a happy ending.

It is really hard to discuss this comic without getting into SPOILERS.  So, go read the comic first and then come back and leave your comments below.
Nelson really packs a lot into this final issue.  First he drags our heroes through one more dreadful circumstance in infected London.  For me, one of the high points of apocalypse-fiction is the writers coming up with new things the characters have to do to survive and as readers, we have to debate in our minds, “Sheesh, would I be willing to do that or would I just lay down and die?  I think I’d just die because that is disgusting.”  But, since the easily grossed-out people didn’t survive the infected, Selena and Clint are able to do that and Nelson also gets the characters out of London pretty fast.  Yippie, they’re on a boat and sailing free straight to France.  Anyone who saw the 28 Weeks movie knows that the final scene of that film showed how the infected had gotten loose in France (and would therefore overrun Eurasia).  Oh no!  Selena and Clint may not be safe after all!  I won’t spoil the final ending, but Nelson continues to tease us right up until the final page.  Very well done!

28 Days Later #23 – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Alejandro Aragon (art), Nolan Woodard (colors), Johnny Lowe (letters), Ian Brill (editor)

The Story: We enter the final issues that bridge the gap between the films 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.

What’s Good: What a masterful job Michael Alan Nelson has done to position this story where it is.  All along during the comic series, I had wondered if this series had any relation to the 28 Weeks Later film.  During the last couple of issues, we saw that the events were taking place during the opening phases of 28 Weeks and that was really cool.  I’m generally not a huge fan of licensed property fiction, but I do love the novels or comics that explore a film from another point of view without changing anything.

And, that’s what we get in this issue.  While Selina is off settling her peace at her old house where she was force to kill her husband during the initial outbreak, Clint finds himself locked in a parking garage along with most of the other human residents of London.  If you saw 28 Weeks, you would immediately say, “OH NO!”  When we saw this scene in the film, we saw it from the perspective of the people who were immediately overtaken by the infected that broke into the parking garage.  The comic shows the scene from Clint’s perspective on the other side of the crowd: There’s a noise, the lights go out, there are sounds of struggling, people start pushing as panic sets in and Clint knows he needs to get out of there.

For this point, the issue follows Clint trying to survive as the military attempts to sterilize the city by killing everyone.  Of course, Selina comes back for him just at the right moment, but the cliffhanger leaves it very ambiguous whether they will live or not.  Clearly the final two (?) issues of this series will cover Clint and Selina’s attempt to escape and the fun thing is that we could have a good ending whether they survive or not.  While I’m sad that this series is ending, it is really nice to see a comic series that had an ending in mind.  I almost hope they do another series after the 28 Weeks film.  🙂

Aragon does a nice job with the art.  In some places he gets a little murkier and the lines get smudgier than I’d prefer (and that’s mostly from comparing to Declan Shalvey who was the original series artist), but you never have any doubt about the story and the characters all look alive.

28 Days Later #22 – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Alejandro Aragon (art), Nolan Woodard (colors), Johnny Lowe (letters) & Ian Brill (editor)

The Story: Selina sets off on a personal mission and leaves the US military safe zone as this series begins to wrap up.

What’s Good: One of the very good things about this issue for long-time readers is that it framed where this story fits in the whole saga of the films 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.  After last issue, we had seen our heroes, Selina and Clint, reach a US military safe-zone in London.  I had questions about whether this was the safe-zone from the 28 Weeks film and how much the comic was going to acknowledge that second movie and how the comic would continue if it was acknowledging that second film.

Well, things are a lot clearer a month later.  For one thing, the final issue of this series has now been solicited, meaning that this series is wrapping up rapidly.  For another, this military safe-zone that Clint and Selina have found is the one from the 28 Weeks movie.  This is pretty neat: Michael Alan Nelson is telling a story that happens in the dead space between the two films and it will have a definite ending.  Neither Clint or Selina were in the second film, so they could die in the next couple issues… or they could be fine.  We really don’t know!  But, by tying this story to events we’re familiar with from the 28 Weeks film, we can build a sense of foreboding because we (the reader) know that the shit is about to hit the fan again…and our heroes are completely unprepared for it.  They think they’re safe.  It is a rare circumstance in fiction where the reader positively knows what will happen next and has to watch beloved characters wander into danger.

From an actual story standpoint, this issue is mostly quiet.  Clint is mostly poking around in the safe zone and asking questions that confirm this story’s existence in the 28 Weeks movie world whereas Selina goes off on a touching journey to find her old house and dead husband’s body (pre-infection).  One of the awful things about zombie-fiction is that since zombies strike you in your house (your place of safety), all of the survivors have seen horrid things happen to loved ones, yet rarely have time for a real goodbye.  Seeing Selina’s past really makes this hit home.

28 Days Later #21 – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Pablo Peppino (art), Nolan Woodard (colors), Johnny Lowe (letters) & Ian Brill (editor)

The Story: We begin a truly new phase of 28 Days Later as Clint and Selina are now “safe” in a sanitized London.

What’s Good: If you’re looking for a jumping on point for this outstanding series, here it is.  Personally, I think people make way too big of an issue out of “jumping on points” but the fact is that some folks are intimidated by seeing the #18 on a comic because they feel like they’ve missed a lot of story.  This issue seems to completely wrap the first phase of this story that dealt with Clint and Selina (and multiple now deceased friends) trying to make their way to London so that Clint can do a story about post-infection England.

It seems as if this story is flowing right into the events of the movie 28 Weeks Later as this London is controlled by the US military and I’ll be very curious to see how close they stay to the 28 Weeks story because it was a much weaker film and it would represent the reader knowing roughly what will happen next.  I’m sure it won’t be that straight forward and it’ll be interesting to see what surprises Nelson has for us.

There are a couple of big attractions for this issue.  One is just seeing Clint and Selina in a “safe” environment: no infected, no survivors forming despotic enclaves and no murderous British Army officers.  So, they’re a little out of their element.  That’s kinda of a story we’ve all seen in fiction, but Nelson executes really well by showing these two characters being drawn closer by being in an alien environment.

The other enticing new element is the tease about Selina’s past.  We’ve gotten little bits of her past during this series and we get a lot more here.  Selina clearly has a purpose for being in London and I’m highly curious to learn what it is because it can’t be anything as mundane as visiting her old home or laying a wreath of flowers in honor of her husband.  Clearly it’ll end up being something exciting and probably something brings her back into partnership with Clint.

We get a new artist on this issue and Pablo Peppino continues the tradition of strong art on this series.  He keeps the look and feel consistent with what previous artists Declan Shalvey and Alejandro Aragon have given us and I really appreciate that.  Unless an artist is really going to bring something spectacular to the table, I’d almost prefer for titles to have a consistent look.  Peppino may be capable of the spectacular, but 28 Days is really a “story” comic and shouldn’t be an art showcase.  Regardless, his storytelling is impeccable.

28 Days Later #20 – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Alejandro Aragon (art), Nolan Woodard (colors), Johnny Lowe (letters) & Ian Brill (editor)

The Story: Selina is in big trouble, as she is captured by a British Army Officer that has bone to pick with her.

What’s Good: So far in this series, Selina has kinda been the baddest person in the story.  It’s really remarkable how well Nelson has pulled that off.  When I watch a TV show like Nikita, I just fundamentally have a hard time believing that a 120 pound woman regardless of her level of training is able to continually smash five 250 pound men who are also well trained.  It just doesn’t work that way in real life.  But, Nelson has never made me question for a second that Selina is the baddest MF in the story.

So, it’s kinda interesting to see her suddenly in a situation where she is no physical match AT ALL for the British Army officer who has taken her captive.  Sure, she gives it the old college try a few times, but Captain Stiles is soooo on another level physically that he is almost disdainful of her efforts.  Thus, it is fun to watch Selina have to come up with another plan to extricate herself.  I particularly loved the exchange about why Stiles has allowed her to keep “her” machete.

I honestly thought the art was a mixed bag in this issue.  I wouldn’t ever call it “bad art”, but it was not as crisp as this series has been and there were a few scenes where Selina looked really funny.

28 Days Later #19 – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Alejandro Aragon (art), Nolan Woodard (colors), Johnny Lowe (letters) & Ian Brill (editor)

The Story: A pretty good jumping on point as the danger shifts from the Infected to a British Army Colonel with an axe to grind.

What’s Good: One of the nicest things that I can say about this comic series is that it has almost made me forget the film on which it is based.  All along, that outstanding film has been useful as background information, but it is hardly required because the comic exists completely on its own.  This issue dives right back into events that happened close to the end of that film and in so doing, creates a nice little “jumping on point” (although I hate that term) for newer readers.  That’s something that a title like this needs (even though I think anyone could pick this up anywhere and just enjoy it) because seeing issue #19 on the cover makes an issue uninviting to newcomers in today’s comic market.  Sigh….

And what a neat little jumping on point it is!  If you’re like me, you’re going to be on Wikipedia to recall some events from the end of the film to put the action here into context.  But, what is best about this story arc is that it shows how a series such as this is about much more than the Infected (this series’ answer to zombies).  All stories set in these post-apocalypse worlds are interesting because they have their monsters, but what is more scary is what the humans do to one another after the breakdown of society.  What if one of those survivors was a badass Army Special Forces officer who had an axe to grind against YOU? And, what if that officer was completely unbound by rules or regulations? That is the scenario that Nelson paints here and it’ll be enjoyable to watch where this takes us.

It also seems like Nelson has stories for this series that’ll go for as long as people keep buying it, and that is a very good thing because this is one of the best and most consistent series being sold right now.  It hasn’t had a bad or confusing issue yet.

Aragon’s art is again very strong.  He’s accomplished something that I didn’t know would be possible and made me not miss Declan Shalvey (who started on this series and is now doing issues of Thunderbolts for Marvel).  He effectively captures the mood of the characters and sells the drama very well.

28 Days Later #18 – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Alejandro Aragon (art), Nolan Woodard (colors), Johnny Lowe (letters) & Ian Brill (editor)

The Story: As Selina and Clint get closer to London, the infected become less of a problem than the other humans.

What’s Good: 28 Days just delivers the good every single month and it has become one of my “most anticipated” books every time because I can’t wait to see what happens next.  This issue is a great example.  We’ve seen our protagonists chased by the infected, we’ve seen they deal with the US military and we’ve seen them deal with a few nasty bands of survivors.  What’s left?  Well, if you remember the story arc featuring the US military science lab around issue #12, you might remember an off-hand remark from the head scientist that a certain military officer was looking for Selina and had special plans for her.  That chicken comes home to roost in a big way in this issue as Selina and Clint face what could be their toughest obstacle yet.  This direction is also appealing because it seems that this dude has it in for Selina based on something she did in the past.  We really know very little about Selina even if you include the information from the movie.  I love stories that dole out the bits of back-matter in dribs and drabs and am looking forward to leaning more about Selina.

I’m also really enjoying the dynamic that Clint and Selina has developed over these past 3-4 issues since they because the only two remaining central characters.  It’s fun to watch them grow closer, get friendly and even start to get some romantic feelings for one another (although I hope we don’t go there for a long time).  I’m sure at some point, they’ll pick up another character or two, but I hope it isn’t too soon because I’m not sick of this two-person dynamic yet.

Aragon’s art is again quite good for this type of book.  There’s nothing too flashy in this art.  It’s just nice and effective sequential art that tells the story.

28 Days Later #17 – Advance Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Ron Salas (art), Nolan Woodard (colors), Johnny Lowe (letters) & Ian Brill (editor)

The Story: After escaping from the gang of thugs who pass for civilization in London, Selina and Clint leave town and have a chance to unwind.

What’s Good: Stories like 28 Days need to take their foot off the gas every once in a while.  You can’t just keep moving the reader from one tense and horrifying set piece to another.  Well, I guess you can, but the reader builds up a callous pretty quickly and the writer’s “shocking moments” start to just bounce off the audience.

Nelson clearly gets this.  28 Days has been pretty tense for ~10 issues now, so it was time to let our gang rest.  This is an issue to depressurize and get to know the characters a little more and to be happy for them because for once they are not running for their lives.  What I found very interesting here is how different the characters are in their approach to relaxation.  They both take their chance, but Selina pops quickly back into “soldier mode”.  She has her system of rules that have allowed her to survive and she isn’t bending them for personal convenience.

But…you just know that the sanctity of this issue can’t last and by the end, Nelson is getting ready to toss us right back into the fire.  However, he very skillfully avoids showing us what the new danger is.  We’ve all seen enough post-apocalypse fiction to let our imaginations run wild, but we don’t know. It is a well-done cliffhanger and you’ll have to wait until next month to see what’s going on.

28 Days Later #16 – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Alejandro Aragon (art), Juan Manuel Tumburus (colors) & Johnny Lowe (letters)

The Story: Selina and the journalist she is guiding into infected territory get sucked into sectional fighting in infected London.

What’s Good: This is a pretty hard look at what can happen, as they say on certain internet sites, when the SHTF (Shit Hits The Fan).  How would survivors band together?  Would they be one, big, happy family?  Would they practice communal farming?  Who gets excluded from the group and why?  What do they fight over?  For the first time in this series, we are taking a break from being chased by the infected and instead seeing how human civilization reestablishes itself in London.  And it ain’t pretty and we’ll surely see more of this sectional fighting in future issues of 28 Days Later.

One other welcome bit in this comic is that we get a little of back information on Selina (our heroine).  The movie on which this comic was based didn’t give us much back info on her character except to make it clear that she is a “survivor”.  And, so far in this comic series she has been quite mercenary and willing to hack folks to bits if they are infected, so it was interesting to see something(s) that she actually does care about in this issue.

Comics You Should Be Reading

Welcome to a new feature here at WCBR, which will hopefully resurface periodically.

Here we highlight series that we reviewers feel are not getting the readers, or the attention, that they deserve.  These are books that we’ve been particularly enjoying.  These are DC/Marvel books that should be in the top ten, or at least the top 20, in the monthly sales figures, or indie titles that, qualitatively, should be mentioned alongside blockbusters like the Walking Dead, Chew, or Morning Glories.

So, with the intro out of the way, let’s get started!

American Vampire (DC/Vertigo)

Written by Scott Snyder (who is taking over Detective Comics) and with art by the incredible Rafael Albuquerque, American Vampire is the story of a new breed of vampires who arise in the United States in the late 18th century. They can go outside and don’t have much use for old-fashioned, Euro-vampires and their sissified clothes. The story is also a bit of a bonus for history buffs as we have so far touched on the Old West of the 1880’s, Hollywood of the 1920’s and Las Vegas of the 1930’s. Did I mention how awesome the art is?

-Dean

 

Fantastic Four (Marvel)

Before Hickman’s run, I hadn’t had any love whatsoever for the Fantastic Four since childhood. Now FF is my favourite Marvel book and Reed Richards right up there with my favourite characters. This alone should be testament to how good this book is. It’s a book where anything is possible, one that challenges, and shatters, limitations of scope and structure. This is a big book chocked full of big ideas and massive, cosmic hullabaloo. Every issue of Hickman’s Fantastic Four feels like it’s charting new ground with every month’s offering feeling bold, adventurous, and full of life. To top it all off, Hickman also writes all of the characters, especially the kids, fantastically and in a manner that makes them impossible not to love.

-Alex

 

Kill Shakespeare (IDW)

This is a fantastic series, regardless of how you feel about the Great Bard himself. While it does have plenty of references and in-jokes for people familiar with Shakespeare’s work, knowing the plays is not at all a requirement for enjoying the fantastic dialogue, wonderful characters, and constantly twisting plot. The quality of both the writing and the art make this one a no-brainer for anyone’s pull list, and will have a place on my shelf both in single issue and trade form. Well worth taking the time to seek out and sample.

-SoldierHawk

 

Orc Stain (Image)

This is one of the whackiest series out there on the stands right now. The story is pretty basic: The various fractious races of orcs have finally been united under one, all-powerful Orctzar. All that stands between the Orctzar and absolute power are the services of a one-eyed orc who has the ability to crack open anything with his little hammer. But, the story is merely a frame for James Stokoe’s wicked sense of humor and art design. Starting with the art, everything in the Orc Stain world is an animal. The orcs don’t just wear armor…it is all various hard-shelled animals fitted all over their bodies. Ditto for the swords and everything else. The visual look is like nothing else. And the humor is something else. Much of this humor revolves around orcs losing their gronch (with is orcish for “junk”). The comic makes me laugh and admire the art design.

-Dean

Action Comics (DC)

Don’t be put off by the lack of Superman; this is quite possibly the best, and smartest, book DC is putting out. Razor sharp wit, a hilarious supporting cast, and super-polished Pete Woods artwork make this book a must-read. Best of all is the fact that the title is very much a “Paul Cornell” book. It’s funny, it’s action packed, and Cornell writes a fantastic Lex Luthor. Then there’s robot Lois, possibly my favourite new character of the year and the sort of zany, smart-mouthed creation that Cornell excels at. Top this off with a really cool “villain of the month” format that often looks to highlight some of DC’s underused baddies, and you’ve got something that is made out of win… and just a little bit of insanity.

-Alex

Artifacts (Image/Top Cow)

This is an extended 13-issue event that promises to change the face of the Top Cow (Witchblade, The Darkness, Magdalena) universe. While it’s still in its infancy as an event (issue #2 was just released), that’s an advantage for a new reader who wants to jump onboard to this epic story of mystical artifacts and those who which to defend—or claim—them. Ron Marz is doing excellent job of bringing non-Top Cow readers up to speed on all of the players, powers and forces involved in the saga, so not being familiar with the source material shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. Pick up issues #1 and #2 now, and save yourself the trouble of tracking them down when everyone is raving about this series in the next couple months.

-SoldierHawk

 

28 Days Later (BOOM!)

Do you love The Walking Dead? Then you should also be reading 28 Days Later (based on the movie of the same name). It is just that simple. Lots of zombie comics think that zombies (or infected in the case of 28 Days Later) are the main attraction. Smart post-apocalypse stories like TWD and 28 Days (or The Stand, The Road, etc.) know that the true star of these stories is the breakdown of human society and whether decent people have any hope in a land where ruthlessness is a true advantage. Although it is similar to TWD, it has enough differences to make sure that it has original concepts. This is a comic that I’m excited to read every month and it never disappoints.

-Dean

 

S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel)

Part science fiction, part fantasy, part history, all awesome. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a mind bending, time-traveling adventure in which many of the great minds of the Western world—and some great minds who aren’t from the West at all—come together to form the beginning of the S.H.I.E.L.D. that guards the current Marvel Universe. Think a history-based League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with a bit of Marvel lore (and some absolutely gorgeous artwork) thrown in, and you’ll quickly see why, barring something absolutely incredible happening between now and January, this is my choice for best new book of the year.

-SoldierHawk

Scalped

40 issues in with no passable jumping on point save issue one, this isn’t the most new-reader friendly book.  But I’m listing it anyway, because Scalped is just that damned good.  Scalped has consistently been among the very best comics on the stands since it debuted in 2007 and yet, since 2007, it has flown under the radar, in spite of an Eisner nomination and a (now) big name writer in Jason Aaron.  This book is grim, dark, gritty, unrelenting, uncompromising, and so  real that it hurts.  It’s an ugly and dirty book but also one that’s very real and human and even after forty issues, the idea of an American crime story on an Indian reservation is as fresh as ever.  It’s a compelling, and ingenious, mix of noir and social commentary, both sides balancing the other but both also being equally brutal.

-Alex

 

28 Days Later #15 – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Alejandro Aragon (art), William Farmer (colors) & Ed Dukeshire (letters)

The Story: Clint and Selina come face to face with what passes for civilization in post-infection London.

What’s Good: This series just keeps humming right along and any fan of zombies, survival horror, post-apocalypse or The Walking Dead should be reading this title.

In post-apocalyptic fiction, the civilization of survivors being led by some psycho-fascist-strongman is pretty much a cliché, but that’s okay because that is probably what would happen.  The closest we have to post-apocalypse in the real world are lawless places like Somalia and regions along the Afghan/Pakistan border and they sure haven’t turned into a worker’s utopia because the happy dudes who want to work together and smoke weed are quickly overrun by madmen with guns who want to take their food and gasoline.

So, it is appropriate that this excellent series would bring Clint and Selina into contact with a group like this.  What is key is how Nelson creates the character of the leader and he does a good job of not making him a complete idiot-psycho.  This has to be a person who hopeless survivors would follow for some reason and Nelson realizes the importance of making the leader someone who provides security and food.  It might be taking things too far, but some will see a slight amount of allegory in what frightened humans will accept from leaders who promise security.

The “star” of this issue, however, is the initiation rite that the leader inflicts on one of our heroes.  It is both creative and absolutely horrifying!

Once again, Aragon’s art is very effective.  His art is mostly working with Nelson’s script to tell a story, so the art is fairly contained.  However, he does play around with perspective to make panels interesting to look at without sacrificing the story.

28 Days Later #14 – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Alejandro Aragon (art), William Farmer (colors) & Ed Dukeshire (letters)

The Story: Our band finally makes it to London, but will it be what they expect?

What’s Good: Last month I was getting a little sour on 28 Days because I thought that the quest to reach London was getting so horrific that I just couldn’t imagine any group hanging in there.  Sane people would walk away and say, “No thanks!  Too hard!”

I should be a comics editor (LOL) because as if the creative team read my mind, they change things up in a big way in this issue. First, let’s get a SPOILER WARNING out here…

The big news in this issue is the death of a central character.  In some ways I feel a little silly saying “central” character because how attached can you really be to a character in an comics series that is only up to issue #14???  Well, it turns out that you see how attached you are when you see a final scene that is as well handled as this one.  The death is meaningful and is managed in a very touching manner.  I wish Second Coming had given Nightcrawler as good of a final scene as this.

In other developments, our survivors reach London.  The comic is going to get very obvious comparisons to The Walking Dead and those comparisons will not stop because of the events of this issue.  I mean that mostly in a good way.  Not only are stories like 28 Days about the horror of being chased by zombies (or the “infected”), they are about the complete breakdown of human society and seeing what sorts of barbaric systems the less altruistic survivors will make up.  So, much like the really awful things in TWD come via the other humans, we start to see that here in downtown London.  It is a very timely change of gears for this series and I’m interested to see how the creative team will progress this story without making 28 Days into a TWD-clone (assuming that they are very aware of TWD).

28 Days Later #13 – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Alejandro Aragorn (art), William Farmer (colors) & Ed Dukeshire (letters)

The Story: Having escaped the US military field compound, our gang continues their quest to reach London to do a journalistic story on the Rage virus.

What’s Good: This story just keeps trucking along, moving our gang from one tight spot to another.  It doesn’t let up for a second and is really compelling and tense to read.  In the last couple issues, we had seen our gang get apprehended by a US military science group that was set up to study the Rage virus and then escape, but not before the young boy traveling with them loses his life.

Now our gang is thrown right back into the frying pan after accidentally getting onto a train that is LOADED with the infected which leads to a classic comic book cliffhanger, “Yes, we can do that, but one of us will have to stay behind” – situation.  When you see a cliff-hanger like that in the X-Men, you just laugh it off and know that before any heroic sacrifices happen in next month’s issue, some other superpowered character will pop out of a time warp to save the day or it will turn out that the whole thing was a training exercise in the Danger Room.  That isn’t going to happen in 28 Days Later, so you know that something grim might happen next month.

28 Days Later #12 – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Declan Shalvey (artist), William Farmer (colors) & Ed Dukeshire (letters)

The Story: After getting captured by the U.S. military, our heroes must find a way to escape back into the “sanctuary” of a British countryside that is crawling with infected.

Since this is the first review I’ve done of this series, I would like to say a little more about the series in general.  Basically, if you like The Walking Dead, you’ll enjoy this series from Boom!.  Most comics based on licensed properties just stink, but this is an exception.  This series is set after the events of the movie, 28 Days Later, but you really needn’t have seen the movie to enjoy the comic.  I had never seen the film until I’d read issue #7 and it neither enhanced nor took away from my enjoyment of the comic.  If anything, I think I enjoy the comic more than the film.  It is enough to know that the island of Great Britain has been overrun by a populace infected with this rage virus that turns them into howling banshees (not really zombies, per se).  The comic follows Selina (the heroine of the movie) as she is enlisted by a journalist who wants to get into London to report on the disaster and the crap that happens to them along the way.

What’s Good: One thing that this series has done very well is make sure that you don’t think anyone is safe.  As compared to when you see Spider-Man supposedly killed, even if you can’t figure a way that it didn’t really happen, you have an expectation that the secret will be revealed in the next issue and Spidey will be okay.  Not in this series!  Just about anyone could die at any time and in this issue the creators drive that point home by killing off the youngest member of the band in a pretty ghastly way.  I’ll give them major kudos for being willing to do what is necessary to keep the readers on their toes.

I also like that by the end of this issue, the heroes are out of the military encampment and back out into the wilderness.  I hate to keep comparing this to The Walking Dead, but that series has used very well this bouncing back and forth between safe/not-safe……except that when you’re safe from the infected, you’re now locked up with the humans and that might not be an improvement in your condition.

The art in this series is typically strong and this issue is no exception.  Shalvey does art that is perfect for a series like this: no gaudy double-page spreads, just panel-by-panel effective story-telling.