’68: Jungle Jim #2 Review


Part two of the four part ’68: Jungle Jim series hits the ground running and keeps pace with last month’s issue. Here we get more insight into the French Catholic mission camp plus a new take on man vs. beast vs. zombies.

Official description from IMAGE:

The skies over Vietnam rain liquid fire as Brian Curliss, AKA Jungle Jim continues his epic quest to find the rotting, undead remains of Sergeant Jim Asher.

Brian Curliss is trapped in hell and uses every ounce of his being to save others through a zombie plague and now the remaining cache of napalm the US military needs to dispose of prior to bugging out of Cambodia. A small child clings to Jungle Jim who is surprising wide-eyed and curious despite being constantly under attack from all sides by war and the zombie apocalypse. Curliss has the heart of a warrior and the patience of an angel. The Salut Glen mission is under full-blown zombie attack and more details are revealed as to their struggles and complications within and outside it’s walls.

Writer Mark Kidwell is in all out survival mode this issue with Curliss and the French mission. His take on zombies in 1968 is unique and thought provoking even as it’s chaotic and bloody. He throws another wrench into the mix with the threat of the wildlife living in the jungle and how it will adapt to man both living and dead versions. It’s another visionary look of the zombie mythos.

Jeff Zornow’s art is fantastic here. It’s fluid and explosive with action and detail. The gore the horrors of death bring about are both disgusting and eye-catching in Zornow’s hands. The final panels of Jungle Jim and the tiger battling and lashing into the rotting flesh of zombies are gloriously brutal and one of the things comic books are best at capturing.

Initially I was a little less than thrilled by the Vietnam war backdrop but that all changed after the first page of issue one. This isn’t simply a war comic, it’s not simply a zombie comic, it’s a mashup of action and horror that is great fun and visually arresting. Any comic fan, regardless of you genre preferences, will enjoy this book. ’68: Jungle Jim is a great story with great art. What else could a fan need?

4/5

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