I gotta say that I was surprised by the first issue of War of the Dead. It threw the reader into a messed up world with humans fighting for survival against the un-dead. That sounds like a certain other zombie series, right? Thing here is that it feels like a regular zombie comic, but different at the same time. Here there is a zombie commander, or king. In movies there’s really no purpose for these things other than to eat brains and all that good stuff. But with a leader that can actually talk, it adds to the story and makes it different when you compare to other zombie comics and films out there. The second issue is another fantastic entry and shouldn’t be missed.

Here’s the official description from IDW:

The Lepers, with their dead and decaying flesh, brace themselves for the zombie onslaught. Rand, the leader, pushes for a confrontation soon as he knows the lepers are the only hope, and most of them are closer to death than they’d like to admit. Meanwhile, King Zombie reveals his sinister plan!

I recently saw this movie called Quarantine 2: Terminal not too long ago. While it was very good, one thing I’ve noticed with a lot of zombie stories is that the humans are constantly on the running side with little means of fighting back. If one caught you, so long pal. Here in Deadworld, we have people shooting them down and a girl with a sword chopping heads off. We didn’t get much of that here sadly, but I’m sure we’ll get more of it in the next two issues. The thing making this issue for me is the Zombie King. As I’ve stated before, I think it’s awesome to have a leader behind the scenes. It gives the story an antagonist as opposed to just having mindless zombies attacking until the last human. Another great part is the King’s plan. He doesn’t want to eliminate humans, he has a far more intriguing plan. The writing is pretty fantastic, and this is a weekly mini-series, so I wouldn’t expect top notch writing like this.

Another thing separating War of the Dead from other zombie comics is the stylized art. It makes the scenery and atmosphere all the more gritty, something a film adaptation just wouldn’t be able to capture. Art like this could be a miss, but this series wouldn’t be the same without it. While there is less action in this issue, we do learn some interesting new things. Easily the best part is with the Zombie King talking to Deake. We also learn that the zombies aren’t really the only threat to civilization. My favorite line was “For it wasn’t only the zombies that were eating people.” Kinda disturbing when you think about it for a second. When a zombie comic can have you a little disturbed with just  words, you know it has succeeded.

Overall, another great issue in this mini-series. War of the Dead is by far the greatest zombie story out there right now. Its atmosphere combined with great characters and gritty art makes this a must-buy. If its one mini-series you should be buying, it’s Deadworld: War of the Dead.

5/5