There’s nothing particularly bad about Fred Van Lente and Kev Walker’s “Marvel Zombies 4,†it just doesn’t provide the same combination of laughter and gore that Robert Kirkman and company made a quintessential element in the first two editions of the series. Feeling more like a ’80s made for TV drama than Kirkman’s carnival, the end result is an uneven tale that fails to draw the reader completely in.
Not even the severed, yet still yammering head of Deadpool can completely get this one out of its own grave.
Seeing Michael Morbius, the living vampire and his three “monster†friends, Jack “Werewolf by Night†Russell, Jennifer “The Witch†Kale and the Son of Satan, Daimon Hellstrom battle hordes of infected flesh-eaters is originally whimsical and ironic and seemingly fits very close with what the motif of the series has been all along, giving the reader the impression that “Marvel Zombies 4” will indeed be an interesting and gory tale. Nevertheless, by starting each issue with each member of the team sharing their final thoughts in a video will of sorts, the reader can’t help but feel that this is something completely different than what they signed up for.
On the bright side, at first, it’s something intriguing and you actually end up caring about these characters. However, you never care about them enough to make the drama truly something different. Soon after, the appearance of characters such as Deadpool, Simon Garth [whose first appearance is also collected in this trade, adding to the overall value of this trade tremendously] and the Hood add more comedic elements to the tale, making the tale a bit more lighthearted and gives the tale a bit more depth and polish. However, none of these characters alone save things and fail to do more than induce a few smirks, making the piece fail to both captivate through drama or laughter, making you question exactly what it was supposed to make you feel in the first place.
Luckily, the art of Walker is a treasure to behold, as the trade is laced with splash pages and colorful action scenes that will have you googling this rest of his work like an obsessed fan boy. Rich in color, detail and emotion, Walker uses the entire spectrum of colors in this trade and helps push this mediocre story to a level of respectability that comes with being associated the Marvel name.
That’s not to say that Van Lente’s story is a horrible one, it’s just supremely outclassed by the artistry by Walker.
Because of this, only true Zombie fanatics will get a real rush out of this poorly executed ode to monster flicks and George Romero, while other comic book fans will remember Walker’s art as something incredibly special and essentially, the sole reason to pick up this trade.
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