‘Key of Z’ Review: Escape From Zombie-Infested New York

Zombies are super hot right now, thanks to Robert Kirkman’s “The Walking Dead,” which has struck TV gold on AMC and created a horde of new comic book fans.

Like many comic book companies, Boom! Studios have decided to get in on the action as well.

But unlike the myriad of imitations,the first issue of Claudio Sanchez and Chondra Echert’s zombie-inspired series, “Key of Z” doesn’t stink.

With some fantastic art, a cool story and interesting main character, the first issue of “Key of Z” will leave you wanting more.

As always the case with any good story containing zombies, the people in peril take precedent. Sanchez and Echert have done a more than solid job making this zombie apocalypse relatable and terrifying. The characters are polished and aren’t capable of being stereotyped. The action is fast-paced and the plot is full of surprises.

To go from opening up Christmas gifts to watching a zombified Santa chew out a pedestrians neck may seem ludicrous, but it sets the scene for the larger story quite well.

Above all else, “Key of Z” is a solid narrative that is only going to pick up more steam once more ideas and characters are introduced.

New York is infested with zombies and two gangs, each of which station themselves in one of the city’s major league baseball stadiums and share their names, are out to carve up the city in the way they see fit. After he loses his family in the epidemic, Ewing has ideas of his own. With a Kurt Russell “Escape from New York” look and tough and nails demeanor, this character is going to be a heck of fun to watch develop.

That, combined with gruesome and colorful art from Aaron Kuder, which mixes a graffiti-inspired palate with a variety of panel sizes to maximize the peril and quick pace the story induces, makes for a great read. When this is all combined, you have a fresh series that is anything but a play on a monster trend.

In the end, this is an undead series with plenty of life left in it.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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