Fairytales are in part warnings. In the case of the Pied Piper it’s always pay your debts or face the consequences. When someone honors a commitment you must keep up your end of the bargain. The price a village pays is a loss of all their children. For Red Riding Hood it’s don’t stray from the path or else you and your grandmother will be consumed. In Snow White’s sanitized version, don’t take anything from strangers, or you may end up comatose in the middle of the woods. But what happens when the nightmare bit of the fairytale becomes reality, with no happily ever after? It’s 1912 and a young woman in pants is running for her life through the woods. Not usual attire for a young lady of the early 1900’s which means she’s an adventurer. Here men in robes are chasing her as she hopes those tales of men being turned into undead creatures.
Call of Duty: Zombies feels like those old-school movies, such as the Peter Cushing’s ‘The Mummy.’ With striking artwork from the cover you get a sense that things won’t end well. As we then flashback to 1910 in an exotic locale the artwork helps drive the story. You get the sense that people are in danger. The first panels that take place in England look strikingly different to Morocco. The claustrophobia of the woods is replaced by an oppressive desert. And tempers are also heated as two men are in the midst of a fistfight. But that isn’t the center of this narrative. Delacroix who’s hiding in the French Foreign Legion is offered an opportunity from Alistair Rhodes. Delacroix’s backstory could be a comic-book in itself. Still, he is only part of the puzzle here. Meanwhile Rhodes needs him.
The problem with people who are book smart always seem to seek out things they don’t understand. Rhodes is looking for knowledge that may lead to eternal life. However, as Delacroix suggests it may instead end up being a grave. There’s a reason artifacts that have been buried for centuries should not be used. Going through deciphering hieroglyphics, battling traps only to meet your own vicious end doesn’t seem to be a good time. Consequently, you need to stick with this comic-book. The fight scenes are well planned and we get to find out who the men in robes are. We also see that Rhodes knows enough of what he’s doing to keep himself from getting cursed. This can’t be a one-shot issue. There are too many questions left for ‘Call of Duty: Zombies.’ Considering the title, the opening panels alone reveal a considerable more than what this issue alludes to. What you will find is a solid, well written story from Justin Jordan with amazingly realistic artwork from a team of artists that will remind you of small paintings. Like a good Hammer film, with curses and perhaps no clear hero you’ll love it.
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