'The Zombie: Simon Garth' – Kyle Hotz, Dan Brown (Marvel, MAX Imprint)

Well, the plan was to read 'Zombie' first but I did a little digging, on the blog, and found that I'd actually reviewed it already, albeit a couple of years ago. Look, it's been a funny couple of years, you'll understand that I can't remember everything; that's half the reason I'm blogging in the first place ;o) If you want to read that post, it's over Here, we'll wait until you get back...

You're back? Great :o) Like I said the other day, I've been waiting for a reasonably priced copy of this book for a long time now and when I finally found it... It didn't take long before I was deep into the next instalment of walking dead man Simon Garth...

On one side: An honest cop just living his life day by day and an innocent women lost high in the mountains. On the other: An ever growing horde of the flesh-starved undead, an angry husband and a murderous pair of mountain men. And the only person who can tip the balance is dead.

Will Simon Garth, the newly minted zombie, lose his mind and shuffle after the living in search of delicious brains? Or will the decaying monster become the hero that the living need if they're going to survive...?

Well, the answer is fairly obvious, even if you haven't read this book (and 'Zombie') already, but 'The Zombie: Simon Garth' is still a great read anyway, I love it and I've pretty much lost count of the number of times I've read it. Before you go picking it up though, be aware that this book features racism and sexual assault, fairly blatantly as well. Just so you know.

The plot is fairly simple (avoid the zombies!) but with a couple of twists that inject pace and urgency into proceedings at just the right time. Hotz clearly knows the limitations of zombies, in keeping things moving and isn't afraid to take things in a different direction if it will get results. Nine times out of ten, he nails it. This in part is down to Hotz having a couple of other tricks up his sleeve. More often than not, a zombie apocalypse is caused by stupid decisions and encouraged to thrive by evil; Hotz takes this approach to new levels with a town full of stupid and something dark lurking in the mountains, combining the two to make a zombie apocalypse that swamps everything that it comes into contact with.

In the middle of all this is Simon Garth. (presumably) dead but with enough of a spark for him not to be your average zombie. Far from it. Garth's actions are in stark contrast to his dead face which doesn't move at all. You can only imagine what's going on his head and that's what keeps our connection with Garth a strong one. You want to relate to the hero of the piece, even though he's dead.

Add Hotz' trademark artwork to this story (he loves drawing the kind of people that you hope you'll never come across in real life...) and you've got a book that just crackles with dark energy and is very hard to put down, even when you're on your umpteenth re-read. I'm not going to let this copy go, you should give it a go if you like your zombie comics less bloated and more vicious...