By: Chris Roberson (writer), Michael Allred (artist), Laura Allred (colors), Todd Klein (letters), Gregory Lockard (assistant editor) & Shelly Bond (editor)
The Story: Will Xitalu eat the world or Gwen find a way to stop him/it?
A few things: 1). A pretty good ending, considering. - I know we should only grade these comics on their actual merits (i.e. what’s on the page) because in time, no one will care that this series probably ended a little prematurely due to Roberson’s (kinda messy) departure from DC and lackluster sales. If you go back 5-6 issues, there was nothing about the story that screamed, “The end is nigh!”. So, it was a little worrying to see the end announced so soon and wonder how Roberson and the Allreds would wrap things up neatly.
Given those conditions, this is a pretty solid ending. Not a “great” ending, but very good. This story was really about Gwen and she gets to complete her story arc. The way she ends things makes sense given what we know of her character. And the people of the universe get to trade that nasty, tentacled Xitalu monster for a hot, naked cosmic being. That’s an upgrade to any pantheon!
2). Typically strong art. - While the story in this series has wavered here and there, the Allred’s haven’t had a weak issue. And, the story fits their art to a T. If you could identify one weakness in their art, it would be in how they draw men. Their guys just look a little too soft to be manly men; I’m not sure Allred would be right on The Punisher. But, there aren’t any manly men in this series….so problem solved. All the remaining characters are right in their wheelhouses. Mike Allred draws such attractive women that you almost wish his art could come to life.
And let’s also give a big cheer to Eisner-winner Laura Allred. She really shows her stuff in this issue. There are so many wonderful colors in this issue. Some of them I’ve remarked on before: the wonderful green Oregon hoodie + RED hair on the vampire or the awesome lilac-ish color that she uses for Gwen’s skin. It’s like every color is well considered to either blend in nicely or POP off the page. Plus, these colors are mostly flat and that lack of shading gives them a million times more power. Kudos Ms. Allred!
3). Too many characters. - The only downside to this issue is the same thing that plagued the series: Too many characters. This is what makes me fairly certain that Roberson thought he’d have ~50 issues for this series. I just can’t fathom that a quality writer like him would have gotten out this many toys to play with if he’d known he had to have everything cleaned up by issue #28. As a result, the only characters who really have closure are Galatea and John Amon. A few other characters get a sentence or two, but most of the others are kinda neglected. Even a character like Diogenes – who merited an entire done-in-one origin issue last year – doesn’t get much closure.
4). Is the series worth it? - So you’re a person who hasn’t read a single page of I Zombie and you’re wondering: should I read it in trade or digitally? I think the answer to that is a qualified, “Yes”. It all depends on what else you’ve read and how much you need new reading material. I mean, if you haven’t read Y the Last Man or Planetary or Scalped or Preacher or Transmetropolitan or 100 Bullets or The Walking Dead…you should take care of those series first because they’re better than I Zombie. But, if you’ve gotten your card punched for those series and it’s between reading I Zombie or some random Green Lantern trade, don’t even hesitate. I Zombie is light-years better than most superhero comics. On the plus side, the art is stellar from start to finish. Even the few issues with guest artists were a real treat. The story was also unique. If anything, it suffered from being too ambitious and I’ll always be more accepting of a creator trying to do too much than a creator playing it safe. Roberson and the Allred’s didn’t play it safe at ALL in this series.
In hindsight, the series probably could’ve used a little more editing. Drop out the Dead Presidents who were cool characters, but ultimately didn’t matter than much to the story. Ditto for the phantom gunman. It could also do without the grandfather trapped in the chimpanzee and his search for love and the Spot/Gavin love story was probably unnecessary as well. Take that out, and you’ve got 30% more pages to devote to Gwen, Amon, the Fossors, the awesome vampire girls, Galatea and Ellie. That’s the core of your series right there. But, as I said….I’d rather a creator shoot for the moon and stumble than not really try.
Conclusion: A fairly satisfying conclusion to a pretty solid series. Given the circumstances of this series, this was probably the best we could hope for.
Grade: A-
- Dean Stell
Filed under: Vertigo Tagged: Chris Roberson, Dean Stell, Gregory Lockard, I Zombie, Laura Allred, Michael Allred, review, Shelly Bond, Todd Klein, Vertigo
