Revival #1: Not Your Typical Zombie Story

Revival #1
Writer: Tim Seeley
Art: Mike Norton
Cover: Jenny Frison
July 11, 2012
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Props to this issue for a couple reasons: strong female characters, unique beginning, and awesome, cringeworthy art. 

I really loved the very beginning of the comic, with the excerpt from a Creative Writing assignment.  The lettering over yellow, school-lined paper was an excellent technique.  Initially, I thought the whole comic was going to be written as if it were a journal but when it turned out to be a creative piece by one of the characters, it was even better. 

The character of Dana Cypress is particularly intriguing.  She is a single mother (we think) to a young boy, a police officer with aspirations to be detective, daughter of the police chief but not his favorite (talk about daddy issues), a protective sister, and totally bad ass. 

Speaking of totally bad ass, the art is really well done in this issue.  This is not "streaks of red everywhere" gore, this is "I see guts through skin" gore.  Definitely not a comic for squeamish viewers. 

My only critique, besides its use of the "avoidance technique," as Louis Falcetti over at Bleeding Cool calls it, is the overuse of small-town cliches and aphorisms.  At first, its just quirky and it makes the small-town setting believable.  After a while though, it becomes irritating and overdone, like a fake Southern accent on a bad actor.  However, this is only the first issue, so hopefully the language evens out a little as the series continues.

I look forward to finding out what happens in the next issue--we're definitely left on a cliffhanger.  I won't reveal anything about the "zombies," but I will say, they're not what you expect.  Think Revelations.  And read the comic.