Revival #1: Christian's Opinion on Image's Other Zombie Comic

Revival #1
Writer: Tim Seeley
Art: Mike Norton
Cover: Jenny Frison
July 11, 2012
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It's probably bad luck to release a comic involving zombies on the same day as The Walking Dead #100, but this first issue from a new series by writer Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash) and artist Mike Norton does a good job of distinguishing itself from other zombie comics on the stands.

Courtney mentioned that she really liked the female characters in this book, and I've got to agree there. Dana Cypress is a likeable, interesting protagonist, and avoids many of the cliche's used to portray female law officers in comics, or most media for that matter. More comics need strong female characters like this.

I didn't mind the use of small town aphorisms or the incorporation of modern slang as much as Courtney did, but I did think it was a bit weird that they played the "avoidance" card for so long since it is pretty clear within the first few pages that what we are dealing with here are zombies. Even if they're not the rotting, shuffling, Romero-inspired walking corpses that we've gotten used to in the past decade, they're zombies--call them whatever floats your boat.

Like Courtney, I'm also looking forward to the next issue of this. Seeley is setting up an interesting premise with this book. I'm hoping that the constant reference to the Book of Revelations in this series is just a red herring, but if the strong characters in this issue continue to develop throughout the first major story arc, I might consider reading along just to see where Seeley and Norton take these characters.

A new series with an intriguing premise, strong characters, and a fresh take on the zombie comic, Revival is off to a good start. It's not the best debut this week, but still a good comic and definitely worth your $2.99.

Revival #1: Not Your Typical Zombie Story

Revival #1
Writer: Tim Seeley
Art: Mike Norton
Cover: Jenny Frison
July 11, 2012
Image

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.