Zombies: A Record of the Year Infection

Zombies are a pet fancy of mine (did I just say that? I think I did), and so in my quest for all things zombie, I run across items just outside the mainstream. Zombie fandom, I think, is like the punk rock of horror, though I could totally be mistaken about that. It makes sense in this context, though: people into zombies tend to go to drastic lengths to get their love of the undead out of their systems.

To hell with mohawks; mohawks haven't been punk rock since 1978. Try walking around Sunset Blvd holding a rare steak, with fake blood pouring down the front of your shirt, just for SNGs. That's something people actually do (see zombie walks.

Another thing people do is create art and fiction to illustrate a love for the walking dead. Some of it hits the bestseller lists - see Max Brooks - but most of it does not. But the DIY spirit of the whole thing is commendable, and when I find something that's different, if not *gasp* good, then I get the same kind of rush I got in high school, when I picked up a band no one else had heard of.

So, I present Zombies: A Record of the Year Infection. I found out about it over at io9.com, so I'm not exactly the Hernando De Soto of zombie swag, but this is pretty low-profile. Here's some more info:

ombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, actually written by Don Roff and illustrated by Chris Lane, purports to be the account of Dr. Robert Twombly, a physician who was working in a hospital during the first wave of the zombie outbreak. In addition to chronicling his weeks of improbably survival, Twombly also tries to understand the zombies, keeping careful records of their decay, behavior, and abilities, while trying to figure out what caused the outbreak in the first place.

A Diary of the Zombie Outbreak

Last Blood: Graphic Novel

Last Blood is a B&W graphic novel about the zombie apocalypse. Hold on. It's also about vampires protecting the last of the humans from said other undead menace, and it's free online. The team working on it also uploads a new page every Saturday, so once you catch up, it won't take much effort to stay afloat with it. It seemed to have started in 2006, so you do the math.

The first scene involves a zombie breaking through his watery grave and attacking some bikini-clad girls on the beach, and then it cuts to a time later to fill in backstory. It's not bad, and it's free, so I can't complain too much. Zombies are my faves, obviously, and even adding vampires into the mix doesn't really bum me out THAT much.

The author, Bobby Crosby, also includes commentary below each page - at least I think that's who provides the commentary - but if you don't scroll down, you don't really see it, so it doesn't really matter. 'Last Blood' Definitely has a 'Walking Dead' vibe to it, but it's earnest and sort of in the DIY low-budget spirit, so I thought I would include it on the blog. Enjoy.