Rapid Reviews - Mostly Zombie Edition

Zombie Tales from Boom! Studios: I don't like zombies. I don't like horror. In fact, the cover of this book screamed "YOU AREN'T GOING TO LIKE IT!" to me. I read it anyway, since they were kind enough to send it to me. And, amazingly, I really liked it. I didn't love it, but the stories were a nice selection, all complementing one another. There was an overall thread to them. And they were often very touching, very human stories despite the zombies. I'd say the two best stories were in the center of the book, "Daddy Smells Different" and "For Pete's Sake". Both stories have great artwork and a strong sense of drama. Altogether, not a bad package. If you actually like zombies, I recommend picking it up. And even if you don't like 'em, this one isn't bad. This should be out in stores tomorrow.

Johnny Public #9: Entering Bridgewater from Hula Cat Comics: They've sent me a couple of other books to try. Dope Fiends of the Zombie Cafe didn't do anything for me, but A Yearly Treat was intriguingly odd. This book is a mostly standalone issue of some sort of ongoing series that I'm actually tempted to read more of, now that I've read this one. A traveling salesman discovers horror while passing through a small town. This is enough of a taste to make me curious about the rest of the story. Good art, nice plotting... I wonder what happens next?

Drive from Frequency Press: No zombies in this one. A cab driver gets stuck in the middle of something big and makes all the wrong choices. This seemed too flow almost too naturally. Brian is just a dumb guy driving a cab. Maybe he wants to be a hero, who knows? But the results are grim, with too many people dying. Perhaps the message is that's what happens when you try for an adventure. Not a bad plot, and the story couldn't have ended any other way and made sense. Let's see... artwork isn't bad. A little too studied in spots, and some of the characters were too similar... they needed something to stand out from each other. I got a little confused about who was chasing who at some moments. Storytelling was pretty good though, and you have to admire that. Not the greatest book ever, but certainly worth checking out. I almost thought Larry Young must have published it, but no... he only wrote the introduction.