Written by Jean-Paul Bonjour, Jeff Roenning
Illustrated by Robert LoveIt’s 1984, and Judith is your typical 17 year old. She chain smokes, cuts class, sells her tampons to perverts, and she just might be the last sane woman left on the planet. When a third-rate cosmetics company creates a pheromone that turns women into crazed man-eaters, the world dives into chaos. Judith must break her little brother out of juvie, all the while dodging rabid women and the men who hunt them. Already a proven survivor, she picks up some interesting strays along the way and kicks some serious zombie ass! Judith is Alpha Girl!
Zombies! Everyone loves Zombies. Image is banking on that with their new title Alpha Girl. Part zombie flick, part Buffy, all horror, it could either go really well, or really poorly. So, how did it fair?
The answers lie beyond the jump!
Ever since The Walking Dead really hit televisions and became a mainstream hit, it seems there has been a resurgence of horror themed books hitting comic book shelves. From Dark Horse’s The Strain to Red 5’s Dead or Alive. Image takes it a step further with an homage to zombie b-flicks called Alpha Girl.
Alpha Girl was a book I wasn’t expecting to enjoy, in all honesty. The book seemed like it would be a generic gore-fest, and that’s not really my cup of tea.
Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. The book, while not being original in many ways, succeeds in the most important aspect of a book in this genre; it’s a lot of fun. Everything about the book, aside from a few choice moments, is told with tongue placed firmly in cheek, and that’s to the benefit of the story. Everything is over the top, from the plot to the characters.
Judith herself is an interesting character. Wry and sarcastic, as aloof as she is punk rock; she seems to be the last person to fight off the hordes of (female) zombies bent on mankind’s destruction, but here we are. Her home life is mostly in focus in this issue, providing a character backstory for exactly why she’s the person she is and her connection to her brother, who will be a focus of the story later on.
If there is one complaint I have about the characters so early on, it’s the fact her brother has to have such a…dark…backstory. It’s a bit disturbing to have been put in a story so early on, even if such stories aren’t as, let’s say, prevalent for male characters to have endured such abuse in their lifetime. Although being “pretty” should never be a reason for abuse, male or female.
You might have noticed I’m talking about a lot of backstory being covered in this issue, and you’d be right. That’s another problem within the book itself. There is so much backstory; it’s only teasing what’s going to go on in the rest of the arc, if not the entire series. The zombies don’t show up until the end of the issue itself! While the book is indeed enjoyable, it could have been better if there were more meat and less appetizer.
Some of the best parts of the book, however, are the villains. Described not as some conniving scientists or evil masterminds, they find themselves described by Judith our narrator as “Assholes from a Third Rate Cosmetics Company.” While that is at its heart dismissive and always insulting, that’s’ exactly what they are. They’re not evil, and they’re not idiots either. They’re simply selfish and driven people who are driven to the do the wrong things for their own benefit, without realizing how their actions will affect the world. It could be used as an allegory for the world as a whole where people screw over others because of their short-sightedness or greed. While they are AWFUL people, they’re not EVIL. There’s an important distinction.
With regards to the art from Robert Love, it’s likely some of the best art I’ve seen in a “horror” book. I say that because instead of trying too hard to be creepy or gory, Love’s art has an aura of Rob Guillory’s pencils over at Chew. The art is no less gorgeous than Guillory’s; and the decision for such cartoonish art adds to the story and gives it a real cheesy horror movies much like the movie Slither did a few years back. Gruesome? Yes. Something that will give you nightmares? Not at all, unless zombie boobs scare you THAT much.
To put it plainly, this book is silly. But it’s silly in the best way possible. If you like zombies or b-flicks, it’s definitely worth a perusal. Just don’t take it too seriously. But if you like zombies and b-flicks, why would you?
Final Verdict: 7.0 – Buy
