Incorporating zombies and aliens AND politics, I think it’s safe to say that there’s a lot going on in this IDW miniseries.
Written by Chris Ryall
Illustrated by Drew MossIn this all-new miniseries, a spaceship crashes into a separatist camp and manages to reanimate the dead as well! It’s aliens vs. zombies vs. militiamen in a carnage-filled tale from the co-creator of Zombies vs Robots! And if that ain’t enough, covers for this series will be by acclaimed Cerebus creator, Dave Sim!
There’s something weird going on in the town of Carbon Falls, Montana, and it’s not only because a spaceship full of aliens is trying to land on it. After an incident with a tractor beam, they discover zombies in the town – a fact which is surprising to alien and townsman alike.
But while this is the issue in a nutshell, not much time is spent on these plot points; the majority of the issue is used up delivering background information. Ryall manages all the data by packing a lot of dialogue into each panel, making for an info-dump of a first issue that also reads pretty slowly. Maybe it’s no surprise to find that a comic featuring both zombies AND aliens would feel a bit overstuffed, but rather than the concept itself being the problem, what really feels de trop here is all the exposition regarding the town and its residents and their politics.
Eavesdropping on a few conversations over the course of one night, we learn all about townsman Huxley Robertson’s current situation: his father, mayor of Carbon Falls, has just died, and now Hux suspects it’s his turn to take charge of the place. Only he worries about he and his father’s recent collaboration in terms of getting the town to “go green” (hence its name), and whether the local militiamen will take kindly to continued efforts in that direction. In other words, a dramatic double event like aliens and zombies cropping up in the same night is definitely not what he needs.
Like I said, it’s a lot of political background, and it’s delivered all in one swoop, with most of the alien and zombie content coming in at the very beginning and very end of the issue. It would take a lot less talk and a lot more action for this issue to earn the “carnage-filled” label that’s up there in the solicit, and while the scenario is both novel and promising we don’t see it fully exploited here. At heart, there’s a problem with pacing: a talky issue like this might have worked if it were, say, the third chapter rather than the first, but as things stand, we learn all about Hux and his ideals without really getting any reason to care about them. The opposite is true of the aliens and zombies: we want to know what their deal is, but we aren’t given the hints in that direction that would drive the story forward and keep interest levels high.
Drew Moss’s art, meanwhile, is quite lovely, melding a generalized 1950s mood with a sleek and modern feel. His characterizations are particularly good, recognizable and expressive, and where the writing leaves off in terms of making us care about Hux, Moss’s art picks up the slack and presents a sympathetic character. As for the more unusual beings, Moss’s aliens are appreciably workman-like, very much getting across an air of not wanting to be here; and while they do look like your archetypical Greys, their bulky spacesuits and weary poses give them a lot of personality. Finally, while we only get one zombie in this issue, a pitchforky moment toward the end demonstrates that Moss can do gory-fun panels beautifully as well.
Meanwhile, Jay Fotos’ colouring job is about what you’d expect in that it incorporates all kinds of luminous turquoises and greens. But it’s nicely offset by some warmer tones, while still keeping to a limited and distinctly retro spectrum, and there are some great oranges going on here.
Overall, this is a particularly good-looking comic, and it’s a shame that the writing doesn’t quite do it justice. Of course, things could pick up next issue – sometimes you need the initial info-dump in order to craft an engaging, complicated story – but as things stand, it’s all a bit thin. Here’s hoping the execution soon catches up to the concept.
Final Verdict: 6.5 – Browse
