Zombie Tales: Death Valley #2

You can’t walk into a comic book store these days with out bumping into a zombie. Legions of the rotting undead litter the comic book shelves like the aftermath of a horrible B-movie apocalypse. Every publisher has jumped on the bandwagon of these flesh-eating creatures and BOOM! Studios cuts through the pack with machete in hand on Zombie Tales: Death Valley.

With story by Andrew Cosby and script by Johanna Stokes, Zombie Tales: Death Valley takes a look at a group of teens and twenty-something’s in Los Angeles as they deal with the aftermath of the dead rising from their graves and spreading an infection that makes people crave flesh and brains.

If you think you’ve read this one before then you’re right... and wrong. What sounds like a typical zombie story is peppered with hints of some of the most popular television shows on today. Andrew Cosby and Johanna Stokes mix equal parts action, horror, drama, and teen angst in a very fast paced tale. Andrew himself, while new to comics, is no stranger to story telling, having written for the very under-rated UPN show Haunted. Together they manage to take an ensemble cast and balance story and characterization quite well. So well in fact that I was able to read #2 before I had the chance to read #1 and still understood enough to enjoy the story. It might sound strange but that’s the mark of a good writer when it comes to comics.

Art chores were deftly handled by Rhoald Marcellus. It has that ‘hip’ Manga feel to it that’s all the rage with the kids today without being so over powering as to take away from the over all story telling. No crazy speed lines or giant eyes and mouths as the characters become excited or slaughter the undead. Together with Cosby and Stokes, Marcellus makes this a very easy and entertaining story to follow.

While only a two issue run, BOOM! Studios certainly leaves Zombie Tales: Death Valley open ended for future stories. Keep that in mind the next time you enter your comic book store. You just never know when another zombie may bite you.

Reviewer: Ian Ascher

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Ian Ascher is a freelance Writer/Creator -- Any publishers that would like Ian Ascher to do a review, please feel free to contact him or you can contact Ed Dukeshire on the contact page.

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