The Other Dead #1

The Other Dead #1 (of 5)

Writer/Co-creator: Joshua Orteca
Co-creator: Digger T. Mesch
Artist: Qing Ping Mui
Colorist: Blond
Letterer: Tom B. Long
Cover Artists: Reynir Hauksson (regular cover), Kevin Eastman and David Millgate with colors by Blond (variant cover), Dave Dorman (1:10 President Obama Variant Cover)

First off, the only reason I picked up this comic was the Dave Dorman variant cover. Dave is a really nice guy, a talented artist, and his cover for this issue hits on a lot of levels: cool, controversial and humorous.

Dave’s Obama cover is a 1 in 10 variant, so it’s a bit harder to find and the comic shop I went to had a higher price on it. That said, I forked out the money because I really wanted the issue with the Obama variant cover. It’s a nice discussion piece. You have the President of the United States of America getting ready to hold off a zombie apocalypse. President Obama is armed to the teeth with a Desert Eagle pistol, a G-36 Heckler & Koch assault rifle and what looks like a SPAS-12 shotgun slung over his shoulder. He’s got a face that screams “Don’t mess with me, I mean business.” Regardless of your politics, it’s a neat cover, unless of course you’re hardcore anti-gun and find the cover offensive. In that case, it’s still an excellent work that provokes discussion. Really, it’s hard to look at it and not feel something emotionally. In a piece of artwork, that’s what you really want, and Dave Dorman’s cover does just that.

Now on to the review.

The Other Dead #1 kicks off a familiar story. Something goes haywire and zombies start attacking people. However, The Other Dead takes some interesting steps that set it apart. The odd charters, detail oriented artwork, and adult nature of the comic all come together to give it its own, unique flavor. Though it probably isn’t for everyone.

The artwork is pretty good and has a lot of detail with good coloring. In the opening of the comic, there’s a scene with a deer and it’s pretty life like.

The story kicks off with a trio of hunters on a deer hunt. Dick Cheney shoots the brains out of a doe, and the hunters make some jokes about not getting a trophy out of this one. The artwork makes a point to show some a lot of gore, and before you know it, that deer is a crazy zombie deer bent on killing the ex-vice president. The story flashes over from there to what appear to be the primary characters for the story. There’s a kid named Tommy, his older brother Az, and Az’s girlfriend Justina. Tommy has some sort of medical issue, though the story doesn’t reveal exactly what it is. He has a hard time eating and is prone to vomiting. Due to the way his mother acts, it may be cancer or some sort of fatal illness. Either way, it adds to the dark tone of the story. Tommy’s older brother is in a goth band who is desperate for fame and fortune. This leads them to doing some animal sacrifices…cue more graphic artwork…and delves the story into an even darker place. Topping things off is Justina who is a stripper, and yes, the story decides to portray her job and all its graphicness, despite not showing any actual nudity. Thus the three main characters of the story all have some serious quirks to them.

But the tranquil beauty of the deer in the woods is quickly smashed by a bloody, violent death at the hands of a hunter. Notice the poor trigger safety in the middle panel. Ah, but the lifeless stair of the deer promises life after death. As you can see, it’s a gorey comic.

For a zombie story, the amount of zombies in this issue was kind of strange. There weren’t any human zombies. However, there were plenty of animal zombies: a deer, a gator, and some ducks. It’s actually kind of funny to type that out. Honestly, how cool does duck zombies sound? Yeah, not much. That said, the story really wasn’t that bad. It’s a slow start, but it’s interesting. Especially since the comic ends with the president receiving word of the incidents and deciding he needs to go there and be on the scene. I haven’t read much about this series, so I’m guessing the president is actually going to go to Louisiana, where the story takes place, and fight some zombies. It’s a little over the top, but it sounds like it might be fun. Whether the story goes there or not, I’m intrigued enough by this first issue to check out the next one and see where things go.

I give The Other Dead #1 a four out of five metal bikinis. Like Dave Dorman’s variant cover, it’s an intriguing issue and worth a look for zombie fans.

Reviewed By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.