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107th out of 173 books
—
31 voters
Zombies Calling
by
Faith Erin Hicks (Goodreads Author)
Joss' life sucks. She's in the middle of university exams and up to her neck in student loans. When she's attacked by zombies, her roommates have the nerve to think she's making it up. But when the zombies turn out to be terrifyingly real, only Joss knows how to survive the undead invasion: by following the Rules of Zombie Movies.
Paperback, 104 pages
Published
November 27th 2007
by SLG Publishing
(first published November 7th 2007)
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Shaun of the Dead meets Scott Pilgrim for girls. This one rocks.
Reason for Reading: I was writing my review for Hicks' latest book "Friends With Boys" when I realized I only had one more book by the author left to read, her first one. So I put in a library request right away.
As I've said before Hicks has a certain style for people. One of the main female characters looks just like the main character in "War at Ellesmere" and "Friends with Boys". The male figure looks just like one of her brothers in "Friends with Boys". Of course this gives her work a distin...more
As I've said before Hicks has a certain style for people. One of the main female characters looks just like the main character in "War at Ellesmere" and "Friends with Boys". The male figure looks just like one of her brothers in "Friends with Boys". Of course this gives her work a distin...more
Hicks crafts a delightful, silly little comic in which zombies rise up and come up against, Scream-style, an expert in zombie movies. Some thoughts:
* The shtick about the zombie rules is funny, but should have been a bit more played out. Two rules does not make a rule set.
* I would also have liked the movie they’re talking about at the beginning to be a real movie. At first it appears to be Return of the Living Dead, as the zombies are moaning “Brains!” and a character takes off her clothes. B...more
* The shtick about the zombie rules is funny, but should have been a bit more played out. Two rules does not make a rule set.
* I would also have liked the movie they’re talking about at the beginning to be a real movie. At first it appears to be Return of the Living Dead, as the zombies are moaning “Brains!” and a character takes off her clothes. B...more
Another delightful Faith Erin Hicks' graphic novel, and I think this one was her first (?). Much like "The Adventures of Superhero Girl," "Zombies Calling" takes a tongue-in-cheek look at a classic genre.
The protagonists are three college roommates: Joss, Sonnet, and Robyn (who is male). Joss has a self-processed love of all things British and zombie films. I enjoyed the "rules" which Joss created from her extensive knowledge of zombie films, but they did remind a bit of the rules from the movi...more
The protagonists are three college roommates: Joss, Sonnet, and Robyn (who is male). Joss has a self-processed love of all things British and zombie films. I enjoyed the "rules" which Joss created from her extensive knowledge of zombie films, but they did remind a bit of the rules from the movi...more
Joss is stressed over exams and her debt from student loans. She wishes she could just move to England and watch zombie movies all day. The stress of exams is no match for what she finds in the hall one day though. ZOMBIES! In the flesh, rotting flesh that is. Now Joss has to take her knowledge (from movies) of the walking dead and put it to the test. Can Joss's rules save her and her friends? Or will they all be zombie food?
This comic was ridiculous. Really it was pure entertainment. There was...more
This comic was ridiculous. Really it was pure entertainment. There was...more
The best way I can put this is that this is Scream in graphic novel form. Totally self-referencing, paying tribute to zombie movies by having the heroine be obsessed with zombie movies. As a far, she has all the "rules" of survival tucked away in her mental toolkit so when her college campus is suddenly overrun by drooling monosyllabic cretins, she knows just what to do. (That sound you hear, by the way, is the sound of a million obvious punchlines being made.) There are some mildly amusing mome...more
Zombies Calling is a quick, fun read. If you like zombies or zombie movies this book is for you. Not being a huge zombie fan, I think some of the niche humor was lost on me.
Hicks is a strong graphic artist. Her illustrations and layout are easy to follow and have a strong readability. Hicks' visuals redeemed her, just a bit, from an otherwise cliche, zombie-centric story.
There were a few jumps in the narration that felt random. This caused the story to stray a bit much for my liking. However, a...more
Hicks is a strong graphic artist. Her illustrations and layout are easy to follow and have a strong readability. Hicks' visuals redeemed her, just a bit, from an otherwise cliche, zombie-centric story.
There were a few jumps in the narration that felt random. This caused the story to stray a bit much for my liking. However, a...more
Eh. I agree with Tim that this zombie movie spoof is a decent way to spend ten minutes. But I didn't really like the drawing style very much. Also, this zombie plague takes place on a university campus, and I was disappointed that all the zombies look exactly the same--like old men with boils. It seems like a waste of the potential for hilarious college kid zombies in belly shirts or whatever.
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Basically a Canadian hybrid of Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead. This was hilarious all around, and gave me the much needed zombie fix while waiting for the next Walking Dead TPB release.
**spoilers ahead**
Loved all the rules, and Canadian references. I especially enjoyed the stab at fast-zombies, which was a complete geek-forum moment, and a comment that I wholeheartedly agreed with. :D
The ending was sweet, but a bit anticlimactic. I guess I was hoping for this to continue on as a series, but t...more
**spoilers ahead**
Loved all the rules, and Canadian references. I especially enjoyed the stab at fast-zombies, which was a complete geek-forum moment, and a comment that I wholeheartedly agreed with. :D
The ending was sweet, but a bit anticlimactic. I guess I was hoping for this to continue on as a series, but t...more
After reading The War At Ellsmere, by Faith Erin Hicks, I was eagerly anticipating diving into this graphic novel. But, it was not quite what I was expecting. I am not sure what I wanted, but I feel I did not get it with this book. It was well written, and the illustrations are amazing. The joke of comparing university life to being a zombie and stuck in a zombie film was charming at first but wore thin. I really liked the three main characters and hope Faith returns to them in a future volume,...more
I bought this as an addition to this year's All Hallows Read offerings, and didn't know much about it until I started reading. The setting is London University in Ontario, and the heroine, Joss, has a "British thing." London ON, a trip to England, British slang, Joss's Union Jack tank top, and nods to British zombie films... it became obvious to me that the title is a nod to British punk band The Clash and their album/song, London Calling. Very clever, Ms. Hicks. The story is amusing, with nods...more
This was an adorable, funny, and surprisingly dramatic zombie movie parody. To my surprise, at some point it also turned into a character-centric meditation on how how being an ordinary college student is actually scarier than any zombie attack.
A couple plot things could have been tweaked (one of the characters, Robyn, seemed to spend a lot of time standing around while the other two talked, and the ending was slightly cheesy), but I thought the pacing was excellent, which conceals many sins whe...more
A couple plot things could have been tweaked (one of the characters, Robyn, seemed to spend a lot of time standing around while the other two talked, and the ending was slightly cheesy), but I thought the pacing was excellent, which conceals many sins whe...more
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I really enjoyed The War at Ellsmere, and I LOVE zombies (ew, no, not in that way!)so I thought I'd love Zombies Calling. I was disappointed--the characters weren't very well developed, the dialogue had a sitcom feel, the zombies weren't scary, and the ending was anti-climactic. I did think the reason behind the zombie outbreak was pretty funny and unexpected. What the evil professor said about college students was hilarious (and sometimes true)! The artwork was good, and this is what kept me re...more
I have found a use for the graphic novels my daughter leaves around the kitchen, though I believe this one may be a choice of my Son-in-Law. The are a useful ten or fifteen minute read while my Grandson practices piano.
I must admit, this one was funny, and it had a few moments where I saw some of the College Student/Teenage Angst associated with big college loans, dying a virgin and surviving those first years of being semi on your own and away from home. The Canadian and Brit references, and S...more
I must admit, this one was funny, and it had a few moments where I saw some of the College Student/Teenage Angst associated with big college loans, dying a virgin and surviving those first years of being semi on your own and away from home. The Canadian and Brit references, and S...more
A greatly amusing tribute to the zombie apocalypse phenomenon, it brings into light what everyone in today's young generations tend to think about: will zombies destroy us all in the end, and are we ready for it? In an almost metaphoric way of shattering the fourth wall to dust Joss, Robyn and Sonnet live the exact moment, putting the Rules to play and going for a comedically epic assault against the undead.
Being a fan of Hicks' webcomic Demonology 101, I had high expectations for her first publ...more
Being a fan of Hicks' webcomic Demonology 101, I had high expectations for her first publ...more
Zombies Calling by Faith Erin Hicks is a humorous take on a potential zombie outbreak. By incorporating humor the usual story is transformed into something much more creative. I usually hate all things zombies, but I had no problem reading, and enjoying, this book. I admit, I thought the ending didn't quite match up with the general tone of the rest of the story and I thought that with so much emphasis on the "rules" of zombie movies that there would be more than three included, but with such a...more
I've been keeping up with Friends With Boys online, and I saw that she had an earlier book. With zombies! So, naturally, I was in.
The book follows some university students who see their entire campus become zombified. The lead girl in this is obsessed with zombie films, so she knows all the tricks to survive, of course, but things still end up being a little dicey.
The book is short, and there's not much to say other than it's enjoyable, and is a nice reminder that zombie fiction doesn't always h...more
The book follows some university students who see their entire campus become zombified. The lead girl in this is obsessed with zombie films, so she knows all the tricks to survive, of course, but things still end up being a little dicey.
The book is short, and there's not much to say other than it's enjoyable, and is a nice reminder that zombie fiction doesn't always h...more
I met the author and bought this book at TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival). Hicks is a fellow Joss Whedon fan, which I discovered when I asked about the main character's name (Joss) and the influence is clear. It's not Shakespeare, but it doesn't pretend to be, either. In fact, the story is kind of fourth wall break-y in general, which is entertaining.
This is a fun story and an easy read. The characters are great, the story is engaging, and, well, the zombies (which say things like "Greee!" an...more
This is a fun story and an easy read. The characters are great, the story is engaging, and, well, the zombies (which say things like "Greee!" an...more
Okay, I don't usually go for the make-scary-cute angle, but this was a fun little story where the zombie invasion is the allegory for wasting one's youth in college just because you're supposed to go. The best part of this, though, is the constant reference to The Rules of Zombie movies--a wink and a nudge at the genre's conventions (like Joss thinks, hey, this can't be a zombie uprising because nobody in a zombie uprising has ever seen a zombie movie and I've seen them all). Fun, but the seriou...more
I expected this book to be a lot better than it was, considering all of her online work. But she had more freedom to do what she wanted online, so I can understand. Still: 1. Tone seemed to change drastically about halfway through. 2. Some things I think were a bit beyond my understanding, perhaps because I haven't seen a lot of zombie movies. 3. Long speeches (news lady, evil guy) got skimmed. However, I love-love-loved the scene with Joss, Sonnet, and Robyn in the bedroom. And because it's a g...more
Zombies Calling started on the internet, where I first encountered it, and was rewritten and completed for print when Hicks got herself a publication deal. It should've stayed where it was. The artwork is engaging, but the story is practically nonexistent and the characters are two-dimensional with one quirk apiece slapped onto them in an attempt to make things interesting. There is a single joke that carries the whole plot and it was done better the first time around.
Still, her Demonology 101 w...more
Still, her Demonology 101 w...more
Zombies Calling is cute.
Things that are in comics and fiction by young authors all the time and are *usually* annoying - like, characters that are American but use lots of British slang terms, and characters with names that are ridiculous and trying to mark them as "cool" - are present here but with... explanation within the context of the story, that makes them more tolerable I guess.
Hick's drawing style is what I originally thought was impressive for someone's first work, but apparently she'...more
Things that are in comics and fiction by young authors all the time and are *usually* annoying - like, characters that are American but use lots of British slang terms, and characters with names that are ridiculous and trying to mark them as "cool" - are present here but with... explanation within the context of the story, that makes them more tolerable I guess.
Hick's drawing style is what I originally thought was impressive for someone's first work, but apparently she'...more
Silly little zombie comic by author Faith Erin Hicks (who also wrote the absolutely adorably wonderful War at Ellsmere, which... I'll have to review at some point).
It's not mind-blowing--one wishes that she'd done a bit more with the so-called Zombie Rules, and I'm not sure why all the zombies were men in wife-beaters and flood pants.
But overall, I'd say definitely well worth the twenty minutes it took to read. ;)
It's not mind-blowing--one wishes that she'd done a bit more with the so-called Zombie Rules, and I'm not sure why all the zombies were men in wife-beaters and flood pants.
But overall, I'd say definitely well worth the twenty minutes it took to read. ;)
Jan 15, 2010
Lindsey
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Earline
Recommended to Lindsey by:
boingboing
I think I saw this on boingboing, so I put it on my wist and John got it for me for Christmas. I'm pretty sure he got it because he thought it would be like Scott Pilgrim, which it totally is, only for girls... except it's not as funny as Scott Pilgrim. Not to say there aren't some laughs, there are but I was more like what? about the whole point. Which really kept getting hammered in. It was good though and had a cute ending so it's definitely worth a read.
2 stars.
Well that was underwhelming.
I guess I understand that it was supposed to be more humorous and a play off of zombie movies, but frankly I thought it was boring. The dialogue seemed kind of random to me and everything happened quickly and ended just as quickly. The characters weren't really interesting. I felt like we didn't learn enough about them to actually care what happened to them.
The book wasn't terrible. I just didn't see the point to it.
Well that was underwhelming.
I guess I understand that it was supposed to be more humorous and a play off of zombie movies, but frankly I thought it was boring. The dialogue seemed kind of random to me and everything happened quickly and ended just as quickly. The characters weren't really interesting. I felt like we didn't learn enough about them to actually care what happened to them.
The book wasn't terrible. I just didn't see the point to it.
Three sort-of-heroic college flatmates face both the undead and final exams, playing out familiar horror movie tropes. With an appropriately limited vocabulary (Yargh! Argh! Brains!), heavily outlined black-and-white drawings, and no ominous soundtrack, the zombie caricature is hilarious. A light and fun graphic novel, unless they're coming to eat your brains and you don't even have a spork.
The Shaun of the Dead of graphic novels. That's what I thought when reading this graphic novel. It's funny and smart, moves quickly, and the main characters miraculously survive by following the Rules of zombie movies. Even though only zombies die in this one, Joss is understandably upset by even their loss. After all, zombies were once humans, too.
The correlation between the mindless zombie-ness of university students and faculty these days and the actual zombie-ness of the, well, zombies, was...more
The correlation between the mindless zombie-ness of university students and faculty these days and the actual zombie-ness of the, well, zombies, was...more
I discovered Faith Erin Hicks on the internet, where I read her fantastic graphic novel, "Demonology 101" compared to that, Zombies calling was somewhat disappointing. I really enjoy her art, and will continue to find her work, but the story was straight out of Buffy -- fun and lite, more than a little silly. I do recommend her as a graphic novelist to watch for, and you can still read Demonology 101 on line. It has a really engaging and complex mature story.
Faith Erin Hicks, Zombies Calling (SLG Publishing, 2007)
Amusing one-off that does something that's always seemed obvious to me-- have the protagonist of your zombie story be a fan of zombie stories. I mean, isn't it obvious that the people best equipped to survive are those who know how to handle zombies? In any case, the story takes place on a college campus, where a British-obsessed zombie fan and her two friends seem to do little more than sit around, watch TV, and talk. Until, that is, zombi...more
Amusing one-off that does something that's always seemed obvious to me-- have the protagonist of your zombie story be a fan of zombie stories. I mean, isn't it obvious that the people best equipped to survive are those who know how to handle zombies? In any case, the story takes place on a college campus, where a British-obsessed zombie fan and her two friends seem to do little more than sit around, watch TV, and talk. Until, that is, zombi...more
Lots of fun and somewhat smart, this was an entertaining and fast read. My biggest quibble is that the character designs are pretty much exactly the same as Hicks' webcomic Demonology 101 to the point that I recognized Raven as Sonnet without even knowing they shared a creator.
But I loved the Joss Whedon references and will be looking forward to her other stuff.
But I loved the Joss Whedon references and will be looking forward to her other stuff.
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Born in the wilds of British Columbia, the young Faith frolicked among the Sasquatch native to the province before moving to Ontario at age five. There she was homeschooled with her three brothers, and developed an unnatural passion for galloping around on horseback, though never without a proper helmet (because you only get one skull). After twenty years of suffering through Ontario’s obscenely h...more
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