George A. Romero's Empire of the Dead: Act Two

George Romero's Empire of the Dead #2

by George A. Romero, Dalibor Talajić (Illustrations)

It's zombies vs. vampires vs. an invading militia as the legendary George Romero unleashes the next chapter in his ferocious undead epic! Welcome back to a very different New York City, one that's sti ll standing - barely - years after a world-changing undead plague. Zombies are used for sport in the arena, and vampires rule the city! But now outside forces are knocking on Manhattan's walls, and death rains down from above! What is this new threat to NYC? And what's worse for the city's few remaining normal the roaming flesh-eaters who seem to be growing smarter every day...the ruling blood-suckers struggling to keep their grip on power...or the newly arrived Southern army, bent on pillaging the greatest city in the world?

GEORGE ROMERO'S EMPIRE OF THE ACT TWO 1-5

Genres: Comics, Zombies, Graphic Novels, Horror, Marvel, Vampires

112 pages, Paperback

First published March 10, 2015

About the author

George Andrew Romero was an American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse, beginning with Night of the Living Dead (1968). He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies."

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a letdown after the first volume. This seemed like the classic "middle" book, as it seemed more transitional than anything else. We still have zombies and vampires, and there are some political power plays being made as well. There's a strange subplot with this weird redneck militia, and I have no idea of their real agenda. Also, the zombies are continuing to evolve.

The art isn't bad, but seemed like a letdown after the Maleev art in the first volume.

Not bad, but not really good either. More like a necessary evil in order to set things up for the final, climactic volume.

[Edward Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the first one, this one was meant to be more intriguing and social than horror. The fight between Vampires vs. Zombies vs. Humans is coming to a climax and in this penultimate volume, the story is DOA

[Jack Herbert Christal Gattanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 out of 5 or maybe like 2.75 out of 5, I dont know star ratings. it's a bit generous of me to give it 3, but Im rounding up out of respect for the late GAR.

This actually works better. I realize now as a vampire story more than the "stinkers." And I can see Romero building more on his radicalized mythology from Martin now in some interesting ways (i.e., they are vampires but not how we typically think of their flaws that kill them). I almost wish he had done a series about that as, not so much as an afterthought, but the undead are given more of a supporting role here. Maybe by this point, understandably, the guy who created this kind of monster was kind of done with them in his 70s. But then... why write a Marvel comic book about them (and he turned down the Walking Dead, probably for good reason, so...)

There's a strong villain in the mayor, and he keeps things moving along well... but there's lots of clunky writing, Jo is one of those typical cute kid characters who almost make the undead... cuddly(?) And near the end of this volume, a whole new plot thread opens up involving the mayor (I guess?) hiding a conspiracy involving kidnapped children being taken on school buses... So, all in all, it is still entertaining, but certainly FAR from flawed. I also miss the Maleev artwork (the kind here is... serviceable, though not that horrific)

[Raúl San Martín Rodríguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy entretenida continuación del primer acto. Con muchos giros inesperados. Nadie tiene segura la vida, o la muerte; tensión, suspenso y crudeza de comienzo a fin. Excelente.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a series, only George A. Romero could write such a series.

[Buffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yall hear that? That's the sound of my screaming and asking who thought this was okay.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok expansion of the Romero zombie universe. The addition of vampires is just not doing it for me. I keep going back to humans being the bigger monsters.

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jk this is really dumb

[Kyle Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still ticking along. A little above average but I feel the whole series will live and die on the strength of Act Three.

[Jessica]

Some things improve while others get dumber. Mixed bag.

[Maxoel Costa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como no volume anterior, mostra uma NY pós apocalipse zumbi cujo prefeito faz parte de uma irmandade secreta de vampiros. Zumbis são usados como entretenimento em lutas de arena e alguns começam a evoluir.
Como o volume anterior, não é ruim, mas também não é bom. Nesse, dão destaque a uma milícia que não se sabe qual o objetivo e acrescentem um jogo político pelo controle da prefeitura. Nada que encha os olhos, infelizmente.

[Emmy Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I read this Graphic Novel with the intention of knowing the premise before the TV show comes out. I enjoyed it. Like I said about Act 1. I enjoy a good Zombie Genre. This was fun because they had blimps. Blimps suddenly made things a little post apocalyptic steam punk. That was a fun and new direction.

I'm not so sure about Jo, the little girl, who's family is the zombies. I'm not also so sure about the Zombie's having cognitive thought. But, it was a fast read, and it was fun. There is some fun plot points politic struggles. Meh I was entertained. Do i deeply care about the characters? Naw. But it was like a two series set. Nothing really dramatic happened. So it's whatever. But it was a good zombie ride through graphic novels. It's a graphic novel that's not the walking dead. I think it would make a cool show. It was a fun read.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the 2nd volume of this as much as the first. One thing that bothered me was the scenes all felt far too short. Perhaps it was wanting to cover many things in a short comic but it did feel like it was jumping all over the place a bit too much. Three pages on average a scene just didn't lead to much development. That said I did still enjoy it. I would have liked to have seen more with the intelligent zombies and their friend. This all feels like it's building towards something interesting. I heard that this may be turning into a tv series which may be a better way to tell this story. I feel like it could give it more of the development it needs. The ideas and the characters are there I think it's just not quite the right format.

[Mkittysamom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of plans start to failin Act 2. Ms Peach wants to take over NY with her Reb friends, and the Mayor has competition now for re-election. Also Vampires are becoming known.. From bites and stealing children. My fav zombie gets hurt and takes out Zanzibar, who was named after Paul's (the manager) father's death. Things are twisted and can't wait for Act 3!

I read Act 2 parts 1-5 23 pgs on ePub but I have no other choices on goodreads.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found the artwork in this act less engaging that in the first book, and the writing a bit patchier. Not a bad zombie/vampire saga, but doesn't quite live up to the promise of the first book (and I'm having trouble getting along with the idea of zombies basically hanging out and chatting, but maybe I need to suspend my disbelief a bit more with that).

[Mary Spears · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good! Surprisingly good.