Deadworld Omnibus, Vol. 1

Deadworld

by Gary Reed, Mike Raicht, Vince Locke

Here's your opportunity to get all of the recent Deadworld series together in one volume! Starting with the reboot of Deadworld in "Requiem for the World," which ran for six issues from Desperado and Image Comics, and continuing into Deadworld: Frozen Over, which moves the desperate battle for survival to a storm-ladened New York City. Bringing fans up-to-date is the complete Deadworld: Slaughterhouse story, previously available only in hardcover, that reveals that zombies aren't the only menace in the world plagued by a supernatural holocaust.

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Zombies

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 18, 2011

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Gary Reed was a prolific comic book writer and publisher. He was formerly the publisher of Caliber Comics and Vice President of McFarlane Toys.

Also wrote under assumed names (including Brent Truax, Kyle Garrett, Randall Thayer).

Reviews

[Jeff Jellets · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inconsistent art keeps this zombie tale from crawling to the very top of the graveyard.

Long before The Walking Dead, comic fans searching for a zombie story had DeadWorld. Debuting in 1987 (The Walking Dead didn’t hit stands until 2003) from independent publisher Caliber (later Desperado), DeadWorld managed quite a cult following despite the original series’ sporadic publishing schedule and limited distribution. The modern zombie craze, where the rotting dead equate with book, movie and television gold, made rebooting the fan favorite series a “no-brainer” and the 352-page DeadWorld Omnibus is a great place to dig back into the mythos whether you are a long-time fan or a more casual zombie aficionado.

The typical trappings for a world besieged by the reanimated dead are easily discernible: world apocalypse, dead come-to-life, now eating people, competing groups of survivors – check, check, check and check. More importantly, like The Walking Dead, DeadWorld features an ensemble cast of mostly likable (and relatable) survivors amidst a handful of really awful (but still living) villains (Dr. Enos Slaughter meet the Governor – I’m sure you’ll get along famously). But DeadWorld is far from a simple retread of Robert Kirkman (or even George Romero); in DeadWorld, the catalyst for reanimation is clearly occult, allowing for the introduction of a series of intelligent, supernatural antagonists (including the series’ hallmark character, the leather-jacketed, motorcycle-riding King Zombie) who like puppeteers direct the zombie horde toward a darker design than just a plague of the undead.

Writers Gary Reed and Mike Raicht use this distinction expertly, giving DeadWorld a distinctive feel and trauma, while at the same time being careful to avoid what could be an easy drift into B-movie camp. DeadWorld feels scary (and at times a bit sleazy), but the grittiness of the plot works and there’s plenty of cleverness, such as blanketing New York in blizzard during the zombie invasion, that keeps the series feeling fresh despite the glut of recent zombie stories currently swelling the horror genre. I have little criticism for the series’ plot other than that it could use a bit more room to breathe – quite a few good characters are shuffled on and off panel quickly and it’s a shame there isn’t more of commitment to DeadWorld the series. There’s plenty of fertile ground and character development that could have been explored -- stretching these first three stories by another ten or twenty pages would not have been out the question.

Unfortunately, where the series drops a bit of boat anchor is in the art. In the preface, Reed jokes a bit about the DeadWorld curse and the series’ inability to keep a regular artist, but it’s far from a laughing matter. The style differences between Locke and Talajic in the first arc of the omnibus are enormous – neither bad – but so jarring (like from Esher to Michelangelo) that it’s a bit of challenge to re-identify each of the main characters. It gets even worse in the last part of the book: “Slaughterhouse.” The heavy black designs of Sami Makkonen read like a muddy mess – in some panels, it’s almost impossible to distinguish the characters, shifts in scene and location, what’s going on in the action, or even the human beings from the zombies. Perhaps the original print of this material – in a graphic novel format – showcased this material better, but be prepared to squint your eyes and grit your teeth as you decipher the last third of the omnibus. It’s a shame because, while this chapter is critical to the overall DeadWorld story, the execution leaves the reader struggling to discern what is happening to whom.

The revitalization of DeadWorld is a bit of a missed opportunity. The plot is sharp enough to compete with some of the best work the zombie sub-genre has to offer and the writers give this world a voice all its own. The art, on the other hand, distracts rather than enhances the story and keeps this series a rung below where it should be.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume reboots the Deadworld series and basically starts from scratch, but at the same time it's a retelling of the same basic story we saw in the original comics. I didn't really see it as an improvement on the original series, but it wasn't bad either. I suppose I understand why this route was taken as the original series had been published over a very long period of time from a few different publishers and for a long time the issues were hard to find, so a reboot did make sense. I've read all of the original issues, so I would have been just as happy to see the story continue, but it is what it is. I'm more interested to see where things go from here once we start heading into truly new territory.

If you like the Walking Dead, you really should read Deadworld. Rather than a scientific plague, the Deadworld zombies are supernatural, which is interesting. Great zombie comic.

[Meran · Rating 5 out of 5]

How many different zombie reads can there be out there and be any different from those gone before? Not many, is my guess.

However, this one IS different! There are many 'shades' of zombies, apparently. I was pleased to see how the plot developed, very different and faster paced than Walking Dead (of which I am a fan)! Even funny in spots, I liked the book. Am looking for the others in the series.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got the bones of an interesting zombie story in 3 parts, but the 3rd part throws a lot out at once and seitches the art style to one that's really just impossible to follow at all.

[dogunderwater · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know anything about this title when I picked it up, but now I can't wait to find more. The omnibus collects three story arcs in the Deadworld reboot, a new take on a title that began in 1987. The black and white art brings a sense of urgency, but the heavy stylization of the later artists and the last of color makes it difficult to reorient yourself and make the characters somewhat hard to recognize -- a primer in the back would have made it easier. But all in all, the story is fast-paced and gripping, like a top-notch horror film from the mid-nighties. King Zombie is fearsome but still wears sunglasses and rides a motorcycle, so it retains a sense of fun in the first two books up until we meet our human villains. Would recommend to zombie aficionados - it's more magic than science but it uses that to its distinct advantage to standout in a crowded field of undead storylines.