Zombie Highway ( Digital Webbing – Pell / Romera / Laur)
This is another one of the books I picked up at WWC. It comes in the form of a Zombie Highway (ZH) one-shot called “Directionless” and first issue of an arc called “Back in Blue”.
Zombie Highway: Directionless “A lovesick man sets upon the road to find his ex-girlfriend in the middle of the Zombie Highway universe. Does he make it to his true love? Or does he meet a most gruesome end? With five completely different endings, it’s entirely up to you! (Diamond Code JUN073490)”
This was an interesting book, to say the least. Remember the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books from the 80’s? Well, the ZH guys took that concept and ran with it in this one-shot zombie survival story.
I didn’t quite get the concept at first, it took me by surprise. I clued in as soon as the turned to page six and didn’t get what was going on. As soon as I got it, it was tons of fun. I even went back to the old trick of keeping my fingers in pages that I had to make decisions. The other piece was that the story and art were all really good! I actually cared if our main character would complete his personal mission, and more over I felt bad for the guy if I made a bad decision and he got eaten. Overall it was great fun.
Grade: B+
Zombie Highway: Back in Blue
” When a zombie terrorizes Tag, the gang realizes that even at a forgotten rest-stop, there is no rest for the wicked. Maybe they’ll have a more relaxing time camping out under the stars. Unless a scary tale turns out to be truer than anyone imagined!”
No “Choose Your Own Adventure” here, just a good zombie book. This book finds the same group of guys our hero from “Directionless” came across as they make their way across the country avoiding zombies and having a good time in the process. The book is actually a set of two mini stories that follow our heroes chronologically. The first story “Back In Blue” was a great full color side story set in at a small rest stop in the middle of nowhere. Our heroes do what everyone does at a rest stop, they hit the bathroom and the vending machines. Action and hilarity ensue.
The second story titled “The Man With His Head In His Mouth” I found to be less enjoyable. Pell’s writing is still solid, but the art makes this ten page story seem like something out of a 1960’s Mad Magazine. I don’t think it is consistent with the style and overall feel with the rest of the Zombie Highway books I’ve read (all two of them). The artistic style certainly has it’s place, I just don’t think it’s in this zombie book.
Grade: B
