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October 2006
~ Based on a Story by John Russo ~
Script: Mike Wolfer
Art: Dheeraj Verma
Script/Art: Mike Wolfer
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John Russo’s name returns to the Living Dead saga, though for the first time in many years, in a positive way. The now complete mini-series, Escape Of The Living Dead, functions well as a sequel to the original Night Of The Living Dead by concentrating on straight up zombie action and minimal back story. The fact that the story was adapted by horror comics virtuoso Mike Wolfer certainly helps, as the story roars along at a breakneck pace and never relents. The audience knows what a zombie is and what they do, so let’s get right to the meat of the moment. With the addition of a government plot and a family team of mad scientists to continue the zombie infestation setting up the scenario, it’s time for the humans to attempt to survive.
Set in 1971, 3 years after the original zombie outbreak (and a sequence from Night Of The Living Dead is shown on television as a backdrop to clue us in to the reality of the original tale), we meet several characters out to mind their own business until the dead begin attacking again. First up we have a bartender that lost his parents in the original outbreak, only to find himself knee deep in zombie guts as he tries to protect his daughter who has returned home after several years away from him. Since he runs a bar, it is obvious that he will have a refuge that would attract some rather unsavory types. Enter the bad bikers that unwittingly set the zombie plague into motion in a quest to rip off a truck they hope is full of salable slag.
Nope, it’s full of death, and one particularly nasty hippie zombie who is seemingly unstoppable. Woops.
The characters rise and fall beneath the teeth of the zombies in fast fashion, but Wolfer and Russo wisely inject the bad humans element into the story which sets up perils all around for our final girl. Bikers want to use her, and the dead want her warm flesh. What is a girl to do? Grab a gun and dish out some undeath of course!
The artwork in the mini-series is very good, loaded with nasty panels of overkill gore that should please any zombie enthusiast. Dheeraj Verma carries the minimal story with style and keeps the pages active and lightning quick without sacrificing readability, and thankfully the giant splash pages are few and far between. Overall, very well done and worth a look for any horror fan seeking blood red thrills in sequential form.
The Fearbook entry into the series is very different from the previous books, but is essential in that it is written and drawn by Wolfer. The pacing is totally different as the tale explores the hippy uber-zombie from the miniseries, giving us insight into his story. Of course it DOES involve megasplatter, so have no fear...the blood lust will be satiated in any reader. But this short tale contains more character development than anything shown in all of the preceding series pages, and while I enjoyed it, I think it may be a let down for readers that sought out the first book strictly from a gorehound’s eye view. Wolfer’s art is fantastic as always, improving on the mini-series’ rendition of the characters however.
Don’t let John Russo’s name steer you away from a balls out miniseries of zombie action and don’t let these Living Dead escape from your pull list. The series is available in a handy volume with a great price point, so munch up!
B+ -David Zuzelo
Issue #3
Publisher: Mark Jason Murray
FilmFanaddict.com
Publisher Mark Jason Murray and I have been friends for well over a decade now, but it was both a surprise and a treat when he told me that he was jumping into the print publication arena yet again. I was overjoyed to know that the “Son of Shocking Images” was about to be unleashed. On the other hand, Mark lives a similar middle-class existence to mine (homeowner, wife, full-time job) and knowing how often I have additional cash to put towards creative endeavors, I didn't want to see my buddy lose his shirt.
So here I sit with a full-gloss, 4-color covered Issue 3 of Film Fanaddict on my lap. Kudos brother!
Like the aforementioned Shocking Images zine of the early 1990's, contents run the gamut of cult, gore, sleaze & trashy film reviews, articles and interviews. It could very well be the most comprehensive genre mag on the market today. This issue's cover story focuses on the DUNE sci-fi enterprise with insightful interviews from current co-creator Brian Herbert, artist Stephen Youll, and mini-series director (and Romero horror film soundtrack composer) John Harrison.
Other standout features include a series overview of The Yakuza Papers, an interview with the creators on Pervert! The Movie, an extended chat with the lovely Lynn (I Drink Your Blood) Lowry, and 41(!) DVD reviews which round out this 52 page collectible.
Check out Mark's site and buy your copy today...
A -Mike Baronas
by James Futch & James Newman
Demonic Clown Books
“Unhhhh,” it groaned, slamming into his mouth. “Unggghhhhhhhh!”
“Alex coughed, gagged, spat a stream of vomit onto the wrinkled black bacon of the thing's scorched clitoris. “No..n-n-no...”
Yes indeed friends, this is hardcore horror! Futch and Newman take a fun title and not only live up to it, with lots of death, sex and violence – and zombies – but exceed expectations as well. While it is easy to simply peel your readers sensibilities like a filthy rotted onion, it takes skill to spin a fun story that keeps you reading on top of it. Skimping on neither the simple or the more complex, this rampaging novella pulls off every trick in the book with a bile drenched smile. Peep this:
Sheila Tyson is a college student that picks up a job in one of those evil hospitals that is surrounded by urban legend and rumors of satanic shenanigans. After the warning from the now retiring night watchman (with one hilarious case of Tourette's Syndrome) to stay away from the morgue at midnight drives her to peek, she finds out that not only do the dead rise and walk, but so also roars to life the libido of the damned! No erectile dysfunction for these fellas anymore. See corpses fistfucking, smell the stench of rotted foreskin giving way to hardened and cold vaginal lips, and join our cast as they decide to profit off such behavior. Good thing Sheila's boyfriend is a scumbag porn videographer who will do anything to get ahead. Bad thing that zombies go wild for live meat! Toss in the boyfriends old boss, an underworld porn king who just doesn't enjoy watching others profit when he could be, a fucked up administrator who enjoys jacking himself to near death and – oh yeah – a porn starlet who doesn't realize that just douching out her ass isn't going to help when the maggot shot comes along. Everything collides; bodies fly, people die and it has a happy ending. Seriously...
As I said at the top, it is easy to shoot for the gross out and there is nothing wrong with that at all. I love my hardcore horror brain beatdowns more than most, but the characters are extremely well drawn in this novella which is compelling from page one to the final word. I found myself pulling for Sheila to come out on top of this body pile with an almost surprising enthusiasm, something that is usually reserved for my favorite writers. And while the prose runs splattering across the pages like a popped vein, the style never gets purple or distracts from what is happening in the – gasp – story. Even a tale of NecroPorn and gore is better told when the reader cares what happens, and even the idiots you want to see die are entertaining.
Horror fans will catch little references to cult cinema (I swear there is an intentional homage to Ed Wood) and is easily edible in one sitting, making the effect of the book feel like a great naughty version of Re-Animator or From Beyond. Even being able to compare it to the Stuart Gordon masterwork collection is the highest praise I can give.
Body horror, ripping prose, corpse fucking and memorable set pieces create an always enjoyable gutpile. Night Of The Loving Dead belongs on the Must Have Books list for any fan of extreme storytelling.
A -David Zuzelo
August 2006
Script: Mike Wolfer
Art: Sebastion Fiumara
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Hot on the heels of the Friday The 13th series, Bloodbath, comes the Fearbook sequel. Longtime fans of the franchise know that in the grand tradition of F13 part 2, the final girl had better run fast...and she still may not be safe.
Readers of the earlier series will remember Violet (with her purple hair, hence the name) and Rich survived a long night of being stalked not only by Jason Voorhees, but also learning that they were bait placed by a corporations private army. Of course that corporation wants Jason to sell to the highest bidder as a form of superweapon, and they are not going to let things lie, even if the body pile was stacked higher than five F13 sequels in the space of about 50 pages. After Rich just succumbs to his wounds (no fun there), Violet ends up smack dab in the hands of the soldiers of fortune one more time. They lock her up and the reader gets a peek at the group of idiots that really believe they can play with the man with the magic machete...and they don’t disappoint. After a little more of that mumbo jumbo, Violet plots her escape (and yes, it involves bare breasts), Jason returns, and the bodies get mangled quickly. Can Violet survive...well, I gave you a hint in the second sentence if you are a smart mark you know what happens.
Written by Mike Wolfer (of “Widow” fame – an excellent character and all of her adventures are highly recommended), this Fearbook is a fun short sequel that ties up the previous series and leaves any potential plot threads severely chopped to the bleeding stump. While not exactly intricate, Wolfer handles the dialogue better than frequent scripter for Avatar, Brian Pulido, has so far. Even with the short running time there is a bit of story amidst the madness. Interesting that Wolfer stepped into the writer box, since he drew Bloodbath. The artwork by Fiumara is excellent, a bit moodier than the look Wolfer goes for, and the story is very strong for it. Great color work enhances the menace of Jason and this is an excellent bit of work for all involved. Not a great starting point for new readers, but Bloodbath was good fun and featured Jason slicing up soldiers with a helicopter blade...so go get ‘em!
An excellent read for the F13 minded, and if you love the films and don’t read comics, you could do worse than reading these last two series.
A -David Zuzelo
~ 3 Issue Mini-Series ~
Script: Brian Pulido
Art: Daniel HDR
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Leatherface...my favorite movie maniac! Unbridled Insanity! Cackling Dysfunctional Mayhem! The Saw IS The Law!
While the Texas Chainsaw Massacre One-Shot from Avatar Press fell far from my expectations (probably from being too damn short), The Grind starts strong and goes from wild to utterly fucking grotesque pretty quickly. And that is a compliment. Fast paced and without a break between panels for the reader to breath, this Chainsaw Massacre is revved up and ready to rend you apart from the start.
After a “pre-credits” black and white wind-up that goes a little too far in aping the style of the original film is done, we know our victims (urr... protagonists?) are a group of 6 choir singers along with their chaperone, a little girl and 1 early on dead bus driver. They aren’t the nicest batch of choir girls you’ll ever lay eyes on...that I can tell you.
Enter The Family, with the heavy focus on the father figure of The Cop from the recent remake of TCM. After the bus gets a flat tire (oh no), he shows up to harass and verbally abuse the girls before swiping them back to Casa Chainsaw for a few rounds of meet the Meatmaker. And said monster is referred to as “Thomas”? Well, we know him as Leatherface and that is his name in my book. With the upcoming TCM prologue film I assume that this is going to be the shape of things to come in this particular universe, but I won’t have it. His name is Leatherface. It may be of interest that most of the characters look very much as they did in the film, and we see an unmasked Leatherface in one sequence...perhaps this is a sneak peek for those awaiting the new film?
Anyway, the rest of The Family begins to appear and yelling and violence ensues. One particularly chilling fate is in store for the little girl accompanying the choir it seems, and here is where the book succeeds in not only being a sleazy shocker, but stays true to the original film where the audience dreads what is too happen as much as what we see. After the set up of the first issue the remainder of the pages focus on saw toothed action as the girls are chopped and tormented, with one particular family secret that may spell salvation for the choir girls...or a despicable twist of good fortune for The Family.
While short on plot, the dialogue is spot on for the most part, with a few strange bits that include an outburst of Oh-My-Stars-And-Garters for good measure. The characterization of each nutty Family member is well done. Not as easy as it would appear, the particular funk of Texas Chainsaw Massacre is on show with these characters sounding a lot like Hooper’s second film in some places. Scripter Brian Pulido does a good job at stretching the action out, and though he is hampered a bit by the mini-series format in that he can’t spend the first third of the tale giving the readers interesting characters-having to get straight into the mayhem to keep from losing readers - it works well.
The body count doesn’t start with scratches either, but MASSIVE gouts of gore splashed vividly across the pages by artist Daniel HDR with reckless and certain to be parentally frowned upon glee. This guy is good with the grue and his Leatherface is top notch. I do think that Avatar’s good production values helped immensely by printing this series in color however, the girls all look very similar with the typical big breasts and buxom backsides...so you can tell who is who by hair color alone. Probably not the best compliment to pay, but the focus is on the Saw here-and that work is beautifully done.
Oh My Saws n’ Gutpiles… we got us a screamy one here… Leatherface, look what ya' did to the damn door!
B -David Zuzelo
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ESCAPE OF THE LIVING DEAD 1-5
FILM FANADDICT 
NIGHT OF THE LOVING DEAD
FRIDAY THE 13TH: FEARBOOK
TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE GRIND 
