Have you ever stopped to think about the *politics* of Zombies? We all know about the ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ scenario, as presented by Mr. Romero, Mr. Russo and so forth. Max Brooks has made a good living positing strategies for surviving such a grim and contrived situation, and even now his fictional triumph of the Living over the Differently Animated (employing similar strategies) is supposedly in development as a big budget Hollywood feature.

Likewise, Robert Kirkman’s apocalyptic Walking Dead is everywhere these days, and there too, coexistance between the Living and the Differently Animated is completely out of the question; in fact, it’s a question nobody really bothers to ask. In Zombie fiction generally, there are precious few who *do* consider it. We’ve tried to highlight those brave souls here on the ZRC blog, from Skin-Horse to Erfworld to Fallout 3.

By inclination and in part because of training, however, I am very interested in politics, so naturally I’ve wondered about how, assuming humans and Zombies ever do come to a true understanding and co-existance, the politics would play out. Things like voting rights, pressure groups, lobbies, political parties. Who would support Zombies? Who would oppose them? How would the economics work? How would the government respond to a sudden, dramatic increase in the Differently Animated’s number, sans the Romero-style bad behavior (indiscriminate devouring and such)?

Until now, I can’t say that I’d seen the issue explored a great deal in fiction (Breathers talks about some of this before wallowing in negativity about the Differently Animated). However, not only does Dead Eyes Open address the topic, it does so in an extremely original way, and what’s more, presents a nuanced and balanced portrayal of the Differently Animated, both as people and as characters. This is an amazing graphic novel!

Even better, you don’t have to take my word for it – Dead Eyes Open is free to read, in its entirety and annotated, online!

Dead Eyes Open starts off with a fascinating premise and goes on from there. John Requin is our protagonist. He’s a middle-aged family man, a psychologist who does family counseling, and he’s got a problem. See, John died a short while ago, and then he.. came back. There are some noticeable downsides, as well as advantages, to his new condition, but he isn’t even sure what that condition is, and he’s afraid to reach out for help. Meanwhile, his wife tries to be supportive, and his daughter insists that he isn’t, in fact, her father anymore.

As novel as the Zombie family dynamic (something seen all too rarely in Zombie media) is, however, Requin will soon find himself involved in a broader Undead Rights movement, as the number of Zombies returning (hence their in-world name, ‘Returners’) grows rapidly. From terror cells to black government ops, press conferences to detainment camps, Requin is at the center of all the action, and an ordinary man has to take an extraordinary role in advancing Undead Equality.

That ordinary man just happens to be a Zombie.

Fantastic. Simply fantastic, is all I can say. The story is interesting, the characters have real depth, as a reader you don’t see the surprises coming. The art evolves quite a bit over the comic’s run, and the black and grey, slightly gritty style really suits the story.

The best part for me is that the Zombies/Returners aren’t just people, they’re interesting, well-developed people, good, bad, and everything in between. A recurring theme of Dead Eyes Open is that, fundamentally, the Returners are human, are the same humans they were before they came back. Sometimes that means a flawed family man like Requin, trying to do his best; sometimes it’s a wannabe terrorist with a chip on his shoulder, sometimes a cop, sometimes a war criminal. The point being, Zombies aren’t props. They aren’t a tool to remind you of your own mortality, or shame you into better behavior, or make you wonder about the legitimacy of the government. They just *are*, with thoughts and feelings and desires of their own, working through a tough time, and in need of allies and friends amongst the living as they figure out what it all means.

Dead Eyes Open carries the reader all the way from the early days of the phenomenon to the end of the Requin’s struggle for equality, and it behooves all true Zombie Rights supporters to read it through all the way. No spoilers from me. It’s that good.

Dead Eyes Open receives our highest rating, the Zombie Friendly rating. Congratulations to Matt Shepherd and Roy Boney, Jr for their outstanding work.

Tags: Comics, ZRC Reviews

This entry was posted by John Sears on Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 at 11:31 pm and is filed under Zombie Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.