Here we are again, doing the Marvel Zombies Return thing. This time we jump forward another couple of decades in the new Earth-Z universe and see this alternate world’s version of World War Hulk.

Hulk smash outmoded anti-Zombie stereotypes? Unlikely.

This special Hulk issue continues the Marvel Zombies Returns formula of taking a major period/event in Marvel’s publishing history and having it revisited by a major writer in the Undead/Zombie horror fiction universe. This time at bat you have Seth Grahame-Smith, writer of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, reinterpreting World War Hulk, which also serves as a stand-in/proxy for the current Marvel era of huge annual crossover events. (Civil War, World War Hulk, Secret Invasion, etc)

I never read World War Hulk as it came out, but I know the gist. Hulk got sent offworld by a secret group of Marvel superheroes who call themselves The Illuminati. Hulk ends up conquering a planet, as well as his personal demons, but then comes back to Earth for revenge when he thinks the Illuminati are responsible for blowing up his kingdom out in space. Wackiness ensues.

Of course, in Marvel Zombies Returns, things are different. Zombie Giant-Man has taken over the Moon, so when Hulk lands there to get some revenge on Black Bolt, a member of said Illuminati who lives on the far side of the moon, things go very badly for Hulk and crew. Lots of entrails being ripped out, people being devoured and the like. Ultimately Hulk ends up a Zombie himself, and goes from sympathetic main character to amoral devouring machine in no time. Then he sets his sights upon the Earth, and starts devouring people there wholesale, leading to a reimagining of the conclusion of World War Hulk, which involved Marvel’s stand-in for Superman, a superhero named The Sentry, fighting Zombie-Hulk.

I’ll say this for Grahame-Smith, he’s good at distilling a long storyline down. Unfortunately he’s not much of a Zombie Progressive. As per usual with Marvel, Zombies are depicted as ravenous, but not mindless, flesh eating machines, soulless creatures whose only loyalty is to ‘The Hunger’. They don’t hesitate even when their next meal would be their dearest or closest friend, they simply slaughter, eat, and spread the infection.

Nope, not one positive Zombie depiction amongst the lot of them. Just once I’d like to see a Marvel Zombie take up painting, learn to play the guitar, get a promotion at work. Just for a change of pace.

Sadly this is too much to ask from Marvel Zombies Return, whose Hulk issue sets up the final episode in the announced five issue series. What horrors still await a pro-Zombie reader of these comics?

You’ll have to read the next review to find out, true believer.

Tags: Comics, Review

This entry was posted by John Sears on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 10:19 am 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.