With The Walking Dead under its umbrella, it's easy to argue that Image Comics didn't need to release another zombie title. And make no mistake, despite the title of Cho's new comic, Walking is definitely the king of zombie comics. Nevertheless, Cho doesn't offer up the same sort of fare, but instead focuses his efforts in a more humorous direction. I'll be honest... I enjoyed this comic despite my initial impressions of its low-brow qualities. Cho wins the reader over with some morbid humor, a strong eye for anatomy (undead anatomy, but accurate anatomy, nonetheless) and an in-your-face quality that's in keeping with the genre.
A cattle farmer and his son happen upon a stranger in their pasture, and he's doing something awfully strange to one of their cows. And he's not eating it. A bungled warning shot gets the stranger's attention, and he begins to make his way toward the two farmers. It's clear the creature isn't entirely human, and the two men desperate try to stem its creepy, dangerous advance. Meanwhile, the men responsible for the creature's creation send a squad out to retrieve it and cover up its existence.
When it comes to human anatomy in Cho's art, the focus usually lies with a female character's bust line, but the artist proves here that's there's much more to his work than cheesecake and cute cartoon characters. Sinew and still juicy internal organs are splayed out for the reader, but it's not so grotesque so as to put one off completely. I also like that the characters aren't all big, beefy, lantern-jawed, all-American hero types. They look like regular people... well, the ones who aren't zombies, anyway.
The latter part of this issue demonstrates just how easy it is for corporate America to slide down a slippery slope from good intentions to inhumane coverups. It's clear that though the Morgan Foundation is out to make money, the intent was to do so through better health. They followed the law, thought they had a miracle on their hands. Cho explores the notion that it's when things go wrong that people's true character is tested.
It's not just a zombie comic... it's a horny zombie comic. It's insane, even perverse, but Cho makes it work in the context of the story. It doesn't hurt that this is a pretty funny script. The image of a hungry zombie stumbling on -- well, I don't want to give it away -- as he makes his way toward his prey had me smiling from ear to ear. Cho's dark humor wins the reader over and gets one curious about what else he might have up his sleeve in future issues. 7/10
