Image Comics 2015
Written by Mark Kidwell
Illustrated by Jeff Zornow
Coloured by Jay Fotos
Lettered by Tom B. Long
Well I have to say this issue started off a tad darker than I was expecting. Granted it’s really powerful and fits well within this universe but still dark. Though I have to say that I do love that we’re seeing Deputy Constable again as it keeps tying in the vignettes from other stories making them all more cohesive. Life in New York, New York has changed yet again.
As we see the narration to Faye about the events in Vietnam and of the mysterious man known as Jungle Jim once again it seems that things keep going to a place we don’t expect. You’d think that the group of survivors and the arrival of a Navy Chinook would be a great thing, instead Mark makes it a mixed bag for us. Completely something different and almost giving off that feeling of helplessness at times that the zombies have already won. It just feels like a new tone to me this time around, maybe i’m crazy who knows but i’m digging it!
This issue is so rife with incredible characterization that it gets to you. I mean heck even with the third segment when we get back to that whole crazy mess with Nixon. I have no idea where this one is going but hopefully it’ll lead to the next mini-series where this can be taken to a whole new level. Yes it all ties into that story we saw in Vegas and yet again the different stories are tying into one another in ways that i’ve been wanting to see.
So when this issue heads back to Vietnam, same time frame as current New York, New York just for clarification things get even more revealing. We’ve seen that Jungle Jim is more an idea taken up by different people at different times so that someone may just have taken up the mantle and a new mission is nice to see. Keeps the legend alive and well in a way still puts fear into the hearts of men who do evil right? Or take advantage of this situation for their own nefarious deeds. I like the idea they’ve got going here and it’s a great way to keep future mini’s on the hook. Oh and the one surprise, how have I missed knowing or realizing that one?, we get here is better than I could have hoped for.
I like Jeff’s work here and the way it all has that very comic book feel to it. He has a great eye or page and panel layouts to keep the story flowing. He doesn’t shy away from backgrounds at all, which thrills me to no end. His pin-up pages are spectacular to say the least. I just wish the zombies were scarier, see less comic bookish, and the war scenes were darker, less bright. This would add a different kind of depth to his work that would really make things stand out more for me. Perhaps he and Jay can work on a few things where we see a different approach to a few different scenarios so that they don’t come across as all being the “same” in appearance.
Seriously though this has been one of if not THE favourite longest running set of mini-series of mine. Sure i’m a horror fan and a zombie fan but it’s the continual evolution of the stories and the characters and the way Mark manages to weave different ones together that really keep me coming back.