iZombie vol. 1: Dead to the World
It’s not Steve Jobs’ plan to resume his duties as Apple CEO after his death, but a Vertigo series that launched over a year back from writer Chris Roberson and artist Michael Allred. I’m borrowing the first three volumes from a friend of mine who really likes it. The reason I haven’t picked it up myself is that the word on this series has been “alright” more than anything else. Reading this first volume for myself, it’s easy to see why that’s the case.
The series’ focus is on Gwen, a zombie with a day job as a gravedigger. Her best friend is Ellie, a ghost who originally died in the 60’s, and they have a mutual friend in Scott, a.k.a. “Spot” because he’s a were-terrier. You’ve also got a former mummy moonlighting as a serial killer (of bad guys), a gaggle of female vampires running a paintball operation, and two individuals in white coats, Horatio and Diogenes, who are the latest in a long line of hunters of the supernatural. It would seem that the series has a lot on its table, but it really doesn’t play out like that and it’s not a good thing. The entirety of the first volume plays out like a really decompressed first issue of the series. Though we’re introduced to the cast and given a reasonable hook, in the form of Gwen having to resolve the unfinished business of the people whose brains she eats (Did I mention she was that kind of zombie?), it really never gains any kind of momentum or direction. Granted, Roberson does have some interesting ideas about the nature of souls as they relate to the supernatural elements in the series, but the characters he creates aren’t interesting enough to make up for the aforementioned faults. It all plays out like an arch slacker comedy of the undead, and if I wanted something like that, I’d just go watch “Shaun of the Dead” again.
Still, it all goes down pretty easy thanks to one thing: Allred’s art. The man has a quirky, off-kilter cartoony that’s immediately appealing due to its oddness. His characters and their environments have a singular, immediately identifiable, look to them that lets you know whatever he draws will likely be good and weird. That’s been the case for his signature “Madman” series, his run on “X-Force/X-Statix” with Peter Milligan, and the issues of “Fables” he’s done with Bill Willingham. It’s also the case here as a lot of the things Roberson is asking him to draw, including zombies, former-mummies, a ghost in 60’s dress, the were-terrier, are right up his alley. In fact, I’m fairly certain that the reason I don’t actively dislike this volume is because of Allred’s work. Had another artist, with a more serious style, tackled this I imagine the results would’ve been painful. In his hands, it all rises to the level of “okay.”
That said, I’m willing to bet that all parties involved were shooting for a better result than that. I’ve read plenty of stories where the plot was going nowhere fast, but I stuck with them because I liked the characters. “iZombie” has neither, but Allred keeps things from being a total wreck. If anything, this made me hope that at some point we’ll see Zombie Steve Jobs show up to wreak vengeance for the possibly trademark-infringing use of the “i” in the title.