Book Review: Zombillenium 2. Human Resources by Arthur de Pins

Zombillenium 2. Human Resources by Arthur de Pins

Having established a quirky set of characters (from horror standards like vampires, witches, mummies, skeletons, etc.) who work at a horror-themed amusement park in the first issue, problems start arising for everyone. A strange normal family comes to the park and gets into trouble when the mom freaks out about the freaks. Meanwhile, the son wanders off and gets into his own trouble. Sirius Jefferson, the skeleton, is attacked on the way to work by some anti-monster clowns who sneak into the park to blow it up. They disguise themselves as the skeleton (some robes and the skull work just fine) but wind up in an HR meeting with other employees and they are discovered. They are chased through the corporate digs of Zombillenium and it's a sure bet they run into the son who's being helped out by Gretchen, the witch from the first book.

This second volume keeps up the madcap fun and interesting details that came in the first book. I'm enjoying it a lot though the next book won't be released in English until August 2015. Time to set a calendar reminder...

Book Review: Zombillenium 1. Gretchen by Arthur de Pins

Zombillenium 1. Gretchen by Arthur de Pins

What if a horror-themed amusement park was actually staffed by werewolves, zombies, vampires, witches, and all sorts of creatures of the night? That's Zombillenium, a theme park that's not doing too well. The authentic mummy (3000 years and still around!) has quit because he gets no respect from the patrons. Some co-workers find him hitchhiking and bring him back. As they argue on the way, they accidentally hit a guy crossing the road. The vampire driver bites him to bring him back to the living, then they bring him back to the park as a new employee. The werewolf HR guy thinks there's too many vampires at the park already, so he bites him to switch him to a werewolf. The driver objects and bites again. They have a funny argument over the situation with plenty of off-panel bites. Eventually, he's given the bottom-rung job--selling cotton candy. And he's given a life-time contract, which in his vampire-werewolf state means eternity.

His name is Aurelian Zahner. He was in the street because he tried to hold up a diner. A witch by the name of Gretchen (who's an intern at the park) was there and magicked him out of the robbery, sending him off into the street. She feels some responsibility for the situation and tries to help him out at the park. Things start to go comically awry for him in his new life.

The book is definitely more of a comedy than a horror story. The art is cartoonish, but in a good way. It fits the tone of the book well and looks good on the over-sized pages (9 by 12 inches). I enjoyed it a lot and am looking forward to the next volume.