ZombieWorld: Champion of the Worms story by Mike Mignola and Art by Pat McEown
A small-time museum is about to open a new exhibit featuring archeological items from Hyperborea (a mythic ancient civilization buried under Arctic ice), including the sarcophagus of Azzul Gotha. Gotha was an ancient Hyperborean necromancer who worshiped evil worm gods. He was entombed alive with a sacred medallion sealing him inside. Well, the medallion has gone missing, as has the mummy of Azzul Gotha. Some Hyperborean experts are called in. They soon discover the other mummies in the museum are coming to life and Gotha has a plan to turn the world over to the worm gods, just like he was planning to do forty-two thousand year ago.
The story shares a lot with Mignola's Hellboy universe. The ancient society of Hyperborea features in both stories, as does a team of paranormal experts. This team is all-human with only one character who has paranormal abilities--he can send out his spirit to spy on Azzul Gotha, much like Johann Krauss in the Hellboy universe. Even with the parallels, I still found the story entertaining and was surprised by the ending. The art is a mixture of Mignola and Herge's Tintin, a weird combination that works.
Dark Horse Comics put out four other stories in the ZombieWorld universe. I'm not sure this volume was strong enough to get me to read the other material, especially since Mignola was not involved in the subsequent stories.
Mildly recommended.
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