Book Review: iZombie Vol. 4 by C. Roberson et al.

iZombie Volume 4: Repossession written by Chris Roberson, art by Michael Allred, J. Bone, and Jim Rugg, colors by Laura Allred, and letters by Todd Klein

After the massive zombie outbreak in Eugene, Oregon, an even worse apocalypse is about to befall our heroes. Galatea, the evil scientist, is trying to speed up the arrival of an inter-dimensional being that will eat the entire world. Various forces are trying to stop that, including the government-backed Dead Presidents (a group of vampires, ghosts, and other monsters), the ancient society known as the Gravediggers (including Gwen's boyfriend), and Amon the Mummy who has personally fought Galatea before. Gwen is caught in the middle when Amon explains that she has the power to send the being back to its own dimension by sacrificing everyone in Eugene. Too bad her brother and parents just showed up in town, huh? The story races to a dramatic finale with Gwen finding another way to defeat the bad guy.

The apocalyptic story is imaginative and pulls a lot of different elements in the story together. Unfortunately, the book gets saturated with romantic intrigues between various characters, creating a lot of soap-opera style subplots that are a lot less interesting. To me, they read like filler. The art style switches in a couple of issues that were drawn by guest artists. I found the change distracting. The story ends well, or as well as a horror-comedy comic could.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: iZombie Vol. 3 by C. Roberson et al.

iZombie Volume 3: Six Feet Under and Rising written by Chris Roberson, art by Michael Allred and Jay Stephens, and colors by Laura Allred

See my review of Volume 1 here. and Volume 2 here.

Gwen, the intelligent zombie, is fulfilling another dead person's unfinished business when she's invited by local mummy and seeming villain Amon for a special event. They celebrate her birthday with Ellie the Ghost and Scott the Were-Terrier. Amon makes another pitch for Gwen to help his schemes but she says no. He want her to take innocent lives and eat more brains but hasn't quite explained all his motives. The action picks up when Gwen's monster-hunting boyfriend starts fighting local vampires and zombies who are becoming more numerous. Scott falls through a sinkhole at the graveyard and discovers underground caverns that are full of zombies. While Gwen mounts a rescue effort, her boyfriend's partner gets more monster hunters from their secret HQ in London to bring back to Eugene, Oregon. If that wasn't bad enough, this issue introduces The Dead Presidents, a federal government secret agency that also hunts monsters (though the agents are all monsters, but the good(?) kind). They have some non-Oregon adventures but soon enough are drawn into the zombie outbreak in Eugene. 

The story is still interesting and weaves in a lot of different narratives of the ever-expanding cast of characters. There's hints that Amon knew Gwen before she turned and that a mad scientist is involved with summoning a world-ending elder god/monster. None of those are resolved because there's still another volume to go.

Recommended--this is a different zombie story that throws in enough new stuff to keep it interesting.

Book Review: iZombie Vol. 2 by C. Roberson et al.

iZombie Volume 2: uVampire written by Chris Roberson, art by Michael Allred and Gilbert Hernandez, and colors by Laura Allred

See my review of Volume 1 here.

The latest brain that Gwen has to nosh on is a mom who died in a fire. The mom regrets alienating her daughter. The daughter turns out to be an old friend of Gwen's, so she's worried that she'll get recognized by someone who went to her funeral. Gwen can't remember her funeral. In a tough twist, she has a vision of the daughter playing with a little boy whom Gwen assumes is a sibling. She right, though the boy is actually Gwen's sibling that she has forgotten! Gwen finds her brother but doesn't have the nerve to talk to him.

Meanwhile, Amon the Egyptian mummy (who does not run around in bandages) reconnects with an old acquaintance, a mad scientist-type named Galatea who has a scheme for taking advantage of an elder god. She naturally wants Amon's help but he's reluctant. 

Also meanwhile, Scott the were-terrier introduces Ellie (the ghost part of the zombie/were-terrier/ghost trio) to the new incarnation of the grandfather who raised him. His granddad died recently and followed Scott around until he was able to possess a monkey. So the grandfather's oversoul is in the monkey and can't get out. Maybe Ellie can help?

Also meanwhile, the monster-hunter Horatio (who is romantically interested in Gwen) is busy busting up a vampire ring on the outskirts of town. The vampires (all young females who are running a paintball company and snacking on the clientele) turn the tables on Horatio and his partner and try to work out a deal. If the monster hunters leave the vampires alone, the vampires will give them the scoop on zombie activity in the area. Will Gwen's secret get revealed?

The various plots are interwoven with each other and with some backstories for Ellie and Scott, making for a lot of different things happening. The stories are enjoyable and the bigger picture has some interesting dramatics developing. 

Recommended--this is the sort of lighter zombie fare which is hard to find amongst all the apocalyptic landscapes.

Book Review: iZombie Vol. 1 by C. Roberson et al.

iZombie Volume 1: Dead to the World written by Chris Roberson, art by Michael Allred, and colors by Laura Allred

Gwen Dylan is a gravedigger at a "green" cemetery in Eugene, Oregon. They don't embalm the corpses so the environment doesn't get polluted. It's a handy job for her because she is a zombie and needs to eat at least one brain a month or else she will turn into a shambling, mindless, flesh-eating scavenger like in all the b-movies. The only catch is that she starts seeing the dead person's memories, which can be annoying. Sometimes they want her to do some unfinished business or right some wrong. The latest brain she ate was from a murdered man, so he wants some vengeance. 

Gwen has two friends--Ellie, who is the ghost of a 1950s-era teenager and hangs out at the cemetery (where she was buried long ago, so no weird brain-eating connection) and Scott, who is a very much alive young male and not a werewolf, he's a wereterrier. His backstory is not explained but he meets up with the girls at a local diner when he's not working his tech-support job at a high-rise for seniors. They help her investigate the crime, which leads to a house where they trick-or-treated (as a joke) last Halloween. The homeowner turns out to be from ancient Egypt who has been keeping himself alive and fresh-looking (hardly any bandages on this mummy) for millennia by eating other people. He claims he only kills guilty people. He's had to stay one step ahead of a monster-killing cult by moving often (well, often for a 3000-year life span). He wants her to help him. Gwen doesn't buy it. He tries to convince her that her system isn't working--he asks her how she died and she can't remember, so the brains aren't keeping her as fresh as she supposes. She needs to think about his offer.

Meanwhile, a local paintball course is run by a group of female vampires who try to get by with snacking on one or two customers without killing them. One of the vampires goes rogue and kills a guy in town. Before the head of the vampires (a very domineering type) can get to her, a pair of monster-killers from a millennia old group gets the rogue vampire. They are in town to eliminate undead problems. One of the monster-killers stops in at the local diner where he bumps into Gwen and they hit it off romantically. Too bad they are not on the same side in the bigger picture!

The story is fairly interesting and fresh. At one point, the mummy character explains to Gwen what's going on. Each person has an "oversoul" that runs their higher functions and an "undersoul" that runs their appetites and instincts. When someone dies, both souls are supposed to leave, but sometimes one stays with the body or one of the souls stays without a body. A bodiless oversoul is a ghost like Ellie. A bodiless undersoul is a poltergeist. A body with only an oversoul is a vampire. A body with only an undersoul is a zombie. Also, the bodiless souls can "infect" a living person, including bodiless undersouls of animals, hence werewolves and wereterriers. An oversoul in someone else's body is like demonic possession. So the authors have a fairly well-developed system to explain what's going on. The interweaving of various plot strands is also skillfully done, making the story both entertaining and easy to follow even with a myriad of characters who are not immediately connected together. 

The comic series was popular enough to get turned into a TV show, which had an interesting first season but not all the supernatural complications of the print version. The show, which started as a riff on the police procedural, turned into more of a soap opera in subsequent seasons and I lost interest. It's fun to go back to the comics and re-experience the creativity of the original.

Recommended.

TV Review: iZombie Season One (2015)

iZombie Season One (2015) created by Rob Thomas, based on the comics by Chris Roberson

The television show iZombie is based on a rather whimsical and imaginative comic book that came out several years ago. In the comic, a young woman named Gwen comes back as a zombie. She keeps her regular personality as long as she eats brains often enough. One of the side effects of brain eating is that she has the deceased's memories. Some of them died violent deaths or had some other unresolved issues in their lives which the girl tries to resolve. She has a ghost and a were-terrier helping her out, kind of a Scooby Gang. Gwen works as a grave digger in an Oregon "green" cemetery where they don't embalm bodies, so the brains are still edible.

The television version changes some things. The young woman is named Liv Moore (obvious pun) and she has memories from eating brains which she uses to solve crimes. She was a medical student but takes a new job in the Seattle coroner's office (so she has access to brains which happen to be from homicide victims). She also has a mother and brother and an ex-fiance (she broke it off when she became a zombie). She was infected at a boat party where a new recreational drug was in use and at the beginning of the show it seems like the drug is what has caused her and others to become zombies.

The series starts with some "murder of the week" episodes that have bits of an overarching narrative included. The coroner knows about Liv's problem and starts working on a cure. Another zombie, Blaine (played delightfully by David Anders), starts a company providing brains to the more well-to-do zombies in Seattle. He makes his own employees by turn street kids into zombies (in addition to infecting some rich people so he has clients). The conflict with Blaine becomes the main narrative by the end of the season. All the later episodes and their murders tie into either Blaine's business or the company that makes the energy drink Max Rager (a well-chosen name) which is the true zombie-creating culprit.

The show's early tone is fairly comedic with some drama thrown in. By the end of the season, this balance is flipped where it is mostly drama with snappy dialogue. The tone is also set by Liv's inner monologue about what's happening--mostly a jokey commentary on what's happening though she shows more of her character (and often the character of the person whose brains she's eaten). The voiceovers are a bit too much in the earlier episodes (especially at the end of episodes where the point of the episode is clear without Liv having to explain it). Thankfully the voiceovers are fewer by the end of the season. The last episode is very dramatic and the creators are confident enough to let the story tell itself, leaving a great ending wanting me to see more. The show doesn't come back till early October, so it will be a long wait. The DVD doesn't come out till late September, so check streaming services like Amazon or Hulu if you want to catch up earlier.

See my reviews of the pilot and the first three episodes after that.

TV Review: iZombie Eps. 102-104

iZombie Season One, Episodes Two through Four

Zombie Liv Moore (played by Rose McIver) is working hard as an assistant medical examiner. In addition to performing autopsies, she eats the brains of murder victims. They won't need them, will they? The show's crime-of-the-week format lets her have a different victim's brain, causing her to take on that person's characteristics as well as giving her flashes of their memories. In episode two, the murder victim is a passionate Latino painter, so Liv starts acting amorous and artistic. McIver gets to stretch her acting much in the same way as Eliza Dushku in Doll House or Tatiana Maisany in Orphan Black. Liv gets to explore her own personality in contrast to the people she takes on. Sometimes the voiceover commentary by Liv is too on the nose for my taste.

The show has two on-going plots. First is Liv's ex-fiance who is still in the picture. She wants to reconnect with him but doesn't want to eat him accidentally (and she doesn't want him dating anyone else). That story is moving forward slowly. She gets all amorous after eating the painter's brain but then turns emotionless when she eats a hitman's brain in the next episode. So that plot has its ups and downs and mainly seems there to provide a romantic interest and an on-going storyline. I wish they had more chemistry together, I don't quite buy into their romance.

The other on-going plot is the shenanigans of another zombie from the party boat where Liv was turned. His name is Blaine and he was the drug dealer who "shared" the illegal concoction that made Liv a zombie. At first, he tries to befriend her and use her to get brains from the morgue. She hems and haws and eventually says no. He starts up his own business providing brains to other zombies (whom he creates--he targets rich people who can pay him well). He's making a killing and seems to be the big villain the cops will eventually have to face by the end of the show. The idea of a zombie making more zombies so he can exploit them is interesting and the actor, David Anders, is fun in the role (he was Sark in Alias). So far there's no explanation why only Liv has visions and why the other zombies aren't running out of control. Maybe that will come to light sooner or later but it doesn't seem like a big concern for characters in the show or the creators of the show.

The show is entertaining but it is a bit average. I still like the comic better but the TV show still has time to catch up or do something different and more interesting.

TV Review: iZombie Pilot

iZombie Pilot Episode created by Diane Ruggiero and Rob Thomas

I read the first twenty or so of the iZombie comics back in 2010. They have an interesting premise: a girl named Gwen dies and comes back to life as a zombie. She stays normal as long as she has brains to eat, otherwise she begins to go feral. Happily, Gwen works as a grave digger at a "green" cemetery where they don't embalm the bodies before burial, so she has access to plenty of fresh, untainted brains. Whenever she eats brains, she has visions of that person's life. Since she is a bit of a do-gooder, she helps out the next of kin with whatever problems the dead person remembers (everything from cats in trees to murder most foul). Gwen has a crew of supernatural friends--the ghost of a girl from the 1950s who hangs out at the cemetery and a guy who is a were-terrier--who form a sort of Scooby Gang to help her. Vampires figure large in the early stories as well as a mummy. The mythology of the comic is fairly well thought out and the comic is clearly popular enough that was transformed into a television series.

The TV show has a girl named Olivia ("Liv" for short, haha) Moore who is a star medical student with a hunky boyfriend and not much else in her life. She reluctantly goes to a party on a boat where an drug-induced zombie plague breaks out. She is turned but still has control of herself as long as she eats brains. She dumps the boyfriend and the medical career for an assistant job at the Coroner's Office, where she has access to plenty of fresh, untainted brains. She gets the visions like in the comic books which help the police investigate crimes (the morgue is full of murder victims, after all). Her supervisor in the morgue finds out about her condition and is amazingly supportive (both keeping her secret and working on a cure for her condition). There's no sign of any other supernatural beings so far.

I'll admit a laughed a few times during the show and the plot was enjoyable enough, though not as quirky and fun as the comics. None of the twists in the story were surprises and I felt that she had too much voice-over commentary. Maybe with the setup done that will be toned down in future episodes. The cast is charming enough. I'll watch a few more episodes to see how it goes.