This one was decent. I liked the story and illistration.

Zombies by Olivier Peru.
Six billion living corpses are all that remains of civilization. Among the few survivors is Sam Coleman, a man who owes his salvation to Smith & Wesson and a little luck. Fleeing Seattle at the onset of the zombie outbreak, he was forced to leave his daughter behind. Yet now that silence has fallen over the city, he believes that she may still be alive. And his conscience serves up a constant reminder that to be human in this grim world is to have hope—and to keep fighting.
A fantastic read with brilliant characters. I loved the pictures in the story too. 5*. Netgalley and insight editions.

An adult comic with an impressive look, but so very little new to show us about how people survive against the plague/apocalypse/whatever of zombie majorities. You can see every expected trope and stereotype of the genre on these pages, and with awkwardly attributed speech bubbles, and some very peculiar ways that changes of scene are NOT addressed, and an at-times terrible wordiness due its large-sized format, it's even more avoidable. Not too bad, but not worth clamouring over.

Yup – Zombies.

At this stage in the game, with six and a half years of The Walking Dead's variable success and all of the apocalypses (is there a different plural for that?) that it's spawned, it's almost surprising to me that people still feel they have something new to say in the genre. Some think they do and actually don't, which is why so many tend to roll their eyes when another z-story (or vampire story, or whatever) comes along. (I admit, I see "vampire" in a book description and my eyes glaze over.)

But now and then someone does have something new to say, or a new way to say similar things to what's been said elsewhere. And even though I've kind of sworn off trying z-poc tales (there are only so many times I can get lucky), I clicked "request" on this one at Netgalley.

I'm very glad I did. There are new and different elements to the story – which I won't talk about because I don't want to spoil them. Yes, all the basics are there: somehow something got loose in the world, somehow it spread, and a few weeks later, as the graphic novel begins, the vast majority of the population is shambling and looking for human flesh to eat. Except for the ones who are sprinting after humans to eat their flesh. And of the minority of un-undead who remain, chaos has set in, and anarachy, and all those fun after-effects of an apocalypse, until no one can trust anyone. Not even Sam, the hero of the story, whose only reason for staying alive is that maybe, somehow, somewhere his daughter is still alive. Maybe.

I loved this book. I enjoyed the artwork consistently – and that's rare; so often either one book/chapter in a series will be well done, and the next will be by a different artist who doesn't seem to have ever picked up a pencil before – but here there is one writer, one artist. Sophian Cholet (colors by Simon Champelovier). The characters were vivid and believable, and I never found myself thinking "hm, that's the Daryl of the group". A lot of the characters were children, and it occurs to me that this was very smart – I mean, yes, they're going to be at risk from parents and other caretakers who turn, but they're also going to be the first priority of any adult in the area, related or not, stashed in the safest possible place and protected tooth and nail, and sometimes in groups. I loved the fake-out mind-bleepery prologue; I loved the way information was revealed and surprises were sprung, and new characters introduced and tied in. I loved the paint job for the Pentagon. I loved the character arcs. I loved that unintended consequences were given attention: the thing that saved one group of survivors, the brilliant idea by what was <i>almost</i> their Eugene, was the death of untold other survivors. It was a beautifully told story.

I liked that the creators' pop culture tastes seemed to be reflected in the t-shirts characters wore.

In fact, I loved this book enough to give it five stars right off the bat … but then I thought about it a little more. And while it was very good, and very enjoyable, there were a handful of things that bothered me a little while I was reading and survived my satisfaction upon finishing. For one thing, as the creators' names might indicate, the book was originally written in French, and while for the most part the translation gave me no problems every now and then there was something that just didn't click. The children were the biggest problem, and there were a lot of children in the story; there were quite a few frames in which their dialogue seemed far too old for them. Things like "zombies are too numerous", talking about psychopaths, and even smaller things like using the word "adult", just didn't feel right. (This actually was true in other cases as well, with (ahem) grownups using language that was more formal than called for.)

I was a little annoyed that only rarely did anyone seem to use a weapon other than a gun; on one page someone even warns that gunfire will attract the zombies' attention, and then in the very next frame someone else is blam-blamming away. There were a few times that people used hammers and whatnot, but I would have loved to have seen some creativity in the weapons. Come the end of the world I for one will be looting museums with medieval collections as early as possible: polearms for the win. And bows of all kinds, cross and not: distance weapons that make much less noise than firearms, and which are much easier to create new ammunition for.

I was also a little annoyed, in retrospect, that there were really no women among the fighters. That doesn't come from a feminist standpoint – that just comes from a sensible standpoint. (Well, that's the same thing, quite often.) Every survivor with reasonable physical condition should be trained to use as many weapons as possible in the event of the end of the world. If nothing else, give a girl a gun – a decent pair of eyes and a trigger finger doesn't depend on gender. Again, this didn't strike me while I was reading – but afterwards I said "Hey waitaminnit!"

Oh, speaking of women and how they were handled in the book – a group of the good guys comes upon a group of bad guys who keep two women tied to their beds … and I don't think … Nope, I just went back and checked. The fate of those two women is never mentioned. It would have been nice to have had them being wrapped in blankets and helped away in the background of a scene.

The last thing that bothered me was a Big Reveal at the very end of the story. It was almost well done; there was a teaser earlier on, and then at the end when someone finally puts into words what is being kept from everyone (including the reader) for their own sanity, I … missed it. I had to go back and read it again. It was something that made the first survivor who heard it exclaim in horror – but all it got out of me was a "huh?" <spoiler>"No need to screw with the morale of the group. If this fucking virus did mutate, we'll never survive a second merry-go-round ride."… And that's it for that. But … HOW did it mutate? How does this mean the survivors are going to be endangered again? Are the zombies going to be able to reproduce? Fly? Become resistant to the sonic repellant Clay discovered? It can't be that one, since the ones bringing the news didn't know anything about such a thing till they landed in DC. </spoiler> So what on earth is it that is going to happen that the survivors need to give half a damn about? Don't know. Maybe that was the point – but if I knew, I'd have finished the book with a pang in my heart for these people, instead of just …confused.

Still and all, while it wasn't after all quite a five-star read, <I>Zombies: A Brief History of Decay</i> (to give it the full title on my copy) was very, very good, and very, very enjoyable.

Just don't think about it too much after you finish it.

The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.

I am sorry to say I just couldn't get into this book, it was certainly different to what I expected.I do enjoy dystopian end of the world books, but this was too comic book for me, and for me it didn't flow I hate to give a bad review but this just wasn't for me.

Yet another entry to the ravaged world of the zombie apocalypse, Zombies: A Brief History Of Decay is a dense read that fully embraces its entrance as both graphic and novel.

Writer Olivier Peru and artist Sophian Cholet present their entertaining take on that post-apocalyptical struggle that is now oh-so familiar. In this world, zombies can be both slow and fast, based on the rate of their decay, but even more surprising is the fact that humanity abandons the every-man-for-himself thieving personae most commonly seen and wants to work together to rid themselves of the plague. Well, except for a band of white trash wanna-be survivalists held up in, naturally, a Wal-Mart.

Peru has the remains of civilization residing in floating armadas on both the Mississippi and the coast off Seattle, and scripts the main characters as a worthy nation looking to survive and rebuild, with a few personal quests added for spice. Unfortunately, and perhaps this is a by-product of the collected edition, there is limited consistency between the several separate plots. Breaks don’t come naturally forcing the reader to back-up and regroup. In this regard, Cholet’s incredible layouts and design lapse into a droning sense of sameness, particularly with the representation of the main male leads who are all white with dark hair and beards. Removing any familiarity with the characters reduces that emotional connection.

Zombies shamelessly captures the worlds of Romero and Kirkman and makes an entertaining quest out of the venture with plenty of subtle zingers that can be followed up on in a sequel. Peru and Cholet show both the decay of humanity and civilization, but tease the reader with something everyone universally wants, hope and a future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Insight Comics for this decaying advance read.

"Zombies" has a lot of substance to its story, and much of that substance is well-done. It has a broad scope and covers a range of interesting characters which adds to its quality, but also means that there are instances where some of the characters feel under-developed compared to their potential - particularly the female characters.

The writing also feels solid throughout in terms of dialogue and story construction. And the story is well-complemented by an enjoyable art style that has some particularly effective visual moments. That being said, there were some moments of awkward dialogue and a few strange logical jumps as the story developed. These were large enough to disrupt my reading in the moment, but ultimately not enough of a problem to make me dislike the story as a whole.

I think that the greatest potential problem readers may have with this comic is some of the mature content. At multiple points throughout the story, there are discussions of rape and instances of violence against (older) children. These moments are generally presented in a matter-of-fact manner, are not lingered on, and do make sense in the context that they occur. However, they are unsettling, and it is debatable whether they are completely necessary or if they might have been handled a little differently.

As a whole, though, the story is engaging and well-told. It has some distinctly familiar elements compared to typical zombie stories, but does manage to feel fresh. It doesn't do a whole lot to elevate itself beyond entertainment, but it's a generally solid volume all together.

I very liked the drawings of the Graphic Novel and the story behind. This is a Zombie Novel which captures with an intelligent and fascinating story and the development of the people and the permanent danger had me always on my toes.

This is a good addition to the zombie graphic novel genre,well illustrated and an engaging story line.

I found myself giving up on this mess at the 56% mark. It was awful. The writing and characters were too juvenile. On a plus note, I thought the drawings were good.

This is the first book that I have reviewed that I can not wait for it to hit the marketplace. I will be buying copies for myself and my family & friends that love the undead as I do. Reading an uncorrected proof electronic copy was a bit difficult sometimes to follow because of the writing style (comic) but it was worth it to keep plugging away. I love zombies and zombie stories. That being said, I do get tired of the same ol' type of zombie story. This felt refreshingly new and I didn't want to put it down. "Dead Beat Dad" Sam knows his little girl, Stacy, is dead. How could she not be, right? He should have went to find her and his ex-wife but of course he didn't. He jumped on the first bus to save himself. But what if she was alive? What if she hadn't been bit? Sam had to try and find out one way or the other, no matter how long it took to travel to Seattle. Along the way, there are people to meet and zombies to kill. This is a great story and I highly recommend it.

Excerpt from Review: "...The edition of Zombies: A Brief History of Decay that I received was still not a finalized edition and thus there were some problems reading it. The illustrations were completely separate from the writing and often times the words of two characters would actually be jumbled together, making things very confusing. And yet, I muddled my way through, because I felt the bones of the story were still interesting enough. I would love to see a finalized edition with the words and the illustrations together. What I’ve seen of the illustrations were awesome and it would be a much more enjoyable experience to not try to guess as to who was talking."

Solid Zombie survivor graphic novel. great artwork and interesting writing. A lot of dark points, but with a Zombie story it is hard to avoid such things

if you like Zombie apocalypse stories you will enjoy this.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not going to rate this book. I don't know if it's because it's translated from another language or if it's because it's an uncorrected proof, or even because I'm reading it on a Kindle, but it didn't translate well. It's like a graphic novel, but instead of the words being with the pictures, the words are all after the pictures, so it's hard to make sense of it. And that takes away the enjoyment of it.

However, the pictures are absolutely gorgeous. It really does look like it's going to be an amazing graphic novel. I will definitely try it again after it's been published.

I loved the art for this title: soft-focus, claustrophobia. But the story: rather unoriginal and less than engaging. Sorry. I kept waiting for the plot to quicken and it never did.

Pretty standard zombie graphic novel with some good wit and humor thrown into the hard broiled story.

This book/graphic novel is a no from me. The art is unengaging and dull, the text so tiny i could barely read it. It just seems like a copy of the walking dead comics but with less originality and poor artwork.