A teen version of The Walking Dead.
Deals with struggles for power and direction in life when the world has really fallen apart.
I immediately enjoyed these characters. I would totally follow them on more adventures.
The story took twists in turns in surprising and dark ways.
I think that some of the translations were a little off, at some points I was left confused.
Overall, I enjoyed it and would read more.
3.5 stars

Even though I am not a huge Zombie fan, I really likes this take on the genre, as if focuses on what happens WAY after the zombie apocalypse, when the zombies have basically killed all the people and are now dying of hunger because they have no food source.
In this world a small group of boys have been able to survive by working together. Everything is fine until a couple of wandering girls show up and turn their lives upside down.
I won't like, this gets dark fast, and the ending is not exactly happy, but the last few pages promise a follow up, so I will look forward to it with optimism.

The kids in the story are the survivors of a zombie attack. They have lost parents and siblings. They go out and kill the few zombies that are still alive. Most of the zombies have “died” from starvation. As life goes on for the boys, two gils appear on the street that the house they are staying at. At first the boys don’t know what to do. Are the girls human or what? What will thee boys do? Will the girls stay with the boys? One. Of the girls is in a wheelchair. They need a new battery for it as the current one is dead.

In this. Graphic novel, one sees the boys surviving as a group. They have learned to trust each other and do their chores. It made me wore how they met originally and became a group. They all surprised me and kept my attention. I must admit that I was sad when I came to the end of the book as I was enjoying it. It’s a great read. The author wrote an excellent novel. The illustrator caught the author’s story perfectly with the illustrations.

received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.com and the publisher to read and review.

I am not a fan of the art style. The story was fine, but not anything stellar. All in all, I was disappointed, sadly. I wish I had more redeeming things to say about it, honestly. I could barely even finish it. I'm sure it has an audience, but I'm not it.

I don't know what it is about kids and post-apocalypses in Europe but they never slow down when it comes to how childhood is an essential survival tool. After a number of traumas, these kids banded together and formed a culture where they fight off all of the zombies in their town. They even made video zines out of it. Like all kids they have fun, drive each other crazy, and try to look out for one another. But when two girls show up, this all changes. Thankfully nobody starts having dumb love triangles, but the presence brings up some less than fun things. Like despite doing their best to cope, some of these kids remember that there are still traumas that they're dealing with. No amount of power fantasies with guns and crossbows can protect them from each other, especially when it comes to how dependencies and dynamics are challenged.

KidZ is a wild ride of a book. Recommended for a more mature audience, but a raucous use of the graphic novel medium.

This was fun to blast through. Kids living in a post-apocalyptic world, trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. It's basically a blend of The Walking Dead with Kid Paddle or something.

These kids are reckless, wild, and violent when needed, but its the intrigue behind their secret back story that makes you want to stick around.

I did find that it rushed in its character development a bit too much, not allowing them to shine, and making those moments where they just scream at each other stand out more than needed. Otherwise, it does everything else within a post-apocalyptic world just right to make you want for a second volume.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

Review originally posted here: https://sammythecritic.blogspot.com/2020/10/kidz-vol-1-review.html

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟑.𝟓/𝟓

Synopsis: The first volume of the new Ablaze series KidZ focuses on a ragtag group of pre/young teens trying to survive a zombie post-apocalypse.


My Thoughts: This debut trade paperback definitely shows promise despite some uneven edges and whatnot. While zombie post-apocalypse stories aren’t by any means uncharted territory, depicting form the point of view of kids without the presence of adults (excluding one who turns out to be a shady personality in one intense showdown sequence) is a pretty original and genius idea. To begin, I do agree with the Stranger Things and The Walking Dead analogy in the note from the publisher. KidZ contains the interpersonal drama survival element seen in the latter, albeit with less gratuitous blood and gore, and the excitement, nostalgia-inducing wonder, and emotion present in the latter. For all the traumatic hell the cast perseveres, the plot manages to avoid falling prey to the old endlessly bleak, depressing future trope common throughout these types of stories without being too idyllic either because, at the end of the day, they’re still just kids trying to get by and make the best out of their sordid plight. So of course, they’re not going to spend pages profoundly ruminating over existential threats and I don’t expect them to. Like most individuals in their age group, they have those pubescent moments where they goof around, make sophomoric remarks, and engage in such behavior, particularly the male characters. The simple character designs and parts of the background also evoke a childlike wonder and expressiveness reminding me of those in a Raina Telgemeier or Noelle Stevenson comic but with an uncanny element to it when infused in this much darker setting where even one main character in the team dies at the end who happens to be one of my favorite ones.

Not surprisingly with my 3.5 rating, for all my laudatory words, I have critical ones too. Though I have complimented the energetic art, by some later parts, it could become too confusing to the point it was difficult to discern who is doing what and what is taking place. The occasionally choppy dialogue doesn’t help with that either. Another issue I have with the book was how the artist depicted the oldest female cast member Polly who at best is probably 13-14 years old in cleavage which is weirdly sexual (nothing explicit is shown though). I understand the point it came up in scenes that were clearly meant to display the boys’ hormonal perversion but at times it felt like they were putting too much focus on it.


Final Thoughts: It might not be perfect but KidZ does leave out a good first impression giving me hope that it will improve over time into something really special. I look forward to coming installments and recommend it if you stories featuring ragtag misfits and post-apocalypse. I think I might look further into Ablaze Publishing’s other oeuvre to see what else they have to offer for my insatiable literary tastes.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with my first advance ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

KidZ Vol 1 is cute and funny and just a great comic to read. It reminds me of a cross up of the old Kids Next Door cartoon and Zombieland. In a dystopian future, kids survive on their own after their parents go missing or are turned to Zombies. But kids will still be kids even when horror comes to life. The main cast takes a hit or two for some major twists and the ending was pretty twisted but the story is dark and fun and will leave you coming back for more. The art is cute but gruesome and colorful for added entertainment. I look forward to Volume two and whatever future is in store for the KidZ.. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

Review to come December 2020 on blog/goodreads.

I received this book from Netgalley/publisher in exchange of an honest review.

Welcome to a new world, a world which has been eaten away by zombies. We follow a group of kids as they try to make way through this world. Try to kick some zombie butt. It all seems pretty OK going until a new member appears, and this girl I liked a lot, Polly.

It was a pretty exciting volume despite there not being that many zombies around. I think we see 2 of them. And then there are the flashbacks which contain some more. A bit of a shame there weren't more zombies, but on the other hand, good for the kids that it is just a bit safer for them. Though of course, they cannot let their guards down, because zombies still rule the world. I loved that most of the kids knew how to handle weapons or items to do something about zombies. I have read enough zombie fiction to know not everyone can do it.

Polly was the best character in the book. I loved that she wasn't so eager to just follow along Brooks' rules. Instead she questioned them. She talked to the other members, befriended them quite quickly, I loved how she was for her sister who is in a wheelchair. As the story continues we find out more about Polly, about why she wants to go to Pittsburgh, and she keeps getting more and more kickass as the story progresses.

What was going on with Brooks (the leader) and who that person was that popped up in the toilet during the night? I had my suspicions. Comes with years of reading zombie/post-apocalyptic fiction. You just know how some people are going to go. You realise that not everyone takes the zombies in a sane way. I was already not that big of a fan of Brooks given how strict he handled the group and didn't like strangers to come to his group. It felt a lot like Lord of the Flies. One boy to rule them all. Or maybe Walking Dead (which I didn't see or read all the way).

I would have liked to see more of the twins, for now I just called them Rule 1 and Rule 2 given that each time they popped up they were spouting some rule or another. It just got kind of hilarious.

The ending made me both happy and sad.

I am still not sure how I felt about all the name calling towards the boy who called himself Spielberg. He did his best. He tried hard. He may not have been a fighter or someone who could run hard, but he had his talents.

I love the extras that were included at the end the book, some were funny, but we get some more clearance on some things which weren't that surprising, but still shocked the hell out of me. Holy HELL.

I really liked the art in this book, though for me Brooks/Mickey were just the same character, at times I was confused, like with the end. :P

I can't wait for the next book in the series, I definitely want more of this story, more of these characters. Plus, I am curious how the situation is in the other parts of the country. Recommended if you look for something fun and spooky (at times).

Title: KidZ Vol 1
Written by: Aurélien ducoudray
Publisher: Diamond Book Distributors
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels 
Rating: 4/5 stars

So I have just finished reading "Kidz Vol.1" and the first thing about this book is it is quite an amazing work done by author Aurelien ducoudray. I loved the setting of the novel, the writing style and presentation.

The story is set on a dystopian land where the population has turned into zombies due to the effect of a terrible epidemic happened three months back. Now those hungry zombies are looking for fresh meat to devour. Our story revolves around 10 years old Ben who has also lost his parents in this epidemic but he still hopes to survive. He along with a few of his friends makes a team who hunts zombies and try to survive amidst the zombie apocalypse.

Will he be able to survive and protect his team?

Will he be able to get everyone out from this dystopian land?

To get the answers you have to go through this work. So what are you waiting for? Pre-order now.

My Take:

The first thing I loved about this work is the setting and storyline, which instantly engages the readers and makes them curious to know the end. Though many works have been previously done on zombie apocalypse, but this one is a bit different, chiefly because Aurelien has tried to present it from the perspective of a child. It is the children's battle for survival what is very interesting to read.

As far as the writing style is concerned, there is no denying the fact that Ducoudray is a master storyteller and in this work too he has once again proved it. Illustrator Jocelyn Joret has done an equally fantastic job in making the story alive. The use of colours to set the atmosphere is absolutely brilliant. Also they way he has tried to connect the outside world with the inside agony of the child is truly commendable.

Overall, it was a fascinating experience. I give this work 4 stars and recommend it to all the graphic novel lovers.

Happy Reading

I would not recommend it for middle grades. Yes, for those above this age group those who plan to read this series be warned of strong language, rude characters, gory (as is obvious from the description and yes, it is!), body shaming and well, these kids are the characters you would not like as most of them are the bullies who you want to avoid.

It's fine without mean characters in a comic series who fight zombies and such 'biohazardous creatures' (my words and something which are not mentioned in the comic). Yes, me judging characters when I don't like them. They seem high and dry from page 1.

The artwork is so apt with the storyline and the illustration is neat. But the second half of the book, the art gets worse as well as

There's no plot progression and the characters got more problematic towards the second half. There's not much of actual zombie and human fight but more of sexual harrassment and dry jokes. What's with all that focus on sexual stuffs towards the end? Trying to make the female characters look ugly didn't help either. (I am pissed off.)

I wanted a story. A high adrenaline one nonetheless if it so wanted to present one.

It's okay. It seems like this series isn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.