The Zombie Hunters
by Jake Estrada
Welcome to the fifth edition of Under the Net.
I will be rating the elements of the book on a scale of one through five.
One is poor, two is mediocre, three is fair, four is good, and five is excellent.
The title I am reviewing is The Zombie hunters. The comic has been around a while and updates often. The creator of the book is Jenny Romanchuk. To catch up with the story, you can go to the first pages and read the story in its entirety. Zombies are pretty big in comics, and I must say this one is a bit different with dashes of comic relief and it feels like I am reading an adult version of a twisted Scooby Doo episode. I am not saying this to be mean or against the material, but that is what I felt as I went through the series. The basic premise is that zombies have taken over. There are people out there that have nestled themselves on an island, and they come inland to salvage supplies. When they do, they run into some pretty ugly zombies out to take a bite out of their faces.
There are some key characters in the book. Charlie is a half-life, which is a half zombie, half human who has massive amounts of strength and can take off heads with one fatal blow. Red Halo is a scientific Para-military group that has set up the law and order in this bold, new world. The cast is rather large.
The creator has come up with a unique way of showing how some people are affected. For some people, the virus is in a dormant stage, but they can’t interact with other people or they will infect others. Furthermore, the scientist has come up with a serum to try to combat the zombie virus.
The web comic is full color, and it updates weekly on Mondays and sometimes on Fridays. If the book goes on hiatus, the creator lets you know what is going on through a mini story. I thought that was pretty cool.
Let me get to the breakdown of the book and its elements.
The Art
The art had an anime feel to it mixed with a sense of photorealistic elements. At times, the art is really detailed and the characters look great, and when the action gets intense it becomes cartoony anime style that makes you wonder what is going on. I think it works though. You may get thrown a bit in the beginning due to the nature of the art changing, but I think it works.
ART: 4 STARS
The Writing
The writing does a fine job of bringing the characters together. At first, we were shown these characters on one of their first salvaging jobs, and then it exploded into an infestation of zombies trying to attack the group; the group acted very fast trying to escape. Some people may be turned off because the story is not very bleak. In most zombie stories, the world is very bleak and humanity is on the verge of becoming extinct. In this world, the zombies just feel like they are a roach infestation. The people walk around pretty freely and talk and mess around like they are a group of college-bound students on a vacation. There is real no sense of dread with the core characters. They all feel safe and all come off as zombie hunting experts that have nothing to worry about. When they go out hunting, they play this game with one another and do things that are so zany that it does give you a brief chuckle. When a zombie comes along, you know the lead characters will get past this issue, but what they do turns into a comedy routine and it gives you a brief laugh. I think it’s different. The read is easy because I went through over 300 pages within a few hours.
WRITING: 3 STARS
Originality
The Zombie Hunters takes a concept that has been done for years now, but it does do a few nice things that I would like to point out. None of the characters are really in any danger, but the character of Charlie, whom is a half-life, is interesting because he was a zombie. He was injected with a serum that controlled his zombie urges and brought him closer to his former self. He has no memory of being a zombie or a human. He is a new species. it is nice to see someone take the zombie concept and try to do something original. It kind of reminds me of those old Romero zombie films where people were trying to make zombies stop eating human flesh and work with the humans. It is done in this story. A zombie is transformed, and he is pretty awesome. He does not like guns, but he can punch holes in people’s heads with one punch.
I like how the zombie virus is viewed as a virus like HIV or some other blood-borne illness. There are dozens of people infected with the virus, and they walk around with the illness. They will become zombies when they expire, and this can be years from now in this world. I also like how the Red Halo science group is trying to find a way to cure the zombies, which they did successfully with Charlie.
I give Jenny props for some of her ideas on this title. Lots of work has been put into the book and it shows.
The premise has been done, but the story is still original with sparks of comedy and the ideas about the zombie infection.
ORIGINALITY: 4 STARS.
Grand Total: 3.7 Stars
The Pros
The comic has been running a long time; there is no sense of slowing down. It has been done by the same creator for years. The art is nice, it flows and it fits the comic well. The world of The Zombie Hunters is happy go-lucky, not very bleak, uplifting, and its fun. You get a good laugh.
The Cons
The real issue is that there is no sense of danger in this world. You’d expect some sense of tension. There is none here. The zombies are just an annoyance like roaches. You can slap a zombie away and keep on trucking as if they just came out from under the floor boards.
My Final Word
The web-comic is a good comic. If you want mean zombies, and a world where the humans are on the verge of dying and have become totally disgusting individuals, this is not the comic for you. If you want a happy book where people have hope, and they know that zombies are no more then a minor annoyance and you want some slapstick humor, then check this book out!
The comic updates on Mondays (sometimes on Fridays). Check it out here:
http://www.thezombiehunters.com
Enjoy folks!
Jake Estrada
Email me at estradajake@yahoo.com for website suggestions. Thanks.
Jake Estrada is a published author who holds degrees in Multimedia Design and Criminal Justice. He is a father to three wonderful children and married to his beautiful wife, Beth. You can find his comics at
http://graphicly.com/estrada-mediaand other fine online stores.
(September 30, 2013) What do you get when a comic-loving librarian and a professional smartass team up to poke fun at an erotic bestseller? Fifty Shades of Brains, a smart, snide and completely sick zombie apocalypse send-up of Fifty Shades of Grey. The soft launch occurred this summer to ensure that EVERYONE had a chance to get the book for Halloween. The first fifteen chapters can be read for free at www.fiftyshadesofbrains.com. Digital copies of the book are available via the Kindle, Nook, and the Kobo store. DRM free copies area available via Gumdrop. Print editions can be ordered from INGRAM.
LOS ANGELES, CA—
