Written by Mike Desjarlais
Art by David House
Reanimated soldier awakens to a creepy old man and his plucky little girl sidekick, with government conspiracy underfoot. Good ol’ family fun.
The Story
Sgt. D.K. Burton wakes up in Vietnam. Technically in the ground in Vietnam. As the title might imply, this book is about an American corpse, a reanimated one. Not a quite a zombie, D.K. maintains his mental faculties and desires for food and smokes he had when alive. After the local Vietnamese villager who performed his last rites stumbles upon D.K., more or less undead, they converse while troublesome rumblings are afoot with the U.S. Government.
This book seems to be setting up another top-secret paranormal paramilitary organization in the vein of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. with the issue’s supplemental sketch work and descriptions revealing other abnormal characters. With that in mind, the title doesn’t seem particularly original. Even still, the Vietnam overshadow adds a certain freshness as opposed to the frequently-used WWII for occult stories.
The dialog is workable. D.K.’s confusion about the undead leads to a chuckle. The main anal retentive point I have is that no one ever says an ampersand. Typing out “and” is perfectly acceptable.
The real sticking point is that just not enough time to develop this story with only eight pages of actual story. Unfortunately, that also means there isn’t a lot of time to develop interest in following the rest of the series. The simple concept of a zombie Vietnam vet or a political government conspiracy that will be dated by 2016 will not be enough in this preview to entice a potential audience. It’s not bad, just not enough.
5/10
The Art
The book has an unpolished look. Some of the positioning and proportions, especially of facial features, are inconsistent and off. Going back over it and fixing the parts that don’t look right before applying inks and colors would have helped. The bright coloring and thick lines give it a toony look, which doesn’t work with the shifting art quality. It leaves an awkward, somewhat amateur feel.
It’s not awful though. D.K. looks fine as a reanimated corpse. Everyone else though could use some touching up. The elderly Vietnamese fellow Trang looks particularly creepy, and I don’t think that’s on purpose. He’s not helped by walking around with a little girl.
4/10
The look of the book isn’t going to capture many readers, and there’s so little meat on the inside to keep the ones it goes get. Stick with giving out the full-fledged issue so people can have something to actually read.
Overall (Not an Average) 4/10
The Review
Story 5/10
Art 4/10
Overall (Not an Average) 4/10