Zombie godfather George A. Romero joins forces with Marvel comics to pen the latest installment in his undead portfolio, Empire of the Dead. It’s post-apocalyptic New York City and just as people are learning to exist with the ‘stinkers,’ new horrors emerge from the shadows. Penny Jones, a Columbia University doctor, has been embedded with a team of less-than-reputable ground forces in an attempt to study remembered behavior in the minds of the living dead. As a devout zombie fan I try and refrain from joining the “zombies are played out” chorus, but after the big reveal at the end of this issue, I’m starting to give.

In an attempt to evolve the genre, Romero has strayed from zombie lore and introduced supernatural aspects not otherwise seen in traditional walking dead story lines. I’ll withhold spoilers, but seeing that these aspects are introduced in the first issue, rather than at the end of a long story arc, it’s not much of a surprise. Maybe zombie fans want to evolve, but I’m in the other camp, I was hoping for a traditional zombie read from none other than the master himself. So after reaching the last panel, I was, suffice it to say, disappointed.

Illustrator Alex Maleev rarely draws anything short of fantastic, and while this issue is no different, it was tough to enjoy the artwork when I wasn’t buying into the story. His overhead of Central Park is definitely the most noteworthy piece, it almost looks made to be a framed poster. Whether I pick up the second issue or not (still undecided), this one reminded me to get Maleev’s Moon Knight run, which I’ve been dying to read (no pun intended).

Like I said, maybe I’m the odd man out, and people do want to see the shambling dead merge with other creatures of the night. If that’s you, then definitely pick this up. Otherwise, for those of us traditionalists that want their church with an 80 year old organist and predictable sermons, rather than a praise band and a coffee shop in the foyer…you should look elsewhere.

Story: George A. Romero Art: Alex Maleev
Story: 5 Art: 8 Overall: 6.5 Recommendation: Read