Horror Comic Review - Askold Akisin - The Zombie

Tweet

2008 – The Mammoth Book Of Zombie Comics – spoiler alerts Most of the comics in this very diverse anthology from Mammoth are drawn from pulp comics from the 1950’s and 1960’s but Akisin’s tale was specially commissioned for the book, though it is not totally new, as the author is retelling a very traditional African folk tale and very moving it is too. There is no horror here, just bravery and sadness. A young tribesman watches helplessly as his dear brother sickens and dies. Something troubles the boy after personally burying his brother – the lack of rigor mortis. Revisiting the grave he finds the body has been stolen and suspecting voodoo he starts a quest for the sorcerer responsible. Following slender clues he heads far into the mountains and finds his brother among other raised corpses working mindlessly in a quarry. The boy picks his brother up on his shoulders and carries him all the way back home. The dead man offers no resistance on the long gruelling journey, and weakens and dies all over again properly this time before the boy reburies him. Sad, poetic and beautifully drawn. We see no gore, biting or threat from the zombies and we never even see the sorcerer. This is just about a man rescuing the body and soul of his kinsman, not for an afterlife, but for the peace offered by the grave. Strange to find a zombie story that leaves you feeling warm inside rather than spooked. Arthur Chappell