Marvel Zombies
Marvel Zombies | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Genre | |
Publication date | December 2005 – April 2007 |
No. of issues | 5 |
Main character(s) | ISBN 0-7851-2277-X |
Marvel Zombies is a five-issue
Following an adaptation in the episode "What If... Zombies?!" of the Disney+ animated series What If...?, an upcoming animated series of the same name is in development.
Publication history
While writing Ultimate Fantastic Four, Mark Millar decided to introduce an alternate Earth populated by zombies in the "Crossover" story-arc, featured in issues #21-23. Marvel Comics liked Millar's idea so, as he wrote the issues, Marvel sought out pitches for a spin-off miniseries featuring that world entitled Marvel Zombies.[1] To revisit the zombie world, Marvel hired Robert Kirkman to write and Sean Phillips to illustrate it. Kirkman was Marvel's first choice to write Marvel Zombies, an offer Kirkman immediately accepted because of his love for zombies and Marvel comic books, feeling that he couldn't pass up such an opportunity. He also expressed excitement upon learning which artist would be in charge of illustrating the series; Kirkman was a longtime fan of Phillips' work, like in DC Comics' Sleeper.[2] Kirkman also didn't fear being typecasted as "the superhero guy" or "the zombie guy" due to his work on the series, feeling that there was enough variety in his superhero work to keep things interesting.[3]
Kirkman wrote the series in a way that would work for readers who hadn't read the Ultimate Fantastic Four issues featuring the zombified superheroes, despite noting that readers of that series would have more insight with spin-off's characters, especially Magneto, due to his larger role in the first issue. Comparing the protagonists with the "slow moving, mindless Romero style zombies" he used in The Walking Dead, Kirkman reasoned that the Marvel characters, either heroes or villains, retained their usual personalities and powers, only driven to devour flesh by their uncontrollable hunger, with the miniseries depicting how they deal with their hunger and how they interact with each other. Like all kind of walking dead, it was decided to establish how the zombified Marvel characters could specifically be killed in the story's context. Kirkman also added some black comedy to the story, and included some gore like most zombie stories do, expressing some shock at how Marvel allowed him and Phillips to incorporate those elements.[2] An early idea Kirkman had for the series involved Luke Cage surviving the zombie plague as the sole human protagonist, given the character's unbreakable skin and that Millar's scripts didn't explicitly identify some characters separately. However, after seeing the finished art for Millar's issues, Kirkman discovered that Greg Land had already drawn Luke Cage as a zombie, so he dropped the idea, which Marvel apparently didn't like anyway.[1]
To illustrate the miniseries, Phillips used an art style similar to that he used on Ed Brubaker's Sleeper. As the story was a sequel to the Ultimate Fantastic Four story featuring the zombie infested world, Phillips kept the look of the characters consistent to how Land drew them, with Phillips drawing them with the same costumes Land gave them but with Phillips' own style. He particularly liked to illustrate the zombie versions of Thor and Captain America. Drawing the superheroes as zombies was the most difficult part of the process for him, as he had grown accustomed at drawing characters in street clothes but was forced to draw their muscles in spandex costumes again. Phillips overall enjoyed working with Kirkman in the series, feeling that the most enjoyable part of the process was "playing around" with the huge character cast Kirkman assembled [2]
Plot
Within the Marvel Multiverse is an alternate Earth designated Earth-2149, which contains alternate zombie versions of Marvel superheroes. The story begins as an unknown superhero from another dimension, brought by the "Hunger", crash lands before infecting the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four and almost all other superheroes. The infection spreads by contact with the blood of the victim, usually through a bite by an infected individual. The zombie superheroes largely retain their intellect, personality and superpowers, and are able to function regardless of the damage to their brain,[4] although they are consistently driven by the "Hunger" for human flesh.
The series begins where the Crossover story-arc ended, with
The Acolytes return to Earth to find Magneto, but instead, discover a still-living
Meanwhile, the zombies have decided that the flesh of other zombies just isn't satisfying. Galactus then arrives on Earth and is attacked by the zombies, but he repels them easily. Giant-Man, Iron Man and Bruce Banner create a device that amplifies the powers they gained from the Silver Surfer, and together with Captain America, Luke Cage, Spider-Man and Wolverine they are able to injure Galactus. The cosmic-powered zombies fight off zombified versions of several supervillains, although Captain America is killed by the Red Skull, and then proceed to devour Galactus. Giant-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Spider-Man and Wolverine are then infused with Galactus' power cosmic', the group thus becomes collective Galacti.
Five years later, Black Panther, the Acolytes, and the Wasp, restored with a cybernetic body, return to Earth to find the planet depopulated. Unknown to them, the Zombie Galacti have taken their hunger to the stars. In the final scenes, an intelligent alien race on a distant planet is fearful of the coming of Galactus, as they can see the signs of his imminent arrival in the night sky. To their horror, the Zombie Galacti land on their world instead and immediately begin to consume the populace.
Sequels
An
A sequel to the original series, the five-issue
In 2006, the October issue of Wizard magazine featured a one-page Marvel Zombies comic by artist Sean Phillips called "Eat the Neighbors". It parodied Hostess pastry advertisements featured in the Marvel titles in the 1970s, which showcased Marvel superheroes defeating villains by offering them snacks. In this instance, Spider-Man, Captain America and Iron Man serve two children as "Hostees Meat Pies" after the children mistake them for legitimate superheroes.
Another humorous one-shot comic book was also published in 2007 featuring the alternate universe animal hero Spider-Ham and titled Ultimate Civil War: Spider-Ham. Spider-Ham accidentally crosses over into Earth-2149 and becomes, as J. Michael Straczynski puts it, "Undead Ham".[5]
Secret Wars (2015)
The Marvel Zombies universe was featured in the 2015 Secret Wars storyline where it also had its own tie-in miniseries,[6] Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies. The Battleworld domain of the Marvel Zombies is called the Deadlands where it, Ultron's domain, Perfection, and Annihilation's realm, New Xandar, all are separated from the other Battleworld domains by a wall called SHIELD, which is mostly made from Ben Grimm.[7] The zombies and Ultron's drones spent several years battling until they formed an 'alliance'. They start by targeting the Deadland resistance, led by surviving heroes the Vision, Wonder Man, and Jim Hammond, who gather those exiled beyond the Wall into a secure city they have established. At the time of the attack, the three heroes have managed to rescue a version of Hank Pym exiled from a Wild-West-era zone,[8] who is able to use his counterpart's notes to devise a means of shutting down the hive mind of Ultron's drones despite his more primitive background, at the cost of sacrificing the Vision and Wonder Man to make the machine work (although Wonder Man's android lover is reconfigured so that she can die in Hammond's place).[9]
During the core Secret Wars miniseries,
Collected editions
There are several trade paperbacks collecting the various stories:
- Marvel Zombies (collects Marvel Zombies #1–5, hardcover, 136 pages, August 2006, ISBN 0-7851-2277-X)
- Marvel Zombies (collects Marvel Zombies #1–5, softcover, 136 pages, October 2007, ISBN 978-0-7851-2014-8)
- Marvel ISBN 0-7851-4026-3)
Other related collections include:
- Marvel Zombies: The Covers (by ISBN 0-7851-2908-1)
Merchandise
There is a range of supporting merchandise based on the characters. Diamond Select have produced Marvel Zombie Minimates,[12] action figures[13] and a number of mini-busts.[14]
In the
In other media
Television
- The Marvel Zombies series was adapted into the fifth episode of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) / Hank Pym.
- Following the airing of "What If... Zombies?!", talks of a spin-off series based on and named after Marvel Zombies was announced.[15][16]
Video games
- Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 sees him witnessing an alternate universe featuring zombified versions of Marvel superheroes similar to Marvel Zombies.[citation needed]
- Zombie Venom appears in Marvel: Future Fight.[citation needed]
See also
- DCeased - a similar storyline published by DC Comics.
- Infestation - a series similar to Marvel Zombies by IDW Publishing.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Publishing)
References
- ^ CBR.com. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
- ^ CBR.com. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
- ^ Frisch, Marc-Oliver (2011-12-17). "Interview with Robert Kirkman". Comicgate. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
- ^ Robert Kirkman (w), Sean Phillips, June Chung (a), June Chung (col), Randy Gentile (let). Marvel Zombies, no. 1, p. 12/1 (2005). Dan Buckley.
- ^ Newsarama.com: JMS ON SPIDER-HAM Archived 2007-03-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Newsarama | GamesRadar+". 6 July 2023.
- ^ "Marvel | GamesRadar+". 3 March 2023.
- ^ Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies #2
- ^ Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies #5
- ^ Secret Wars #8
- ^ Secret Wars #9
- ^ Marvel Zombies Minimates Boxed Set Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Diamond Select turns Marvel Zombies into action figures Archived 2009-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, Newsarama, February 9, 2007
- ^ DST Brings Captain America Back from the Grave Archived 2011-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Hipes, Patrick (November 12, 2021). "Disney+ Day: All The Streamer's Film & TV News From Premiere Dates To Series Orders". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- Simplecast.
External links
- Official website
- Marvel Zombies full cover gallery
- Marvel Zombies at the Grand Comics Database
- Marvel Zombies at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Marvel Spotlight: Marvel Zombies at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Talking Marvel Zombies With Robert Kirkman, Newsarama, October 3, 2005
- Marvel Zombies on Marvel Database, a Marvel Comics wiki