By Jacob Cordas — Zombies are one of the hardest horrors to pull off. For every Dawn of the Dead (1978), there is a Dawn of the Dead (2004). Zombies as a metaphor have struggled with a lack of consistency. Even the master of zombie fiction, George A. Romero, would bounce around with the possibility of what they could be, often as a metaphor — ranging from bigotry to consumerism. Modern adaptations of the monster have struggled with this fluidity of framing leading to the best examples being disparate in theme — Shaun of the Dead with zombies as the oppressiveness of adulthood, The Night Eats The World with zombies as loneliness, Brain-Dead with zombies as Momism manifest.

To a certain degree, this is the beauty of a monster so human that the wrong lighting makes you see yourself. But this heterogeneous subgenre can often drown even great artists. You add in the extra pressure of having to perform under the legacy of your father, and Cold Dead War had the makings of a nepotistic failure. With an inspired take on zombies, however, George C. Romero and German Ponce have successfully crafted the most promising take on zombies since Train to Busan.

We’ll start with the art. German Ponce (Foriegn Matter) with work from Gabriel Rearte (Pellucidar, Witchblade) bounces between the chaos of war and the strict formalism of civilian life. This panel breakdown texturizes and stresses sequences exquisitely. You immediately get a sense of the stress and horror of war before anything supernatural has occurred. Especially with the contrast with the forced structure of post-war life, you can’t escape the stress of living through that nightmare.

I especially loved a page that followed a gunner in his small glass hell-room. He fires across panels, overlapping his fear and danger onto everything else. As planes fall around him without any clarity as to their relationship to him, he feels both comforted and terrified by his successes. It’s a testament to the strength of strong page layout that you could remove all the words and the emotion still carries through it.

Protobunker’s (Where Monsters Dwell) coloring heightens the dichotomy ingrained in the comic’s time jumps using a threateningly dull pallet with occasional yellows and reds bursting through for war mixed with a far more traditional, borderline primary colors for the home sequences. It’s exactly what coloring should do in a comic, heightening and elaborating on the dramatic tension instead of merely adding a few new shades to experience the tension with.

But now let’s talk about the writing. George C. Romero has big shoes to fill and does his absolute best to fill them. He smartly avoids depicting zombies for the majority of the issue, instead centering it almost exclusively on a human conflict that subtly cements the core metaphor of the comic. The pacing being incredibly well done naturally growing and developing until the inevitable overlap of worlds.

If there were any major critique to be thrown at the writing, it’s that the dialogue feels stilted more often than not. It’s still character focused and doesn’t impede enjoyment but there is a mechanical sense to the dialogue that narratively doesn’t exist anywhere else. But, if we’re being frank, I would never accuse his father of having especially good dialogue in his films so this might be a true apple-doesn’t-fall-far-from-the-tree scenario. He seems to have inherited all the good and bad parts of his father’s work and, if your father revolutionized a genre and style, that’s probably not a terrible thing.

With all the pittraps this could’ve fallen into, I am happy to report the strong opening issue that is Cold Dead War #1. I’m happy to say it develops characters quickly and efficiently. I’m happy to say the art, specially in panel design, captures emotions and tones fluidly. And I’m happy to say, I suspect the future issues might scare me a bit.

But be warned, if anything bites me, please put me down.

Overall: Cold Dead War #1 is a strong start to a zombie series that creates a dynamic metaphor out of a near tired antagonist. 8.5/10

REVIEW: Cold Dead War #1

Cold Dead War #1
Writer: George C. Romero
Penciler: German Ponce
Inkers: German Ponce (Pages 1-7); Gabriel Rearte (Page 8-24)
Colorist: Protobunker
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Publisher: Heavy Metal
Price: $3.99
Trained to kill enemies of American democracy and freedom, the Pacific Pearl team continue to carry on their mission, even now, long after they'd already given their lives to the cause. A Horror-War series set across the past, present and future, a freak occurrence reanimates an island of freshly killed soldiers in the wake of the Battle of Midway in World War 2. Cold Dead War is the official sequel to the well-known Heavy Metal animated film segment "B-17," written by George C. Romero, son of legendary film director George A. Romero and heir to the Romero Dead media franchise!
Release Date: Mar 24, 2021