Gwen Dylan feels like her entire life is a dead end, but that’s not surprising since she’s a zombie. Fortunately, she only has to chow down on brains once a month to keep from going all drooly, and her grave digging job even lets her keep from noshing on the living. Of course there is a catch. She gets the last memories of the brain she devours. When her latest meal was a murder victim, she has to solve the mystery. With the help of her hep cat stuck in the 60s ghost friend and wereterrier buddy she tracks down a mysterious mummy that warns her that she has an amazing gift and powerful enemies.
iZombie is funny, quirky, odd, and very cool while never seeming like its ‘trying too hard’. A great deal of credit goes to the artwork of Michael ‘Madman’ Allred. His quirky silver age inspired line work adds flair to every book he’s ever worked on. The weird mythology of monsters hidden from human society and hunted by secret organizations is far from original and is only saved by the oddness and humor in how it is presented. My one gripe is that there is a totally unnecessary undressing scene in the first issue. It’s pure pandering and pretty insulting to the audience that we won’t keep reading without gratuitous cheesecake panels. Beyond that one ill-advised page, I think that Gwen is a great character and this is an interesting new world for Roberson to explore. As evidenced by this and his Cinderella book, Roberson has a knack for writing believable leading ladies. Comic fans that are looking for something different and cool of both genders should pick this one up.
