Surrounded By Death #1 is a comic created by Joe Martinez and Johnny C.. How would people live during a zombie apocalypse if they didn’t have to worry about the zombies? Our story takes place in a mall where about 30 survivors reside. They currently have Vaseball games, a polling board, and the smoothie machine is broken. Our boy Pete is the resident maintenance man and is constantly called on to fix things. It’s his job to keep the mall from falling apart. Matt on the other hand is the de facto leader of this group, though he never really has to make tough decisions. The interactions between characters in this story are the same kind you can imagine having between you and your friends. Petty drama, crushes, and annoying folk are as accurate here as they are in reality. While most zombie media in the 2000’s follow a certain mantra, “Zombies are bad, but humans are worse.” With that you get stories of a ragtag group of people traveling around trying to avoid zombies while running into murderous, Mad Max-style gangs who kill for power or just for the sake of killing. This is a refreshing new take on a genre that some might say has gone a bit stale.
When a comic has a heavy focus on its characters it is very important for them to have personality. We experience their personality through what they say and also through physical expressions. This comic is has very physically expressive characters. If this comic had no words you’d probably still be able to follow the story. With the faces they make and the actions they perform, this is a visual treat. Once you get to know you’ll see that even their outfits match their personalities. Even the mall itself is drawn with character. The brick interior, tile floors, knockoff stores, it’s almost as if you’re walking around yourself.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes.
“Would I like this?”
If you love the zombie genre but wanted a new perspective you should give this a spin. Also a good read for slice-of-life fans.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
PG-13.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“It’s the apocalypse! Why do you even have a purse?!”
GlobalComix Link: https://globalcomix.com/c/surrounded-by-death/chapters/en/1/1
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yourjohnnyc/surrounded-by-death-vol-1-mallrats-meets-the-walking-dead-0?ref=profile_saved_projects_live
***** I received this review copy for free. *****
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 27
Violent Pages: 3, for 11% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 2
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 1
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 1
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 1
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
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