Zombie Makeout Club Vol. 1: DeathWish

Title: Zombie Makeout Club Vol. 1: DeathWish
Author: Peter Richardson
Series: Zombie Makeout Club #1
First Published: November 9, 2022
Publisher: Ablaze
Pages: 160
Genre: Horror
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Rating:


Synopsis:

A rebellious high school student is brought back to life in a strange underground facility after committing suicide. Now, she must piece together not only how and why she has been resurrected, but also confront the fragmented memories of her past and the horrors of the laboratory that want to send her back to the afterlife. This breakneck story illustrates a violent vision of life after death.

Welcome to DEATHWISH. A graphic and chaotic comic about life, death, suicide, and the other side. Brought to you by the creator of ZOMBIE MAKEOUT CLUB.
Collecting the popular Webtoon comic series, plus bonus material!

Review

I was surprised to come across this little graphic novel and a little excited, I had seen the Zombie Makeout Club clothing brand a few months ago and had really admired the art style. I had no idea that a webtoon had been created from the series and being a fan of all things horror, I thought it’d be cool to check out.

Unfortunately, this graphic novel was all style and very little substance. I shouldn’t have been surprised since this is a tie-in to a clothing brand seeking to appeal to anime and manga fans, but I was hoping for a little more from it. The author mentions in the afterword that he was inspired by classic Japanese cyberpunk films and I can definitely see the influence, it provides some context for sure for the experimental style, but I don’t feel that it translated well to the far shorter comic format. The story is almost nonexistent and rushes from scene to scene, the plot beats are explained in just a few short panels before moving on to the next character. What little story there is makes little sense, and the characters feel paper thin.

There are a few pages included at the end from the author’s Demons Zine which helps to understand one of the characters a little better. There is some potential in the plot in the zine pages, though it is a rough work that could use a little more time to develop and polish these ideas. At the very least, the art and aesthetic is fantastic and a real treat to flip through. Overall though it just wasn’t for me.

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About the Author