I have been reading the Marvel Zombies series as its been released - given the opportunity to see my favorite marvel heroes and villain’s zombified how could I resist?

The catalyst for the creation of a Marvel Zombie universe is the arrival of a mysterious superhero figure in yellow (Sentry - wikilink), who eats a few humans and then bites the first superheros who arrive on the scene - The Avengers - and then promptly disappears.

The Avengers quickly turn, and then proceed to eat every living creature on the planet except other superheros who can survive long enough to turn into zombies themselves.

The Marvel Zombies zombies are unique, as when the infected turn they retain all their cognitive abilities, but are cursed with a hunger which only lessens when they eat enough. Zombie superheros selectively retain their superpowers (For example, Wolverine lost his healing factor) making them more than a match for everyone on the planet.

Soon - there is nobody left to eat.

The Bones

I was really dissapointed with Marvel Zombies 1 & 2. The artwork was superb, but the storyline really failed to interest me. This is because Marvel Zombies 1 & 2 were set after (nearly) all the superheros had turned and all the humans had been eaten and the zombies left are searching for fresh meat - so the story is from the zombies perspective.

It’s cool, and unique, but I really couldn’t get behind the zombies on this one, all I could really manage was an ongoing feeling of horror as the heros tore the flesh off the people they had sworn to protect, with no regret.

The Meat

Marvel Zombies: Army of Darkness, Marvel Zombies: Dead Days and Marvel Zombies 3 on the other hand were absolutely superb series’s.

Of the three, Marvel Zombies 3 stands out as the best in the new series by far.

Marvel Zombies 3 takes place on the Home reality of Captain Mexica, Earth-1519  and the Marvel Zombies Earth-2149 (This might seem a little confusing, because it is. For more information on the Marvel Multiverse click here)

The Zombies of Earth-2149 have found a way across dimensions to Earth-1519, and they start their invasion by sending, my favorite mercenary - a zombified version of Deadpool.

In response, Earth-1519 sends a jaded and angry Machine Man to Earth-2149 to get some blood samples of the original zombie menace, and he then proceeds to tear up every zombie he comes across.

Fantastic.

I loved this new storyline, as it not only involved the threshold stages of the zombie infection, but Machine Man was a fantastic main character. The moment Machine Man realises that in the zombie dimension he can kill as many “fleshies” as he likes without consequence was amazing.

The Taste

As long as you know there is a Marvel Zombies Universe populated by Zombie counterparts of the Marvel Superheros, you can skip Marvel Zombies 1 & 2 and jump straight to #3, the really good one; you can always go back and read 1 & 2 afterwards.

I’ll cover Marvel Zombies: Army of Darkness and Marvel Zombies: Dead Days in later reviews.