Horror Fans, Comic Fans… Why Aren’t You Reading the Waking!?!?!?

The Waking #3 (Zenescope – Gregory / Drujinui)

The investigation continues as Keith and Laurence discover the identity of the culprit behind one of the murders. But will they reach the criminal in time or will “something” else get there first? Meanwhile, Jonathan Raine comes to a decision that will not only affect him and his daughter but the whole world.

Really, why aren’t you reading this?  Well, maybe you are and are also sharing space with me inside the “intellectual horror” nirvana that Raven Gregory has created.  Now being a horror fan, and specifically a zombie fan, the Waking as a premise spoke to me.  But as I read it and caught onto the fresh angle that Gregory is presenting on the zombie genre, The Waking did more than just speak to me, it sung to me.

The writing captures the dark emotional drama orbiting around spirits that come back from the dead to avenge their own murders, specifically a protective father whose is involved with the return of these spirits and the deceased young daughter he is trying to protect.

The story is superb, most readers will connect with both the interesting characters (which are not simply overdone arch-types) and what I would consider a realistic take on how people would really deal with the undead.  The scene of two police officers not knowing what to do when their suspect simply will not stay down (even after bullets) is a great blend of fear, frustration and a tad of humor.  For me, The Waking easily would be in the running for one of the best zombie stories every told.   In fact, in very much the same way that a classic like Silence of the lambs raised itself above a simplistic “horror” movie take into a drama / suspense category through fantastic writing that caught fans off guard, Raven Gregory does the same with The Waking.   Readers go into this comic expecting a zombie-attack type story with some pretty eye candy and what they are rewarded with is a top-notch police action drama with a backdrop of undead rising up to take out the bad guys, not simply a George Romero knock-0ff.

Bottom Line: While there are a few other zombie books currently on the market worth reading (Boom!’s 28 Days Later), it is the story that will set The Waking well above the standard.

Issue Grade: A

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Updated: May 4, 2010 — 10:00 am

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