CBR: When Words Collide - Mar 14, 2011

[CBR News]

With the first IiZombie" collection hitting stores this week, Tim looks back on Chris Roberson's work on the series and contrasts it with his first major story: "Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love."


Full article here (http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=31301).

[Lil Kis]

I love I Zombie. It is the best vertigo book on the stands right now. It also has the best art of any vertigo series. Vertigo series usually have crappy art but this I Zombie series doesn't. It has terrific art. And engaging characters and interesting story!!!! I recommmend every comic fan to go pick this series up!!!

[CSPDX]

I've been enjoying iZombie for, I think, the same reasons you've articulated here. I came for the Allred art, but I've been pulled in by the charming characters and breezy stories. If there's one issue that encapsulates the tone of the series it's the "secret history" of Spot, the teenage wereterrier. Odd and inexplicable things happen, fantastic characters meet other fantastic characters and everyone just goes on with their life like hanging out every thursday, catching a D&D session or whether-or-not that hot zombie girl you just met might want to catch a movie with you. That really allows for a much stronger focus on the characters than you get with a lot of the more plot-driven books we get these days, and is a nice breather on the week it comes out each month.

Not to say there aren't conflicts and ongoing plots that are building as the series progresses, but you don't get the feeling the Roberson and Allred are in any rush to put the pieces together. They'd rather spend time getting to know the characters and the world they inhabit (a nicely rendered Eugene, OR) so that when the various plot points finally intersect there will be a real payoff instead of the rushed demarking of plot checkboxes we get in so many comics.

I think a nice contrast that illustrates the point is the current Heroes for Hire series, that started with what looked like was going to be a plot-of-the-month stories with a larger mystery dealing with central character Misty Knight. But by the fourth issue, we've already had to resolve the main mystery advanced in the first issue and we've had precious little more than an introduction of the various players and their skills. It may be the case that the creators on the book need to wrap it up before the series finishes soon, but the way the whole thing has been handled has been rushed, stilted and inorganic. And the real shame is that this is what we expect of comics these days, and that a series that builds in a more organic manner like iZombie has to be a rare exception rather than the rule.

I believe that eventually the big picture in iZombie is going to start coming into better view, although I don't think that's something that can be seen from the first collection, unfortunately, and I'm afraid that's going to turn some people off who aren't going to get the purpose of the stories in the book. It's a shame that so many comics are so focused on getting to the money shot right off the bat that a series like this with more of a focus on the characters at the start has to be such a rarity. Personally, I'm just enjoying the ride, and I'm confident that when we get to the climax, it's going to be worth it because I stuck with it through the calmer waters.

[Gorgeousaur]

I love I Zombie. It is the best vertigo book on the stands right now. It also has the best art of any vertigo series. Vertigo series usually have crappy art but this I Zombie series doesn't. It has terrific art. And engaging characters and interesting story!!!! I recommmend every comic fan to go pick this series up!!!

Vertigo usually has crappy art? What? Sean Gordon Murphy on Joe the Barbarian? Ba and Moon on Daytripper? RM Guera on Scalped? Buckingham on Fables? Rafael Albuquerque on American Vampire? Burchielli on DMZ? Most of the artists that have been on Northlanders? Frazier Irving on Xombi? Granted Allred is an amazing artist, but to say Vertigo usually has crappy art is either ignorant or insanity.

[ian33407]

Just what I though, this book is all I need...