ISBN:
9780472904501
Language:
English
Pages:
1 Online-Ressource
Parallel Title:
Erscheint auch als Kee, Chera Corpse crusaders
DDC:
741.5/973
Keywords:
Zombies in comics
;
Horror comic books, strips, etc History and criticism
;
Comic books, strips, etc History and criticism
;
Bandes dessinées d'horreur - États-Unis - Histoire et critique
;
COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS / General
Abstract:
In the popular imagination, zombies are scary, decomposing corpses hunting down the living. But since the 1930s, there have also been other zombies shambling across the panels of comic books-zombies that aren't quite what most people think zombies should be. There have been zombie slaves, zombie henchmen, talking zombies, beautiful zombies, and even zombie heroes. Using archival research into Golden Age comics and extended analyses of comics from the 1940s to today, Corpse Crusaders explores the profound influence early action/adventure and superheroic generic conventions had on shaping comic book zombies. It takes the reader from the 1940s superhero, The Purple Zombie, through 1950s revenge-from-the-grave zombies, to the 1970s anti-hero, Simon Garth ("The Zombie") and the gruesome heroes-turned-zombies of Marvel Zombies. In becoming immersed in superheroic logics early on, the zombie in comics became a figure that, unlike the traditional narrative uses of other monsters, actually served to defend the status quo. This continuing trend not only provides insight into the overwhelming influence superheroes have had on the comic book medium, but it also provides a unique opportunity to explore the ways in which zombiism and superheroism parallel each other. Corpse Crusaders explores the ways that truth, justice, and the American way have influenced the undead in comics and turned what is often a rebellious figure into one that works to save the day
Description / Table of Contents:
Introduction: A brief (and heroic) history of the zombie in comics -- Part 1: Mission. The Purple Zombies: superheroes and strongman zombies -- Vengeance and villains: from the horror comics of the 1950s to Deadworld -- Part 2: Identity. Tales of the zombie and Xombi: or, the curious case of the suffering zombie hardbodies -- Gwen Dylan is not the girl she used to be: iZombie and female zombies in comics -- Part 3: Powers. Conclusions: Blackest night and Marvel zombies-the hero as zombie.
Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-205) and index
