Rotten #4

Rotten #4
Written and Illustrated by: Mark Rahner, Robert Horton, Dan Dougherty
Released by: Moonstone

You would think that with all of the books, movies, TV shows, and comic series about zombies that there wouldn’t be much left to do with them.  Yet, with this series you’d be wrong.  Here this talented group combines the Old West, zombies, and spies together for an interesting mix!

We open the story with two agents, John Flynn and Wade, heading to Fort Valhalla on horseback on the orders of President Hayes.  It’s apparent that something strange is going on in the world, as we see humans with blood on their hands and deranged looks on their faces.  But what is it exactly?  The two agents have come to take care of the fort in the depths of winter.  They are going undercover as soldiers, Wade as Captain and Flynn as his Lieutenant.  They greet the soldiers and get the scope of what’s been going on at the fort.  They are informed that strange creatures have been attacking the fort at night and they find them in the morning…frozen to the ground.  The following morning both agents are awoken to find what appears to be a zombie in the yard, frozen solid and seemingly not moving.  But the creature bites one of the men and in order to save him the agents order that his arm be amputated to keep him from being infected.  The agents go to see where the bodies of these creatures have been stored and are horrified at what they find.  The men have gotten bored and have used the bodies of the creatures to create…a horrible deranged looking play.  The men are ordered to burn the bodies immediately and punishment will be laid out later.  And then…an Indian woman shows up in the compound and says that the white man is coming and a vision of a stranger shows up in the sky.

The writing is superb.  Its well paced, easy to follow, and gives a decent introduction of the two agents for those that haven’t read other issues.  It’s a great start to a new story line and the writers keep you holding on to the edge of your seat to find out what the strange creatures are and what’s happened to the missing men.  My gripe, and its a small one, is that not really much is said about the zombies, even though that’s clearly what they are.  Perhaps the fault is mine, because I haven’t read earlier issues or they’ll introduce it later in the story.

The artwork is pretty darn fantastic.  There are a couple of scenes right at the beginning of the issue where the panels are done in sepia tones with only red being use for blood.  It presents a really nice contrast and stands out as a fantastic example of what the artists can do.  I also really like the use of watercolor washes in the background and the sky, it works really well with how the characters are drawn and doesn’t detract from what we’re seeing in the foreground.  I also have to give them credit for the scenes where they’ve got reflections in the windows, because wow. They are fantastic.  I’m not sure how they did them, but I really like the technique and the output.

This is a great issue and I would highly recommend it, even to people that say they don’t like zombies.  The story is easy to follow and I can’t say enough good things about the artwork.  I look forward to reading future issues (and past issues as well.)