by Jake Douglas
In the musical sense, I almost always feel that when a band releases a second album, it is their best and strongest work; lyrically and musically. You've got Metallica with Ride the Lightning, Kings of Leon with Aha Shake Heartbreak, Rainbow with Rainbow Rising, and Van Halen with Van Halen II.
With each of these bands, their second album retains the energy and the like-ability of the first, but with higher production values and a more mature approach to the music.
In comics the first issue will absolutely make or break the story.
The second issue has the opportunity to not only continue the story, but to expand on everything that the first issue gave us a taste of. The energy remains, the wild ideas become a little more fanciful, and the storytelling begins to really take shape into what will eventually become a well rounded, solid story that in years to come can be viewed all together in a pretty hardcover edition.
In the musical sense, I almost always feel that when a band releases a second album, it is their best and strongest work; lyrically and musically. You've got Metallica with Ride the Lightning, Kings of Leon with Aha Shake Heartbreak, Rainbow with Rainbow Rising, and Van Halen with Van Halen II.
With each of these bands, their second album retains the energy and the like-ability of the first, but with higher production values and a more mature approach to the music.
In comics the first issue will absolutely make or break the story.
The second issue has the opportunity to not only continue the story, but to expand on everything that the first issue gave us a taste of. The energy remains, the wild ideas become a little more fanciful, and the storytelling begins to really take shape into what will eventually become a well rounded, solid story that in years to come can be viewed all together in a pretty hardcover edition.
Empire of the Dead could have sucked royally, it could have been a complete disaster. It could have completely missed the point, and left me feeling like George A. Romero boosted my wallet in a dark alleyway. Thankfully it was great and left me feeling that I gave my money to a good cause. Empire of the Dead achieves this.
The first issue ended with a zombie SWAT officer barging in on a vampire's dinner. This vampire also happened to be the Mayor of New Yorks nephew.
In part two, Paul Barnum and Penny Jones meet up after Barnum's night in the police station. They coincidentally run into the same intelligent SWAT stinker we met in the last issue, stopping a robbery. Penny sees an opportunity in this chance meeting to study the zombie, and decides to ask Mayor Chandrake for permission.
Meanwhile, the Mayor himself is up for re-election, and is in the process of buttering up the big wigs.
The first issue ended with a zombie SWAT officer barging in on a vampire's dinner. This vampire also happened to be the Mayor of New Yorks nephew.
In part two, Paul Barnum and Penny Jones meet up after Barnum's night in the police station. They coincidentally run into the same intelligent SWAT stinker we met in the last issue, stopping a robbery. Penny sees an opportunity in this chance meeting to study the zombie, and decides to ask Mayor Chandrake for permission.
Meanwhile, the Mayor himself is up for re-election, and is in the process of buttering up the big wigs.
In this issue we get more of everything, more of the vampire lifestyle, more of the zombie pit fighting, and more of the main characters Paul Barnum and Penny Jones. While the motives of the vampy Mayor and his nephew are not entirely clear yet, it is clear that the Mayor himself has a hold over New York. Whether this is due to his position of power or the fact that he could have mental control over the upper class is yet to be seen.
Romero's characters are finding their feet, and the setting and situations are increasingly foreboding and dangerous. However, I did find - much like the first issue - that in some instances it is murky with what the characters intentions were towards one another. This is mostly felt in the dialogue between the Mayor and Penny, where there seems to be some sort of attraction, but it's unknown whether it is sincere or not. It does become more apparent in this issue - based on character continuity - that this is how the characters do feel in some instances. This is turn can make the characters seem somewhat inconsistent and muddy.
Alex Maleev is once again in full form and every panel is a visual delight. There is a seedy gothic air to part two, as it develops the vampire angle a little more. Maleev of course handles it brilliantly, and when reading, it doesn't feel like you're being plucked out of your comfort zone and thrown into another country. It just feels right.
Romero and Maleev have built a solid foundation for not only the zombies and humans, but for the Vampires as well. I am excited to see where it all leads, and once Empire of the Dead is all done and dusted, I will gladly pick up anything the duo decide to pump out in the foreseeable future.
So why are you still reading this? Go grab it for crying out loud! There are brains to be munched, necks to be drained, zombies to be studied!
Romero's characters are finding their feet, and the setting and situations are increasingly foreboding and dangerous. However, I did find - much like the first issue - that in some instances it is murky with what the characters intentions were towards one another. This is mostly felt in the dialogue between the Mayor and Penny, where there seems to be some sort of attraction, but it's unknown whether it is sincere or not. It does become more apparent in this issue - based on character continuity - that this is how the characters do feel in some instances. This is turn can make the characters seem somewhat inconsistent and muddy.
Alex Maleev is once again in full form and every panel is a visual delight. There is a seedy gothic air to part two, as it develops the vampire angle a little more. Maleev of course handles it brilliantly, and when reading, it doesn't feel like you're being plucked out of your comfort zone and thrown into another country. It just feels right.
Romero and Maleev have built a solid foundation for not only the zombies and humans, but for the Vampires as well. I am excited to see where it all leads, and once Empire of the Dead is all done and dusted, I will gladly pick up anything the duo decide to pump out in the foreseeable future.
So why are you still reading this? Go grab it for crying out loud! There are brains to be munched, necks to be drained, zombies to be studied!
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