Brimstone #7
Publisher: Zenescope
Writers: Michael Lent & Brian McCarthy
Artist: Hyunsang Michael Cho (cover by Stefani Renee)
As we take a look at the final issue of this mini-series, I can’t help but try and remember how I felt this would play out by story’s end. Ah well, no use wondering now, because here we go with the final battle. On one side you have a dozen ravenous zombies, and on the other you have Blackjack, Annabelle, and a slightly ravenous Viper. You see, he’s been bitten by one of them, so it’s only a matter of time until the sickness takes over, and he’s at the throats of his comrades. The heroes have barricaded themselves inside a barn of sorts, and laid some traps for the witless monsters. Once the zombies bust in, they’re in for a few surprises. One of the best traps was an axe swinging down from the ceiling after one of the zombies stumbled over a trip wire! Then, everybody gets outside where Blackjack has a Gatling gun, and he’s got bad intentions.
I have to admit that when I first saw this series, I wanted to review it based solely on the cover art. I didn’t know the writers or anything about the series other than a synopsis. After the first issue, though, I was sold. I loved the depiction of the zombies, and also the different array of characters. They fit well together even though on the surface it looks like a train wreck. How Lent and McCarthy got this rag tag group of characters to work well together I’ll never know. They somehow did just that, though, and also tell a cool story featuring some really neat zombies in the process.
The artist, Cho, has a style that seems almost European to me. He not only draws people well, but scenery and animals, too. The best part of his artwork, though, has to be the zombies. I really liked his version instead of the typical slow moving, brain eating, classic style. His zombies, or “fleshwalkers,” were agile and fairly smart, but also completely driven to kill and rip flesh from their victims. I hope moving forward Cho does another horror book to display his talents. All through the entire series the covers have been fantastic, as well. Of course looking back, my favorite is the one by Sejic (issue #2 I believe). So now, in closing, I have to say that I’ve become a fan of this creative team and will look for their work in the future. Rating 4/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
