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Marvel Zombies (Collected Editions) #4
Marvel Zombies 4
Collects Marvel Zombies 4 #1-4. They're nobody's idea of heroes, but they're all that stands between our world and an unstoppable apocalypse! They're the new Midnight Sons, and their quest to track down the undead who escaped from A.R.M.O.R. will lead them around the globe and right to a cruise ship overrun with undead undersea-dwelling cannibals!
128 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 28, 2009
25 people are currently reading
502 people want to read
About the author
Fred Van Lente
1,359 books321 followersFred Van Lente is the New York Times-bestselling author of comics as varied as Archer & Armstrong (Harvey Award nominee, Best Series), Taskmaster, MODOK's 11, Amazing Spider-Man, Conan the Avenger, Weird Detective, and Cowboys & Aliens (upon which the 2011 movie was based), as well as the novels Ten Dead Comedians and The Con Artist.
Van Lente also specializes in entertaining readers with offbeat histories with the help of his incredibly talented artists. He has written the multiple-award winning Action Philosophers!, The Comic Book History of Comics, Action Presidents! (all drawn by Ryan Dunlavey), and The Comic Book Story of Basketball with Joe Cooper (Ten Speed September 2020).
He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Crystal Skillman, and some mostly ungrateful cats.
Van Lente also specializes in entertaining readers with offbeat histories with the help of his incredibly talented artists. He has written the multiple-award winning Action Philosophers!, The Comic Book History of Comics, Action Presidents! (all drawn by Ryan Dunlavey), and The Comic Book Story of Basketball with Joe Cooper (Ten Speed September 2020).
He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Crystal Skillman, and some mostly ungrateful cats.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
September 1, 2020
I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the previous volume but that, in all honesty, is probably due to the absence of Machine Man and Jocasta in this one, so my nerdgasm wasn't quite so powerful. This was a still a great little story, though, featuring some of the big guns of Marvel's darker corner (Morbius, Werewolf-by-Night, Son of Satan, Man-Thing... oh, and Jennifer Kale).
Kev Walker's art was top notch and Fred Van Lente provided a tale of thrills, chills, spills and ills that he can be justly proud of.
Kev Walker's art was top notch and Fred Van Lente provided a tale of thrills, chills, spills and ills that he can be justly proud of.
November 27, 2017
2.5 stars
This was a pretty meh book. It started okay with the Midnight Sons (Werewolf by Night, Jennifer Kale, Daimon Hellstrom and Morbius) being sent to destroy a zombie plague outbreak on a cruise ship. The carrier seems to be the severed head of Deadpool who constantly tells horrible jokes throughout the book. From here the story just meanders around using fairly standard zombie tropes. The only enjoyable things about the book were the art and seeing some little known characters get time in the spotlight.
This was a pretty meh book. It started okay with the Midnight Sons (Werewolf by Night, Jennifer Kale, Daimon Hellstrom and Morbius) being sent to destroy a zombie plague outbreak on a cruise ship. The carrier seems to be the severed head of Deadpool who constantly tells horrible jokes throughout the book. From here the story just meanders around using fairly standard zombie tropes. The only enjoyable things about the book were the art and seeing some little known characters get time in the spotlight.
November 12, 2012
Originally reviewed on The Raving Asgardian
After proving that there was more to Marvel Zombies than Robert Kirkman’s first two miniseries, Fred Van Lente continued the madness with Marvel Zombies 4 .
In this installment, the zombie plague has started to spread in Marvel 616 Earth from zombie universe. But a motley crew of supernatural powered operatives, the Midnight Sons (and 1 daughter), were keeping the infection at bay thanks to a vaccine and their natural resistance to the plague. However, their timetable to eradicate the virus was advanced because one mysterious party seeks to weaponize the virus and create its own zombie enforcers.
Van Lente’s Zombie work stands out because he wasn’t able to use Marvel’s more popular characters. Instead his stories are crafted with lower tier characters that no writer was currently using. But he shows his writing chops by telling an engaging story without the use of the big guns. He was able to dust off these characters whose heydays were in the 70’s and 80’s. It shows the breadth of his knowledge of classic Marvel lore.
This story is signature Van Lente. He weaves a horror story with character moments and flavored it with humor. The humor is darker, but appropriate as the art by Kev Walker to the story.
Though this was a short series, it still got the oversized trim treatment, but Marvel did add to page count by including the original Marvel Zombie, Simon Garth in his Marvel debut all in its black and white glory. This was certainly appreciated since that issue was rarely reprinted.
Deadpool fanatics may also want to check this miniseries out. The severed head of Marvel Zombie Deadpool played a key role in the story before he moved on to star with regular Deadpool in another Deadpool spinoff.
This is my Halloween reading for 2012.
After proving that there was more to Marvel Zombies than Robert Kirkman’s first two miniseries, Fred Van Lente continued the madness with Marvel Zombies 4 .
In this installment, the zombie plague has started to spread in Marvel 616 Earth from zombie universe. But a motley crew of supernatural powered operatives, the Midnight Sons (and 1 daughter), were keeping the infection at bay thanks to a vaccine and their natural resistance to the plague. However, their timetable to eradicate the virus was advanced because one mysterious party seeks to weaponize the virus and create its own zombie enforcers.
Van Lente’s Zombie work stands out because he wasn’t able to use Marvel’s more popular characters. Instead his stories are crafted with lower tier characters that no writer was currently using. But he shows his writing chops by telling an engaging story without the use of the big guns. He was able to dust off these characters whose heydays were in the 70’s and 80’s. It shows the breadth of his knowledge of classic Marvel lore.
This story is signature Van Lente. He weaves a horror story with character moments and flavored it with humor. The humor is darker, but appropriate as the art by Kev Walker to the story.
Though this was a short series, it still got the oversized trim treatment, but Marvel did add to page count by including the original Marvel Zombie, Simon Garth in his Marvel debut all in its black and white glory. This was certainly appreciated since that issue was rarely reprinted.
Deadpool fanatics may also want to check this miniseries out. The severed head of Marvel Zombie Deadpool played a key role in the story before he moved on to star with regular Deadpool in another Deadpool spinoff.
This is my Halloween reading for 2012.
May 20, 2019
Other then Jennifer Kale and Micheal Morbius I knew next to nothing about the "Midnight Sons". However this story was decent and with Deadpool playing a major role and a cameo by Dormammu. This was actually pretty decent
November 22, 2022
I love how with each new volume of Marvel Zombies, the makers of the comic always seem to be digging up the most obscure and esoteric Marvel superheroes. I had no idea who most of the heroes in this were, and I have a very vague knowledge of the few I recognized. The only character I was somewhat familiar with was Deadpool, and in this volume he is just a disembodied zombie head. Still a cut-up, though.
I kind of know who Morbius is (still haven't seen the Jared Leto film, and don't really wanna), but I have no clue who Jennifer Kale or Hellstorm are. Man-thing and Werewolf by Night I only know because I watched the Disney + show. And Simon Garth, Zombie? Really? Was he an actual Marvel superhero, or was that during the time in Marvel when Stan Lee was doing a lot of acid and firing all the decent writers?
Whatever, I dig this series. Zombies are great, and they're somehow even better when they're killing Marvel superheroes.
I kind of know who Morbius is (still haven't seen the Jared Leto film, and don't really wanna), but I have no clue who Jennifer Kale or Hellstorm are. Man-thing and Werewolf by Night I only know because I watched the Disney + show. And Simon Garth, Zombie? Really? Was he an actual Marvel superhero, or was that during the time in Marvel when Stan Lee was doing a lot of acid and firing all the decent writers?
Whatever, I dig this series. Zombies are great, and they're somehow even better when they're killing Marvel superheroes.
October 11, 2014
Well, so much for the ridiculous silliness Van Lente used in Marvel Zombies 3! In place of that, we get a convoluted story during which I was trying desperately to understand anything. So, after Marvel Zombies 3, Zombie Deadpool's head disappeared with some Marvel Universe zombie named Simon Garth. I don't remember this being mentioned in Marvel Zombies 3 (which I read two days ago), so the setup from the outset was hard to grasp. Also, there are straight-up no built-in goals for any character. Deadpool and Garth and just walking around. They have no purpose. Then a team of monsters, led by Morbius the Living Vampire, set out to track them down. So, their goal is to find some aimless zombies that are not doing anything. Good start.
Once the "story" starts to progress, I just kind of had to turn my brain off. Van Lente jumps from scene to scene with no rhyme or reason. Characters just show up in new places and stuff happens without explanation. Even though there is no indication of how Morbius's team is tracking the zombies, they still manage to find them repeatedly. The Hood shows up and does some extremely out-of-character stuff that his team even blatantly says is out-of-character, but he's just like "Forget about it." There's some insane plot development where the zombie virus turns into a cloud? And then that cloud sometimes kills people, sometimes just turns them into zombies, and sometimes creates new super zombies? It can seemingly do anything. I felt drunk the entire time I was reading this, like I was missing something my brain just couldn't process, but I think Van Lente just forgot to explain anything that was going on. It's kind of important in a story to give context and stakes, and this bullshit just doesn't have any of that.
Somehow the good guys win and that's that. I don't even really understand what they did to win, this thing is so all over the place. Ugh, it's making me frustrated even thinking about it.
Finish this off with the absolute dumbest zombie story I've ever read, included as a "bonus" to explain the origin of the Simon Garth "character" (he's just a lifeless zombie). Written by Stan Lee and Steve Gerber in 1973, this thing feels so dated it's actually a little upsetting. It's a little racist (a scheming conniver is named "Gyps"), it's super duper sexist (women are idiots who just want to take their clothes off and can only function if men tell them what to do), and to top it all off, it's WAY BORING. I don't think Gerber or Lee even tried to write a story here. A horrible asshole gets murdered, then resurrected by his voodoo secretary who is secretly in love with him (sure). He rises from the grave, fully decomposed (he died moments ago), and is now a zombie who has to do the bidding of anyone who holds a sacred amulet. Only, he constantly defies the people who have the amulet, so they ignore their own setup within seconds of creating it? Then he just kind of wanders around and encounters/kills people we are led to believe are terrible (mostly due to the fact that they all scream at their wives or something).
Only, that doesn't even really hold up? There's a hunter, who's shown to be abusive to his dogs. He's a miserable old shit and keeps yelling at them (yelling is the way people are shown to be bad here, exclusively). So, he sicks them on the zombie when it shows up, but the zombie just kills the dogs? And this is presented as if it is a moral lesson? What? This would be like teaching a sweatshop worker to appreciate his employees more by killing a bunch of them. Idiotic.
Anyway, I hated this entire thing and will be throwing it into the garbage as hard as I can.
Once the "story" starts to progress, I just kind of had to turn my brain off. Van Lente jumps from scene to scene with no rhyme or reason. Characters just show up in new places and stuff happens without explanation. Even though there is no indication of how Morbius's team is tracking the zombies, they still manage to find them repeatedly. The Hood shows up and does some extremely out-of-character stuff that his team even blatantly says is out-of-character, but he's just like "Forget about it." There's some insane plot development where the zombie virus turns into a cloud? And then that cloud sometimes kills people, sometimes just turns them into zombies, and sometimes creates new super zombies? It can seemingly do anything. I felt drunk the entire time I was reading this, like I was missing something my brain just couldn't process, but I think Van Lente just forgot to explain anything that was going on. It's kind of important in a story to give context and stakes, and this bullshit just doesn't have any of that.
Somehow the good guys win and that's that. I don't even really understand what they did to win, this thing is so all over the place. Ugh, it's making me frustrated even thinking about it.
Finish this off with the absolute dumbest zombie story I've ever read, included as a "bonus" to explain the origin of the Simon Garth "character" (he's just a lifeless zombie). Written by Stan Lee and Steve Gerber in 1973, this thing feels so dated it's actually a little upsetting. It's a little racist (a scheming conniver is named "Gyps"), it's super duper sexist (women are idiots who just want to take their clothes off and can only function if men tell them what to do), and to top it all off, it's WAY BORING. I don't think Gerber or Lee even tried to write a story here. A horrible asshole gets murdered, then resurrected by his voodoo secretary who is secretly in love with him (sure). He rises from the grave, fully decomposed (he died moments ago), and is now a zombie who has to do the bidding of anyone who holds a sacred amulet. Only, he constantly defies the people who have the amulet, so they ignore their own setup within seconds of creating it? Then he just kind of wanders around and encounters/kills people we are led to believe are terrible (mostly due to the fact that they all scream at their wives or something).
Only, that doesn't even really hold up? There's a hunter, who's shown to be abusive to his dogs. He's a miserable old shit and keeps yelling at them (yelling is the way people are shown to be bad here, exclusively). So, he sicks them on the zombie when it shows up, but the zombie just kills the dogs? And this is presented as if it is a moral lesson? What? This would be like teaching a sweatshop worker to appreciate his employees more by killing a bunch of them. Idiotic.
Anyway, I hated this entire thing and will be throwing it into the garbage as hard as I can.
December 12, 2009
Too much of a good thing…is exactly what comes to mind after attempting to follow the continuing exploits of the zombies and those few uninfected survivors on Earth Z. What started off as a clever series, which was helped by The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman in earlier installments, has disintegrated into a morass of tired plot clichés, hackneyed art (although the covers and coloring are quite spectacular in their own right), and characters who you don’t really give a damn about. (The cast of third-rate Marvel characters like Daimon Hellstrom, Morbius, et al makes it that much harder for a mediocre writer to succeed in maker the reader care.)
Although my thirst for all things zombie continues, I know that I’ll be looking elsewhere to satisfy my craving. And it will certainly not be by revisiting the denizens of Marvel’s Earth Z.
Although my thirst for all things zombie continues, I know that I’ll be looking elsewhere to satisfy my craving. And it will certainly not be by revisiting the denizens of Marvel’s Earth Z.
May 18, 2016
This is a four-star rating where I am breaking my personal code for ratings... If I were to only give my personal feelings for this installment in the zombie superhero series, I would have to say that I was only mildly "in like" with the story. I was only vaguely familiar with the main characters, and the storytelling did little to make me more interested. I didn't think the justifications for the plot was explained clearly, nor how it fit into the vast landscape of the Marvel Universe...es?
BUT... the art was great, the dialog great, the story better than some, the colors creepy (as expected!) and the whole package just had a feeling of quality to it. It darn well could have been a 4-star on a different day, so I'm willing to let it claw its way a tad higher out of the grave. :-)
BUT... the art was great, the dialog great, the story better than some, the colors creepy (as expected!) and the whole package just had a feeling of quality to it. It darn well could have been a 4-star on a different day, so I'm willing to let it claw its way a tad higher out of the grave. :-)
January 6, 2013
Volumes 1 and 2 were written by Robert Kirkman, and I really enjoyed those. Volumes 3-5 are written by Fred Van Lente and they are completely different!!! I don't want to continue with the series because I'm not interested in it.
June 24, 2010
I don't understand why I keep reading Marvel Zombies.They are never good.
May 24, 2023
Marvel Zombies 4 was a decent continuation of the Marvel Zombies series. Better then the first two not as good as the 3rd. This was a good use of characters that you don't see too often. Michael Morbius and his monster crew take on the zombies through interdimensional travel.
June 18, 2010
Probably my least favorite of the series. Deadpool is by far one of my favorite Marvel characters, but I didn't like how this edition (and Part 3) started to break away from the more iconic superheros. Still, a fun read with some amazing illustrations.
July 22, 2023
Unreadable.
August 2, 2018
muy buena continuacion,deadpool sin cabeza es muy gracioso,y la perdida de man thing fue muy triste
May 4, 2024
En la masificación del concepto Marvel Zombies, esta "4º entrega" presenta un reclamo muy curioso en tener a los Midnight Sons como "héroes del día". Y, ojo, que hasta donde se deja intuir. Estamos en el universo troncal que debe defenderse de una incursión del Universo Marvel Zombie derivado de la anterior miniserie.
El macarrismo impera, con el Werewolf by Night más pendenciero, un Hellstorm disfrutando de incendiar no muertos, Morbius tratando de liderar todo y la implicación de El Encapuchado y sus allegados super criminales interesándose por el potencial de la zombificación que trae la cabeza zombi de Deadpool en manos (literalmente) de Simon Garth. Un cúmulo de situaciones salvajes y sanguinolentas que creo que se habrían beneficiado que fuesen los Mindight Sons canonicos los que se inmiscuyesen en el Universo Marvel Zombies. Porque Van Lente trata de contener toda esta situación en ambientes más rebuscados de los que se pide ya con el inicio de esa infestación de "Profundos" Zombis.
No queda mucho que sacar del dibujo de Kevin Walker tirando al horror vacui que se va lo gratuito con la contada presencia femenina en la historia.
El macarrismo impera, con el Werewolf by Night más pendenciero, un Hellstorm disfrutando de incendiar no muertos, Morbius tratando de liderar todo y la implicación de El Encapuchado y sus allegados super criminales interesándose por el potencial de la zombificación que trae la cabeza zombi de Deadpool en manos (literalmente) de Simon Garth. Un cúmulo de situaciones salvajes y sanguinolentas que creo que se habrían beneficiado que fuesen los Mindight Sons canonicos los que se inmiscuyesen en el Universo Marvel Zombies. Porque Van Lente trata de contener toda esta situación en ambientes más rebuscados de los que se pide ya con el inicio de esa infestación de "Profundos" Zombis.
No queda mucho que sacar del dibujo de Kevin Walker tirando al horror vacui que se va lo gratuito con la contada presencia femenina en la historia.
September 10, 2021
Just when you thought Marvel couldn't get any weirder it does. Basically this is a monster mash-verse vs zombie plague and the monsters are somehow smarter than our superhero planet. I thought Morbius was Doctor Strange as a vampire for the longest time (it was the damn cloak okay?) and kind of enjoyed this team of weird creatures all working for a version of S.H.I.E.L.D. that didn't totally suck. Also the thought of supernatural creatures in a universe where it's mostly superheroes and villains is kind of cool to think about. The artwork isn't as terrible as the 1st of this series and there was thankfully less flesh chomping than that one as well. Look I know it's called Marvel Zombies but I don't need to see people getting eaten okay? I have a weak stomach darn it I can't handle people munching. Overall though a fairly decent comic as long as you're not too attached to the "Let's only talk about the Avengers in every comic" which I can say I'm over them as a group.
June 4, 2023
2.5 stars
This series already took a weird turn with the 3rd volume so the fact that it’s now almost unrecognizable as its original form shouldn’t come a surprise.
VanLente choosing to focus on lesser known characters in the Marvel catalogue is a nice touch that worked in part 3, but now that’s all weighed down heavily by a story that is incredibly “meh” and just doesn’t feel fun or interesting anymore.
The C-team characters bring nothing particularly cool to the overall plot, nor does the plot itself really do anything special. Instead it just kinda meanders around, pulling obligatory players into the fray as proof that Van Lente knows his backlog of Marvel superheroes. When these folks do show up they don’t do anything special, memorable, or noteworthy.
Honestly I’ve already forgotten what happens in the pages of this one.
This series already took a weird turn with the 3rd volume so the fact that it’s now almost unrecognizable as its original form shouldn’t come a surprise.
VanLente choosing to focus on lesser known characters in the Marvel catalogue is a nice touch that worked in part 3, but now that’s all weighed down heavily by a story that is incredibly “meh” and just doesn’t feel fun or interesting anymore.
The C-team characters bring nothing particularly cool to the overall plot, nor does the plot itself really do anything special. Instead it just kinda meanders around, pulling obligatory players into the fray as proof that Van Lente knows his backlog of Marvel superheroes. When these folks do show up they don’t do anything special, memorable, or noteworthy.
Honestly I’ve already forgotten what happens in the pages of this one.
May 30, 2024
"WHU--?! WHAT IN THE NAME OF THEODORE STURGEON IS THAT? IT SMELLS LIKE SATAN PUKED ON IT!!!"
- Zombie Deadpool's reaction to Man-Thing.
Finally, I'm done with this (mostly crap) sub-genre/universe. At least this one had a LOT more Deadpool than the last one. More characters that I didn't care about. A Werewolf named Jack Russell. Daimon Hellstrom, who's supposedly the son of Satan. Some obscure D-list Zombie, Simon Garth, carries around the bodiless head of zombie Deadpool as an almost useless comedic vehicle. There are SOME interesting points to this, but not enough for me to hold onto this series.
Two stars.
- Zombie Deadpool's reaction to Man-Thing.
Finally, I'm done with this (mostly crap) sub-genre/universe. At least this one had a LOT more Deadpool than the last one. More characters that I didn't care about. A Werewolf named Jack Russell. Daimon Hellstrom, who's supposedly the son of Satan. Some obscure D-list Zombie, Simon Garth, carries around the bodiless head of zombie Deadpool as an almost useless comedic vehicle. There are SOME interesting points to this, but not enough for me to hold onto this series.
Two stars.
February 19, 2020
The Marvel Zombies stories from volumes three and four are connected, and honestly I think they are much better than one and two. I like the return of the Midnight Sons, and Man Thing.
I know it is a small thing but literally my favorite part was the short, one page "videos" of the Midnight Sons last will and testaments. It really showed into their characters based on who they were talking to in their videos and what they said.
I know it is a small thing but literally my favorite part was the short, one page "videos" of the Midnight Sons last will and testaments. It really showed into their characters based on who they were talking to in their videos and what they said.
August 2, 2020
Maybe I would have liked this more if I had known the characters better. I found it too crowded with characters: it felt like most of the story was made only by Kale, Dormammu and Morbius, and the other ones were kind of there. I'm not a fan of this idea of the zombie infection having its own mind (kind of like in the recent DCeased saga).
Man-Thing burning the zombie, however - that's lit. That single page in the whole book - lit.
Man-Thing burning the zombie, however - that's lit. That single page in the whole book - lit.
February 3, 2023
Meh.... Just meh... I am not a huge fan of the marvel universe so I don't exactly get into the deep cut characters. Once again this entire collection was about characters that I didn't really care much about. I did think that Jennifer Kale's powers were pretty cool though. I am thinking that the characters like Hulk, Wolverine, and Spiderman aren't going to return until the spinoff issues.
July 13, 2017
Takes the story to some even more ridiculous places, with a heavy involvement of the Midnight Sons, of who I'm generally a fan, even this incarnation (Werewolf by Night, Jennifer Kale, Daimon Hellstrom and Morbius). Some truly wacky stuff happens in this book, but it does feel like a slight deviation from the series leading up to it, even though it's not a bad one.
November 14, 2017
This wasn't that bad. It's not as great as the others, but it definitely flips back and forth btw the characters a lot.
I like the theme that only monsters are able to fight monsters, as that's certainly very true in this comic storyline.
I'm just enjoying the whole series. It's fascinating and fun. As in all series, not every issue can be a favorite.
I like the theme that only monsters are able to fight monsters, as that's certainly very true in this comic storyline.
I'm just enjoying the whole series. It's fascinating and fun. As in all series, not every issue can be a favorite.
January 3, 2022
It is ok but as we see the Midnight Sons chase down the Deadpool head that survived in the previous issue but it barely focuses on it and instead it we get people fighting over who gets to capture the zombie head which is not as fun. Their are still some twisted stuff but still not quite as good as the previous stories.
December 2, 2020
At this point, I wish I had not committed myself to reading the entire series. But I did, so here I am. I’m not much of a Monster Squad fan, and so much of the dialogue in this particular series seems outlandishly terrible. Ugh. On to the next, I suppose.
June 6, 2023
Not for everyone but I really enjoyed this. I like Van Lente's writing and his too smart for this book style, coupled with his penchant for seeing the other side of the Marvel universe and having fun with it. This book worked for me.
November 29, 2018
I absolutely need more Midnight Sons and The Hood in my life.
February 22, 2019
Morbius re-teams with The Midnight Sons to hunt down two escaped zombies before they infect the entire Marvel Universe.
December 10, 2020
Pretty good.
November 6, 2021
Una historia muy equis.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews