Influenca

by Jade Lft Peters

Two years ago, the apocalypse started for the seventh time. As the number of zombies rise, so do the ranks of professional zombie hunters who post their lives online. When Dodie and Beatriz, the accidental founders of the movement, are trapped in their bunker by a persistent horde, what else is there to do but take a romantic vacation?

Told through the lens of interviews, social media posts, and nostalgic reminiscing, Influenca is a glimpse into a day at the end of the world, past and present, and what life looks like when the apocalypse becomes predictable.

Originally published as part of the 2022 Shortbox Comics Fair.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Queer, Horror, LGBT, Lesbian, Romance

81 pages, Paperback

Published February 14, 2024

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and sweet sapphic story where social media and zombie slaying combine. The zombie apocalypse has entered its 7th wave of violence and society has just…well, adjusted to consider it normal day-to-day living in Jade Lft Peters Influenca. For Dora Lou Simko, better known by her social media handle @DodieLouWho, social media is less an avenue to fame but a way to promote selfless social action and mutual aid by having a widely followed platform. ‘Selfless action for attention is worthless,’ Dodie states in her magazine interview, which makes up the bulk of the narrative. Combined with a short follow-up comic on how the couple come together, this is a silly yet heartfelt little graphic novel that has a lot of fun spoofing social issues.

Okay but I really love the pun that Dodie is referred to as an “influenzer” and how there is this entire zombie apocalypse going on and everyone is just…going back to work and school and being told its just the way things are now. Its pretty goofy but the whole aspect of deciding social media fame is a way to try and influence society to be more sustainable and caring is just a great little hook for a zombie apocalypse story. This is certainly aimed at an adult audience but I loved how the list at the beginning letting readers know about violence, nudity and death also includes Philadelphia as a trigger warning. Its just fun. Unless you are a zombie I guess.

So if you like a bit of horror and gore with your romance, this is a quick (okay maybe a bit too short but I’m guessing this is just the first issue of what will be a larger story?) little jaunt of joy. I like that it shows a well established relationship dealing with social media fame and how the characters aren’t stressing out over getting to be with each other but continuing to be a close couple as everyone thirsts for Dodie and the world continues to burn.

3.5/5

[thosemeddlingkids · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another apocalypse, established couple staying in a bunker waiting out the zombies. Really enjoyed how this played with magazine articles, social media, and real life moments of the zombie hunter protagonist, and the different mediums were neat to see in graphic novel formatting.

[hope h. · Rating 5 out of 5]

augh this was SO PERFECT!! the art is so delightful to look at (and let me tell you, you can tell that the artist has a real & genuine love for boobs and i love that for them) and it's just such a fun story. i love apocalypse stories that are like "well the apocalypse is happening, anyways gotta go get groceries" because it feels so real given...the current state of the world. and then you add zombie-slaying butch lesbians on top of that and really, what more can you ask for? a delightful quick read - and omg i want more of this so fingers crossed there's another volume - that i would highly recommend.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun concept and really cool art style, but I wish there was some kind of storyline so we could actually get to know the characters and feel some closure. It just kinda… ends and we don’t really know all that much more than we did at the start.

[Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A semi-epistolary love story told with a flair for humor and dynamic artwork. This comic swerves between grit and silliness at the speed of light, with a light-hearted thread of romance tying it all together. I did not expect to love it as much as I did! This is one of those books with art and storytelling techniques I'll be poring over for weeks. Fans of Bryan Lee O'Malley and Benji Nate will have a lot of fun with this. This is exactly what I love to see from a Silver Sprocket artist.

Please note: Sitting somewhere around 30 pages with a bonus even-shorter comic at the end, this book is great for a shorter read.

NSFW WARNING: The longest scene in the book has explicit sexual content. Although thoroughly enjoyable for most adults, please note that this may not be appropriate for young children.

[keely · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lesbian zombie apocalypse graphic novel. need i say more. not adding to my goodreads challenge because it was like thirty pages and half of them were drawings of tits. would love nothing more than for this to become a tv show because that would rock. big up eastern regional libraries for ordering this one for me. they're the real heroes.

[Kelly Dienes · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute queer super brief zombie apocalypse story. not super my thing but i enjoyed the art a lot. optimistic in its message of love and happiness still being possible even when the world has gone to shit

[Aglaé · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silly, cute, funny!

[Stephanie Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

queer girlies killing zombies in the apocalypse= <3

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Graphic novella cleverly told through Instagram posts, interview, and brief interlude between two zombie apocalypse survivors and now lovers. Rough art style; didn’t really appeal to me.

[Benny · Rating 4 out of 5]

EEEEEEEEE Oh i love this style so much.... Need to know what sort of brush texture theyre using in this cos i want to eat it

[Riley Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

very cute very fun we love a pair of sapphic zombie hunters

[chess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This comic was super cool! Dodie and Beatriz are really hilarious and lovely characters. I honestly could read about their adventures during the apocalypse for the rest of my life. Overall this comic was just so fun, steamy, creative, and badass! 10/10

[Tiabeanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok.

[Allison Maddox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lesbian lovers in a zombie apocalypse that’s cycled on and off for generations. In this, you get to scroll through their social media timeline that tells part of the story of meeting and becoming zombie hunters, read an article about their work, look at the floor plan for their underground love nest (bunker), and see bits and pieces of their interactions (some of which are sexxxy). It’s such a fun read with an interesting portrayal of how even the worst things in life can become just another thing we live through/cope with/survive.

[Gabriel Mauel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zombies but with social media, mutual aid, and queer romance. Loved it!

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 (rounded up to 4)

CW: blood, gore, violence, death, death of a parent (mentioned), medical content (mentioned), gun violence (mentioned)

With the seventh round of the apocalypse arriving and protecting oneself against zombies becomes as common as putting on bug spray, Peters' debut novel showcases a slice-of-life perspective of a influenca, a zombie-hunter influencer, and her partner in Influenca.

The plot definitely caught my attention when I first discovered this book, and Peters definitely executes their plot concept of a apocalyptic, zombie-infested world very well. The characters, Dodie and Beatriz, are likeable. However, there's not as much of a plot or character development. Told mostly in a epistolary format with commentary from Dodie and Beatriz being forced to hide out in their bunker for the week, it's just one of those books that gives off "vibes, no plot". While not necessarily a bad thing, it did make it difficult to follow along with the book at times as I ended trying to catch myself up with where the characters were going since the pacing is very fast.

While I know this book won't be for everybody, I thought it was an interesting read and I would read future editions if Peters ever decides to write a sequel for Influenca. If you're the type of reader who loves reading super-niche indie graphic novels or you're looking for a queer horror novel with a hint of romance, you might find yourself liking Influenca.

[Vera Elwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun, if unfulfilling, look at the apocalypse through a new perspective: the role of influencers in a dystopian reality. I enjoyed the found footage-esque format of the graphic novel much more than the real-time scenes we saw play out between the two main characters and feel it could have been more interesting if the author leaned into telling the story through online posts, magazine articles, and news briefings. Honestly, I think this would be a great story to tell in the style of the Lizzie Bennett Diaries YouTube series.

What really threw me off was what felt like unnecessary nudity. I understand the role that sexuality and nudity can play in literature - particularly visual literature. I can even appreciate some gratuitous nudity. However, I rarely saw the main characters with their clothes ON. This is something that I also think could have been fixed with by leaning into the found footage style storytelling.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has a cute post-apocalyptic premise, and I enjoyed the storytelling through screenshots of instagram-y profiles and posts over time. Some of the silly jokes made me smile, too. The main POV of a 20something lesbian big city dirtbag is fine but didn’t connect with me personally; I wondered why since Caroline Cash writes from a superficially similar POV and I’ve loved her stuff, but I think it’s bc Cash writes with an ironic/detached tone I find relatable and this has more of a hyper puppy thing going on that could be mildly annoying. I’d also have been okay if the cutesy cartoon porn scene that takes up ~15 pages was 1-2 instead, but Peters seemed to have a good time drawing it.

[Sucre · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoyed this soooo much but really wish it was longer! I actually went "wait that's it" out loud when I got to the end (luckily there was a decent bonus chapter showing more of the two leads). a good bit of this is a magazine interview that simply isn't the kind of thing I'm looking to read when reading a comic. long chunks of text with very little imagery (despite the creator trying to get a little clever with the formatting!). this was really fun and the two main characters have such a great relationship that is a delight to read. an easy recommendation that makes for good light reading despite the bleak world this comic is set in.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The apocalypse has started...for the seventh time. So far, two years have passed and things are, well, somewhat livable. Dodie and Beatriz, without meaning to, have started a movement in this seventh apocalypse. With Beatriz capturing Dodie's zombie fighting on social media, the status of influenca was born: zombie hunting influencers. But now, Dodie and Beatriz are stuck in their bunker because of a horde that will take about a week to pass, so they decide to make it a romantic vacation.

Jade LFT Peters has cleverly used different forms of storytelling to weave together the both lovely and strong story of Dodie and Beatriz. Bold, creative, and hopeful, Influenca is a great read.

[cedarluv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe my solution to getting a gf is starting the zombie apocalypse. brb.

I think the atmosphere for this story is so well lived in, it’s causal in a way you’d never expect for a zombie apocalypse narrative. It’s dark how death is normalized in their society but somehow they still manage to live happy lives. I find it kinda cathartic in this hellscape of a world we’re living in on the brink of an apocalypse itself.
The art is also so fun and expressive and everything I strive to do it my own work.

[snailer · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4 stars]
I love Silver Sprocket and was pleasantly surprised to see this was published by them. I first saw this at an indie bookstore and a week later it was at my library (yay!), I'm so happy I got to read this slice of life story that included queer love in the time of an apocalypse sooner than I expected to be able to. I loved the way this graphic novel was set up and seeing all the different ways it told its story (social media posts, magazine interviews, etc). I'm hoping to find more from this artist/author in the future!

[kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

oof i feel bad but this wasn’t for me it felt like very surface level, like not a real situation with depth but what someone who day dreams abt lesbian love and zombie hunting would think about. and the social media posts at the beginning made me cringe too hard… main character with “gf haver” in bio????? “haver of gf”???? i had a physical involuntary facial reaction of disgust. i’m so sorry i didn’t like this one but i respect the creative idea and the lesbian visibility and the boobs were nice but the graphic sex scene added to “this is someone’s fantasy” type of vibe.

[stopfemmicide · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dodie and Bea make me want to start searching for my one true love (outside of the apocalypse, of course). The entire novel was an amazing representation of modern love and continuing life and love in the worst possible scenario. The plot was the standard, “I was almost bit by a mutant zombie and became undead” cliche. I am very against relationships, and pregnancies, while surviving an apocalypse, but thank god, this wasn’t at all like The Walking Dead. I would date in their apocalypse, seriously!!

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the mix of graphic mediums, with parts of the story being comic while others are social media posts or news interviews. It's also cool that this is the seventh apocalypse? Instead of initial outbreak? So much of the world is pretty 'normal', it's almost a slice-of-life after decades of zombie apocalypses but unlike most apocalypses the world miraculously didn't completely blow up to hell and back.

[Tutankhamun18 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable Lesbian Zombie survival story. I found it too short, I wish we had more time with these characters and this world of Zombies. I really liked the idea and the various formats of storytelling (reading instagram posts, seeing them house hunting and a magazine interview with one of the main characters).

[Flo Woolley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the format that Influenca takes of telling its story through instagram posts, magazine articles, vlogs, and comics. It's a really unique way to build the world and provide exposition, and also provides a lot of opportunities for comedy. The expressive art makes it such a fun read and the concept of zombie apocalypse influencers is really up my street!!

[ashes ➷ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute, delivers exactly what it said it would. Very hot musclewomen saving other girls from zombies <3 My one complaint is that this is TOO SHORT; I would have read another 400 pages of this!! I hope to God we get a followup or extension or graphic novelization or something because this is way too good to stop here.

[Meggie Ramm · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple that are zombie killers/influencers get stuck on hiatus from killing/posting while a horde shambles above their bunker. 

The plot was mostly about the couple and their lives as influencers, but that topic isn't really something I'm interested in. The zombie part didn't add all that much. Not for me, I think.