Colonized

The Colonized #1-4

by Chris Ryall, Drew Moss (artist), Francesco Francavilla (cover_art)

Where there's aliens, there's zombies! These otherworldy threats converge in the secluded Carbon Falls Collective. As a 2nd-gen off-the-grid’er, Huxley Robertson is dealing with both loss and the elders’ pushback against his plans for a fully sustainable town. Amidst those volatile, circumstances, a vainglorious alien explorer inadvertently re-animates the town's dead! Add a rogue ATF agent into the mix and let's just say this is a bad time for the sleepy town to be cut off from the outside world.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Zombies, Comics, Horror, Fiction

103 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 29, 2013

Reviews

[zxvasdf · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I did. It's just an unfortunate case of bad timing, it is. The zombie apocalypse genre took nearly two decades to be truly appreciated for the addictive abandon of moral inhibition it's become, and lately it's become a case of beating a dead horse as writers find inventive new ways to explore this undead phenomenon.

The Colonized gets some kudos for its originality, but at this point it's treading on the corpses of tired-ass tropes. It tries to be like the Walking Dead, except with aliens. An intriguing twist suggests a means of stopping the zombie plague, but deep down inside... nobody really wants to do that. Nobody wants to return to that world where the rules worked, to relinquish this newfound freedom that releases inherently human angsts while allowing one to retain their humanity. The undead are unthinking creatures, a facsimile of what once lived; you can't have too much guilt about removing what's trying to kill you.

So... the aliens should have come a bit earlier.

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE ZOMBIES AND COOL ART, Sign me up buddy! oh my god the art is like the art I see in my dreams fr fr, MWHA! I CSNT BELIVE THE LOW RATING, IF YOU LOVE SICK ART, READ!

[Corwyn Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Any time you throw zombies in a story with aliens I get all geekcited and want in on it. This one had all that with some sweet art, so I enjoyed it, but it didn't blow me away. The humor was a little soft; I prefer mine to be downright vile, so this was just a "cute" little tale to me. The small town it took place in had an interesting anti-corporate theme going on that I'm always on board for, but I don't feel like it actually lent anything to the story and, briefly, got boring for half an issue at the start. But they didn't over-politic it and moved on to nerdier good times so it was worth the read for me. If your sense of humor is more of a "nicer" sort, and you got that alien/zombie geek-button that's tucked right where it tickles to poke at, you'll get a kick out of this.

[Robert Bussie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This comic had a lot of potential that fall very flat. I mean, how can they mess up this idea: aliens accidently create zombies on a separatist compound sounds like a great plot to a fun and exciting story. However, it is way to wordy with very little action and the anti-government overtones is thrown down our throats every chance they get. Boring, really boring and annoying. If the writer's would have brought on the zombie and alien action and dropped the excessive political statements this could have been a great series.

The art is fine with dull uninteresting colors.

[Rick Ray · Rating 1 out of 5]

A comic featuring aliens and zombies that has an interesting underlying question about the challenging the status quo, but it's unfortunately buried deep beneath tired tropes about both aliens and zombies. It felt like there was a pulpy characteristic this comic was trying to chase, but it fell short of it quickly and never really captured much interest beyond the initial hook. Rather dull for most of its narrative length, with some artwork that doesn't really inspire much imagination either.

[A.J. Bauers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, this is just a fun book. Turns out, when you combine aliens, humans, and zombies, things get real frickin' awesome real frickin' quick.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Colonized is a mostly fun story that suffers from too many wacky characters. It takes place in a fairly isolated self-governed town, where one of the town leaders has recently died. When aliens attempt to retrieve a body and create a legion of zombies, they team up with some of the town people to stop what they've started.

Along with the aliens and zombies (including zombie farm animals), there are a group of rogue rednecks out to shoot anything that moves, and a lone ATF agent who stumbles on something that could make his career. With all these characters running around, the result is mayhem, which is good, but it leaves the storyline a bit overpopulated. Overtones of green friendly governments and equal rule are just lost in the rest of the story.

Art by Drew Moss is fun. Zombies, zombie pigs, crazed gun toting rednecks and aliens fill the pages of the story. But too much of a good thing can be too much, and I wanted to like this more than I did.

I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for letting me review this graphic novel.

[Paul Decker · Rating 3 out of 5]

***I was provided an ecopy of this comic via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

This comic is a really fun mash-up. This story takes place in a community founded on the idea of no government. And unfortunately, both aliens and zombies are out and about in this small community. Not only are the dead people of the community now walking the streets, but the dead animals have turned to zombies as well and are on the lookout for fresh flesh.

There are a few references to classic zombie movies that I got and I'm sure there were more than I didn't.
There's political commentary deeper than I expected as well with some discussions of the role of government as well as environmental impacts of the human race on this planet.

The artwork is colorful and beautifully gory at times. The zombie animals are the best.

I give this graphic novel a 3/5. It was interesting, but I didn't find it amazing. I think zombie and alien invasion buffs will enjoy this.

[Geraldine (geraldinereads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aliens have crashed their spaceship on earth! They've managed to bring the dead back to life which has caused some problems with a local separatist camp. Now it's turned into a battle of aliens vs. zombies vs. humans!

I really loved that there were aliens, zombies, and humans all in the same story, it was a very original idea that I did not expect. I loved the Walking Dead comics because I love zombies so adding aliens to the mix made it a unique story. I do feel that there was a lot going on at the same time which made me feel like some parts of the story were very rushed.

I will say that I LOVED the artwork by Drew Moss! The zombie animals were my favorite! I think I would definitely pick up more comics by the same artist in the future.

[James Love · Rating 2 out of 5]

Potential Without Follow Through

I borrowed this graphic novel from Comixology Unlimited. The idea was great. The product was not a great story. The art seemed rushed and copied at times. The storyline just meandered to the end. The attempts at humor failed to make me laugh. I can't honestly say that it's a must-read.

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://fictionstateofmind.blogspot.co...

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zombies and aliens right? Awesomesauce? Not really. Colonized sounds like somebody had an idea and then when they finished with it ... it was ok.

[Brian Dickerson · Rating 2 out of 5]

So... I liked the art gallery!

[David Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little pulp tale about how humanity is at times the most compassionate and also the most hateful breed to walk the earth. Fun while you're reading about it, easy to forget after.

[Stephen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a NetGalley ARC. Honestly, I thought this comic had promise, but it was just so slow.