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The Mocking Dead Volume 1
A small outbreak can turn into a worldwide apocalypse… but only through a long string of screw-ups! Once actual zombies begin popping up in our world, a lone intelligence analyst realizes real-life events are beginning to mimic the events of a long-lost, Grade-Z, drive-in horror flick. As he races to save humanity with this knowledge, he quickly learns the only thing more dangerous than ravenous walking corpses is the ineptitude of the living! The gutsplitting (and then eating) comedy that pokes fun at the zombie horror phenomenon! Illustrated in graytones with red highlights (for blood and gore, of course), so it feels like the ever-popular The Walking Dead series. Collects the complete storyline from issues #1-5 of The Mocking Dead comic book series, complete with a cover gallery!
Collection Features:
• Issues 1-5 of The Mocking Dead by Fred Van Lente and Max Dunbar
• Introduction by David Wellington
• Script to issue one by Fred Van Lente
• Sketches by Max Dunbar
• Complete cover gallery featuring art by Bill Tortolini and Max Dunbar
"Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments!"
--Major Spoilers
"Max Dunbar’s art add volumes to the enjoyment of this title. His renderings are funny, gross, and graphic."
--Unleash The Fanboy
"The Mocking Dead is very meta, pretty funny, and awfully clever."
--Multiversity Comics
"Fred Van Lente already did a great job on the subject (of zombie parodies) with his work on Marvel Zombies, but damned if he didn’t manage to find a unique approach to the concept with Mocking Dead."
--Comic Book Resources
Collection Features:
• Issues 1-5 of The Mocking Dead by Fred Van Lente and Max Dunbar
• Introduction by David Wellington
• Script to issue one by Fred Van Lente
• Sketches by Max Dunbar
• Complete cover gallery featuring art by Bill Tortolini and Max Dunbar
"Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments!"
--Major Spoilers
"Max Dunbar’s art add volumes to the enjoyment of this title. His renderings are funny, gross, and graphic."
--Unleash The Fanboy
"The Mocking Dead is very meta, pretty funny, and awfully clever."
--Multiversity Comics
"Fred Van Lente already did a great job on the subject (of zombie parodies) with his work on Marvel Zombies, but damned if he didn’t manage to find a unique approach to the concept with Mocking Dead."
--Comic Book Resources
170 pages, ebook
First published February 25, 2014
7 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Fred Van Lente
1,355 books320 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 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 17, 2014
I was really excited to see this - finally someone’s written a parody of The Walking Dead comic!, I thought. I looked at the back and saw that the zombies (or “zeds” as they’re known here) are all laughing, in sharp contrast to Robert Kirkman’s ridiculously miserable series, and that The Mocking Dead is written by Fred Van Lente, author of the excellent Archer and Armstrong over at Valiant. This could potentially be a laugh riot - but it’s not, and it’s also not a parody of The Walking Dead either. Yeah, pretty disappointing.
The Mocking Dead is instead just another zombie comic with the only difference being the zombies are all laughing for no reason. The zombie apocalypse has happened and it’s up to a pair of geeks who’re bizarrely put in charge of solving the crisis by the US military. One of the geeks, Bunch (awful name), decides the answer to the problem lies in a long-forgotten B-movie called The Mocking Dead and sets out to hunt down the only remaining copy.
Our two geeky protagonists are really annoying. Bunch is a D&D geek who’s mad at Malik, the girl, who’s left behind the geek clothes and “sold out” to dress like a grown up with a grown up job. He tells her off for being a “fake geek girl” and she tells him off for being a manchild - they bicker like this the entire book. They are a pair of irritating twits I kept hoping were going to be killed off gruesomely but weren’t - Van Lente likes referencing geek culture too much and needs them alive to do that.
I didn’t buy the setup either - why did the military hire some geeks to “study” pop culture and prepare for potential fictional setups? And why would they not know what to do in a zombie apocalypse scenario anyway? Hasn’t everyone seen or read at least one zombie story and know instinctively what to do? They’re not a niche genre, zombies are freakin’ everywhere! And the conclusion of this geek group’s “studies”? Use flamethrowers. Wow, I’m sure the military never would’ve thought to do that, they only have the biggest cache of weapons in the world!
Bunch and Malik knock about until they find the film and then? The story just peters out with the cop out caption “End?”. For me it is as I’m not interested in finding out what this pair of idiots did next and whether they saved the world or not.
The Mocking Dead is a wasted opportunity. Readers, like me, are going to pick it up hoping it’ll be a funny, entertaining comic full of jabs at The Walking Dead and come away totally let down at the sub-standard zombie story you get instead. It really is just like every other zombie story you’ve read. And with Van Lente writing you’d hope for a few laughs at least but no, his weak attempts at comedy fall flat.
I’d love to have read a parody comic of The Walking Dead but unfortunately The Mocking Dead is not that.
The Mocking Dead is instead just another zombie comic with the only difference being the zombies are all laughing for no reason. The zombie apocalypse has happened and it’s up to a pair of geeks who’re bizarrely put in charge of solving the crisis by the US military. One of the geeks, Bunch (awful name), decides the answer to the problem lies in a long-forgotten B-movie called The Mocking Dead and sets out to hunt down the only remaining copy.
Our two geeky protagonists are really annoying. Bunch is a D&D geek who’s mad at Malik, the girl, who’s left behind the geek clothes and “sold out” to dress like a grown up with a grown up job. He tells her off for being a “fake geek girl” and she tells him off for being a manchild - they bicker like this the entire book. They are a pair of irritating twits I kept hoping were going to be killed off gruesomely but weren’t - Van Lente likes referencing geek culture too much and needs them alive to do that.
I didn’t buy the setup either - why did the military hire some geeks to “study” pop culture and prepare for potential fictional setups? And why would they not know what to do in a zombie apocalypse scenario anyway? Hasn’t everyone seen or read at least one zombie story and know instinctively what to do? They’re not a niche genre, zombies are freakin’ everywhere! And the conclusion of this geek group’s “studies”? Use flamethrowers. Wow, I’m sure the military never would’ve thought to do that, they only have the biggest cache of weapons in the world!
Bunch and Malik knock about until they find the film and then? The story just peters out with the cop out caption “End?”. For me it is as I’m not interested in finding out what this pair of idiots did next and whether they saved the world or not.
The Mocking Dead is a wasted opportunity. Readers, like me, are going to pick it up hoping it’ll be a funny, entertaining comic full of jabs at The Walking Dead and come away totally let down at the sub-standard zombie story you get instead. It really is just like every other zombie story you’ve read. And with Van Lente writing you’d hope for a few laughs at least but no, his weak attempts at comedy fall flat.
I’d love to have read a parody comic of The Walking Dead but unfortunately The Mocking Dead is not that.
September 12, 2017
The penciling style and the black/white color scheme reminded me of the first few issues of The Walking Dead.
The story is basically a quest to track down the remaining copy of an old movie entitled 'The Mocking Dead', which supposedly holds the key to solve the zombie apocalypse. Ridiculous, I know. But everything was cool except the lazy ending.
'Goths detained as zombie sympathizers' Haha. You gotta check out the emails and newspaper snippets. Some of the best jokes are found there.
Was it just me, or did Rosalita looked like the maid from Family Guy?
The story is basically a quest to track down the remaining copy of an old movie entitled 'The Mocking Dead', which supposedly holds the key to solve the zombie apocalypse. Ridiculous, I know. But everything was cool except the lazy ending.
'Goths detained as zombie sympathizers' Haha. You gotta check out the emails and newspaper snippets. Some of the best jokes are found there.
Was it just me, or did Rosalita looked like the maid from Family Guy?
December 4, 2018
Confermo la mia personale repulsione per le storie di zombie, unica nota interessante di questo comic è che si cerca di predisporre dei piani di difesa contro l'orda degli Zombie basandosi sulla vasta mole di opere di fantasia che hanno come oggetto gli zombie. Senza successo, e senza approfondire a dovere la cosa, però l'idea di fondo non era malvagia.
February 21, 2022
This was better than I expected it to be. Pretty funny in a few places. Lots of meta geeky pop culture stuff. I was a little disappointed in the ending. I was hoping for something a little more clever.
May 2, 2020
An unfunny parody of the Walking Dead.
December 1, 2025
I guess I missed the parts when this was supposed to be funny?
April 5, 2015
Not long enough I had come to a conclusion, that if there is one thing man should stop doing at certain point in life, as he grows older and gains experience, is - don't do promises. Like - at all. At best you can promise to try to do something to the best of your capabilities and that's it. Why? Because broken promises usually lead you to unnecessary disappointment. And that's exactly what I got from this graphic novel.
When I read the introduction I was excited - laughing zombies, satire about the whole zombie flicks and how incapable governments are dealing with it and why do they make the worst possible decisions. And I was especially excited as to see what was the supposedly best way of dealing with zombies ("zeds" in this version) if we take all the experience given by the games/movies and so on and keeping in mind that recently some US governmental documents were released stating that Pentagon has in reality a training plan for the zombie apocalypse if one were to take place(even magic voodoo zombies... XD).
But then I started reading it... At first my spirits were high as this had a rather good black and white art full of details and some minimal coloring (of blood of course, nothing else). It sort of setup the tone and was instantly compared to The Walking Dead series (which was nor good, nor bad, as I don't read it, but I'll give a proper credit of appraise to artists as I usually turn away from american comics that are not in color). So far so good - chapter one, two and... I start to see that even though told otherwise- I still got the good ol' zombie flick with good ol' stupid mistakes of military, human stupidity and a lack of basic self preservation for quite a number of folks out there. Difference being that other tales say it as a part of a story but this one also does a commentary pointing out how stupid it was and pointless and so on. Which didn't really give anything worthy to the experience. By the end of the graphic novel and all of the "revelations" (because it so closely follows the canons set by the media it is sort of making jokes about) I had a right word for it all - disappointment.
The one good thing that this comic gave me, as I am not a native English user - now I know the difference between words "geek" and "nerd", and if I have to - I can classify myself now as a half-fake-geek. And that whole geek thing had a potential, but I can't really say that it differs from any other scenarios where seemingly inappropriate person saves the day (or does not anyway, if you like darker, more "realistic" twists). And as I said - I'm basically a half-geek too (comics/manga/anime/videogames, d&d and I'm far from being a teen anymore), but it was rather hard to resonate with main characters because from the viewers perspective they were as dysfunctional as any other member of the society, but had the tendency for the escapism in the more fictional part of pop culture. There wasn't really anything likeable about them, or either charismatic. (and don't get me started about the use of usual cliche of girls falling for macho types, even though this comic was supposedly an anti-usual-cliche thing...the hell???)
And also one last cringe - the ending - that makes it all rather pointless. I mean it. After the final chapter I had a feeling I just wasted some time reading this broken-promise. But as I said - art, sort of, saves the day and a gets the label "It was ok" and 2/5 stars. In the end - the part of a title perfectly gives what's in it - mocking, but not quite sure the dead are the ones that er being addressed here...
PS. And that super hyped part about laughing zombies was really, really underplayed and had no noteworthy moments for it to be boldly claimed as the new revolution and so on. Maybe it would have worked better in a movie than a comic.
When I read the introduction I was excited - laughing zombies, satire about the whole zombie flicks and how incapable governments are dealing with it and why do they make the worst possible decisions. And I was especially excited as to see what was the supposedly best way of dealing with zombies ("zeds" in this version) if we take all the experience given by the games/movies and so on and keeping in mind that recently some US governmental documents were released stating that Pentagon has in reality a training plan for the zombie apocalypse if one were to take place(even magic voodoo zombies... XD).
But then I started reading it... At first my spirits were high as this had a rather good black and white art full of details and some minimal coloring (of blood of course, nothing else). It sort of setup the tone and was instantly compared to The Walking Dead series (which was nor good, nor bad, as I don't read it, but I'll give a proper credit of appraise to artists as I usually turn away from american comics that are not in color). So far so good - chapter one, two and... I start to see that even though told otherwise- I still got the good ol' zombie flick with good ol' stupid mistakes of military, human stupidity and a lack of basic self preservation for quite a number of folks out there. Difference being that other tales say it as a part of a story but this one also does a commentary pointing out how stupid it was and pointless and so on. Which didn't really give anything worthy to the experience. By the end of the graphic novel and all of the "revelations" (because it so closely follows the canons set by the media it is sort of making jokes about) I had a right word for it all - disappointment.
The one good thing that this comic gave me, as I am not a native English user - now I know the difference between words "geek" and "nerd", and if I have to - I can classify myself now as a half-fake-geek. And that whole geek thing had a potential, but I can't really say that it differs from any other scenarios where seemingly inappropriate person saves the day (or does not anyway, if you like darker, more "realistic" twists). And as I said - I'm basically a half-geek too (comics/manga/anime/videogames, d&d and I'm far from being a teen anymore), but it was rather hard to resonate with main characters because from the viewers perspective they were as dysfunctional as any other member of the society, but had the tendency for the escapism in the more fictional part of pop culture. There wasn't really anything likeable about them, or either charismatic. (and don't get me started about the use of usual cliche of girls falling for macho types, even though this comic was supposedly an anti-usual-cliche thing...the hell???)
And also one last cringe - the ending - that makes it all rather pointless. I mean it. After the final chapter I had a feeling I just wasted some time reading this broken-promise. But as I said - art, sort of, saves the day and a gets the label "It was ok" and 2/5 stars. In the end - the part of a title perfectly gives what's in it - mocking, but not quite sure the dead are the ones that er being addressed here...
PS. And that super hyped part about laughing zombies was really, really underplayed and had no noteworthy moments for it to be boldly claimed as the new revolution and so on. Maybe it would have worked better in a movie than a comic.
August 10, 2014
Parodies are hard to do well. The worst parodies are unbearable, the best deconstruct the tropes. I was afraid The Mocking Dead would be the former, but since I got it as part of a huge Humble Bundle, it was nearly free for me to check out. Luckily it turned out to be less Scary Movie and more like something Mel Brooks would put together.
It is a competent story that stands alone without any knowledge of what it parodies. While Spaceballs is funnier if you know Star Wars, it's enjoyable without any knowledge of it. Similarly, the only things The Mocking Dead takes from The Walking Dead are the black and white color scheme and zombies. This saves it from the Family Guy-ization of parodies (eg Scary Movie, Not Another Teen Movie, etc).
However, the greatest original contribution is that of laughing zombies. The art is so perfect - it captures what's always been horrific about Joker's laughing serum. Bad guys coming at you with a grin plastered on their face is creepy. Combine that with being undead and laughing and it's almost terrifying.
The Mocking Dead is not going to be a classic nor is it an awesome comic book. But it's a good story that pokes fun at zombie tropes and current nerd/pop culture. (With a little politics thrown in for good measure) I'd recommend it for the zombie geek in your life.
It is a competent story that stands alone without any knowledge of what it parodies. While Spaceballs is funnier if you know Star Wars, it's enjoyable without any knowledge of it. Similarly, the only things The Mocking Dead takes from The Walking Dead are the black and white color scheme and zombies. This saves it from the Family Guy-ization of parodies (eg Scary Movie, Not Another Teen Movie, etc).
However, the greatest original contribution is that of laughing zombies. The art is so perfect - it captures what's always been horrific about Joker's laughing serum. Bad guys coming at you with a grin plastered on their face is creepy. Combine that with being undead and laughing and it's almost terrifying.
The Mocking Dead is not going to be a classic nor is it an awesome comic book. But it's a good story that pokes fun at zombie tropes and current nerd/pop culture. (With a little politics thrown in for good measure) I'd recommend it for the zombie geek in your life.
February 12, 2014
Fred Van Lente has written an amazing spoof of the zombie-survival subgenre while still managing to create a tense, suspenseful zombie tale. His love of goofy humor and the old horror movies they used to air on "creature feature" TV shows comes through in a tale that tackles a lot more than zombies. Van Lente dissects -- and shows his obvious love for -- geek and nerd culture, with everything from tabletop gaming to the erroneous concept of "fake geek girls" thoroughly examined and when necessary, as the title suggests, mocked. The five issues collected in this trade edition are a great deal of fun, but if you ask me, they're over too soon. If Van Lente and artist Max Dunbar should have more in store for us, I'll be waiting eagerly to read it.
June 10, 2022
Since time began, one question has been on the tips of humanity: is there anything that fans and haters of zombie media can find common ground on? I am here to tell you that the answer has been found.
This is not a clever satire of zombie tropes or a deconstruction of what makes them popular or even just characters we can like going on a stupid journey. We get egocentric idiots who make one idiotic decision after another until you end up hoping to be bitten yourself so this doesn’t take up any of your memory.
Only clever thing is the title. Stare at that, and take whatever plot you think would be behind it. I promise it’s far more entertaining than what is actually there.
This is not a clever satire of zombie tropes or a deconstruction of what makes them popular or even just characters we can like going on a stupid journey. We get egocentric idiots who make one idiotic decision after another until you end up hoping to be bitten yourself so this doesn’t take up any of your memory.
Only clever thing is the title. Stare at that, and take whatever plot you think would be behind it. I promise it’s far more entertaining than what is actually there.
July 7, 2014
Another parodic take on zombies, this doesn't do anything too original, but does manage to tell a decent story with some nice humor and a couple of strong characters. When zombies appear, the US Government calls in a geek for strategy, with predictably poor results. The book is black and white, and mostly humorous (and it has a couple laugh-out-load moments), but it gets a bit dark too. It's not going to be joining World War Z (the book) in the pantheon of pinnacle zombie stories, but it does a good job using the cliche in a fun way.
August 8, 2014
The artwork was terrific.
But on the downside, this wasn't a parody of The Walking Dead, as the title promises. It was instead a rather tired zombie story with a particularly irritating lead character who hits that stereotype of the 'self-indentifying nice-guy who is actually a passive-aggressive man-child arsehole'. So you spend most of the story hoping he gets killed, only for him to fly off into the sunset with the girl of his dreams.
Also, I just didn't find it funny. You can't do a comedy parody zombie story if you don't have some good gags.
But on the downside, this wasn't a parody of The Walking Dead, as the title promises. It was instead a rather tired zombie story with a particularly irritating lead character who hits that stereotype of the 'self-indentifying nice-guy who is actually a passive-aggressive man-child arsehole'. So you spend most of the story hoping he gets killed, only for him to fly off into the sunset with the girl of his dreams.
Also, I just didn't find it funny. You can't do a comedy parody zombie story if you don't have some good gags.
September 10, 2014
After giving up on The Walking Dead in disgust, I thought I'd try this thing, which isn't really related but is (sort of) marketed as a parody. Given that I set my expectations very low, I was pleasantly surprised by this. It's a bit uneven and sometimes struggles to find the right tone, but along the way it does offer a few effective jokes, some affectionate tributes to cheesy horror cinema and nerd culture, and at least one surprisingly interesting idea. Not a triumph, perhaps, but not a total waste of time (and complete in one volume to boot).
October 18, 2014
This is probably mis-represented. It is a funny book, and it is a zombie book, but I wouldn't really call it a parody. It's more of an homage--in the vein of Shawn of the Dead-- as opposed to a Max Brooks movie. I will admit that I blazed through it on a plane ride, so some of the details are a bit fuzzy. But I did enjoy it, and I definitely remember lolling a few times
January 28, 2016
Well, at least it was better than my very low expectations. It's a parody of zombie comics, after all. A lot of funny and obscure cultural references (made me feel smart) and a pretty cool story despite annoying characters.
May 18, 2014
this was pretty awesome. and funny.
July 10, 2014
i think this is a collection of 1-5 of the series. pretty good
August 24, 2014
Not what you expect at all! Excellent!
Read
August 9, 2014Read single issues!
August 18, 2014
then went and read all five
July 11, 2015
It's less an out and out parody and more a commentary on geek culture set against the rise of laughing zombies. Clever and funny at times, it never quite adds up to something satisfying
January 10, 2021
Comedy zombie comic, decent but nothing special
gave-up-on
June 24, 2014El concepto es interesante, la forma en la que se desarrolla no lo es. Olvidable.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews