Zombies vs. Robots Complete

by Chris Ryall, Ashley Wood

It started with a simple idea - mindless robots fighting rabid zombies, over the fate of the last living human baby. Then the war spread, and now it's a three-way rumble as an island of surviving Amazons get tossed into the mix! Collecting the entire Zombies vs. Robots and Zombies vs. Robots vs. Amazons series in one volume - including three prequel tales - this book allows you to get your fix of the two sold-out mini-series adventures in inanity.

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

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2008

Reviews

[Mon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zombies Vs Robots, Unicorns Vs Martians, Jack Nicholson Vs A giant pot plant, Edward Cullen Vs Jesus, Buddha Vs Hemingway, George Bush Vs A talking cat. You get two cult icons (Jesus may not be applicable for this one) and make them tear each other's intestines out. ZVR is a 160 pages of epic mind-blowing battle between two equally mindless sides in an apocalyptic setting that is familiar to all.

So how did it go wrong?

Zombies aren't interesting because they don't really do anything other than move really quickly and yell 'arghhhhhh' and 'brainnnnn'. And the problem with writing from a robot's perspective is that the dialogues and characters are about as interesting as the michrosoft word's paper clip thing. The structure is like an IKEA furniture manual, there are small battles, then medium sized battles, then big battles. And really boring ones. The robots, they don't even have names, spend most of the time looking cool and blowing things up. They can't even look cool because they're a pile of shinny metal with no basic emotion. It's almost like watching First Blood, without sound and minus the monologues.

On the plus side, Ashley Wood's art is gorgeous, a blend of Ben Templesmith's overflowing watercolour and Brian Azzarello's manly sexiness. Gender objectification aside, the gratuitous female nudes are surprisingly well done and erotic. I wish they published the whole thing without dialogue as some sort of art book, that would have been way more entertaining. I don't know what else to add, ZVR is just really, really boring. Yeah, I didn't think robots, outside an engineering textbook, are capable of being boring either.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Violent, silly and never boring. I may need to read this another ten times - I'm not stupid, but this book is certifiably insane: a scientist goes through an H.G. Wells time portal wearing the clunkiest robot gear ever designed to discover that the only homo sapiens left on the planet are zombies.

At some point he runs into a gaggle of lesbian amazons who will help him kill off the zombies and a wicked Minotaur flesh eater. He also gets help from all the robots he created in his lab. At a later point mermen arrive! Holy shit!

Chris Ryall's wack story is complimented by Ashley Wood's mixmaster-cum-A.D.D. art style: one page is rendered in acrylics, the next in scratchy pen peppered with trad-comic book Ben Gay dots, followed by water colors, it's apeshit from start to finish!

This comp collects all of the "Zombies Vs. Robots" stories as well as the "Zombies Vs. Robots Vs. Amazons" issues. Confused? Who wouldn't be?

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Se eu pudesse resumir esse quadrinho em uma palavra, ela seria: esquisitaaaaaaçooo! Mas, como sou legal com vocês, vou falar um pouco mais. Sabe aquela obra que tem uma premissa foda, mas que quando vão realizar ela, ao invés de torná-la ainda mais foda, fodem tudo. Pois é, é o caso deste quadrinho. Disseram ser um quadrinho descompromissado, mas quando um autor produz e um leitor compra, se estabelece aí um compromisso. Ou seja, para poder compra mais, o leitor precisa gostar do que lê. Em Zumbis vs. Robôs (que parece que algum idiota resolveu tornar um filme), a arte não combina com o roteiro. A arte é super séria, emulando um Dave McKean e o roteiro é todo... humm... toscão. As situações são clichês totais. Bem que meu sentido de furada me alertou quando viu nas bancas uma HQ capa dura (que devia ser restolho de saldão) por 19,90. Eu su um cara que aprecia indiadas, mas, olha, esse é de chorar no cantinho. Não serve nem pra limpar a bunda porque tem um verniz texturizado na capa e pode dar hemorróidas em quem usar ele. Eu não entendo como, com tanto material bom saindo no mercado nacional e fora do Brasil, a Mythos Editora me consegue colocar umas porcarias dessas como isso e os quadrinhos da Dynamite pra vender. Desculpa, mas chega a ser revoltante colocar uma coisa dessas e ainda de capa dura pra vender. Meus sinceros pêsames para quem gastou o preço original de 69,90 nessa porcaria. Que. Morte. Horrível.

[Facundo Aqua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lee el título. No venís acá por la historia. Venís por la falopa y porque Ashley Wood doma cada una de las páginas de este sinsentido hermoso y gore.

[Charlie George · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art of Ashley Wood is not the traditional inked drawings of other comics. Each panel is an individual painting, and this graphic novel is an entire gallery full of them. A couple dozen of them are gorgeous works of art. The trouble is, there is no variation in style and after several hundred, you're burned out on these visuals, appealing though they may be in small quantities. Granted, normal comics rarely have variation in style, but they are also clearer and more suited to storytelling.

The problematic characteristics of the art might have been saved by a good story. Unfortunately Chris Ryall's dialogue, characterization, and plot are severely lacking. It is pretty much just a vehicle for the art along with a few shock-value and humorous moments. The main strengths of this collection are a few stellar images, and the glorious robots themselves, who range from cute to murderously battle hungry.

Inexplicably, the only numbered pages in my edition are 35-43. It looks as though they decided to eighty-six the page numbering, but accidentally left a few in.

In summary, the robots are wonderfully funny and mischievous, the zombies are, well, zombies, and the amazons are naked. But for all this greatness, it just didn't come together for me. I think Ashley Wood art looks great individually framed on a wall, but doesn't make for good narrative. It is potent and mysterious, exciting and magical. But it creates too many questions, leaves out too much detail, and is not suited to mesh with the written word or fill in the gaps in the manner of a great comic.

[Jordan Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stars I gave this book are solely for the art of Ashley Wood: her style is remarkable unique and distinctive. It’s sometime hard to figure out what I’m looking at with her art though due to how scratchy and muddled it can oftentimes look. Not the best thing when you’re trying to sequentially tell a story.
The other half of the coin, the story, is an utter mess. The author clearly thinks he’s a very witty man who writes good dialogue, as there’s an air of smugness to how his writing comes across. He’s not good here at all. The story is unintelligible, the characters could have their dialogue bubbles rearranged and still sound the same, the plotting is image, and the pacing is way.too.fast. There’s a major plot element in the first half of the story that just kind of stops with no resolution, there’s not a single mention of how the Amazons survived literal nuclear winter, and later there just happens to be the Gates to Hell right where everyone’s fighting for a convenient end to the fight. It’s stupid.
Cool art can’t save a stupid story, and this isn’t even so bad its good. It’s just bad. Get this if you think the art is rad; ignore the story.
SIDE NOTE: I really dislike IDWs binding in general and this exemplifies why. The binding on this copy is so dang tight that I had to actively pull the book open while I was reading, and couldn’t crack the spine for fear of the whole book snapping in half. I’ve had this problem with other IDW releases too. They need to take lessons from Dark Horse about quality binding for their books.

[Sarina Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zombies vs. Robots is an amazing graphic novel that shows the struggle of robot civilization to help save the last human baby from the overrun world of zombies. Soon an isolated village of Amazon women are thrown into the struggle and brings on a ferocious war. Ashley Wood creates and intense, desperate, and gruesome feel to the story line while also combining humor into the dialogue. The illustrations of this graphic novel are what really make it a masterpiece. From clean and clear, black and white pictures to sketchy intricate and halftone. Ashley wood switches between mediums to show his great talent. In some portions there are full pages of broad stroke paints and others sketchy panels in ink. I would strongly recommend this graphic novel to anyone who is a fan of gruesome graphic novels and post apocalyptic tales.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have heard of this title for a while now but I will again put my hand up and say I know so little about comics and graphic novels that I never really thought I would be able to find it. Well here it is in its entirety in one hard back edition and I must admit its great fun.

The storyline is rather linear and art work is very stylised but I think that all adds to the fun. The dialogue is never too serious in places pokes fun at itself as much as the established zombie stories.

But for all its short comings I really enjoyed its sense of fun and energy - it most certainly is not for all, and like we say here its very much Marmite - you either love it or hate it. I have always had a love for those slightly off the main stream strange creations others often either overlook or hurry past trying not to get their attention. I think this definitely meets that criteria.

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashley Wood has stood out for a while now as one of my favorite comic artist, based mostly on his anarchic, surreal Automatic Kafka. Wood wields the same crazy pen and brush in this delicious apocalyptic comic. ZVR tells the story of mankind’s demise at our own hands, a zombie outbreak that leaves the world populated only by the robots we created to help us before we (un)died. Amazons arrive to play a role as well, as do other mythical creatures as the story goes along. It’s crazy and silly and grotesque, and I love it.

[Damon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts out as more or less standard zombie stuff - not too dark, maybe heavy on the "irony," but really nothing that stands out too much (I guess this would be the intro stuff, and then the first series?).
The second half, though, gets completely ridiculous, in a much better way - pretty much once the Amazons show up.
Excellent artwork throughout, regardless. Definitely not a classic, but entertaining. Begging for a film adaptation.

[Octavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

No está nada mal, pero se le va mucho la olla.

[Mkittysamom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure what to think.. maybe I need to read it again?

Zombies vs Robots with Amazonians... I’m trying to figure out the point.. the ending was.. Mermen? ?zzztktsbzz? Does not compute...

[Books Over People · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this is brilliant and biting commentary on the state of science fiction and horror. Some of this is super male gazey for no reason. The final third, the parts without words. Is actually some of the best bit of story telling.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mindless fun, great art.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a totally fun read. The story was cool but what really made the book for me was Ashley Wood's art; simple but awesome.

[Nate Hawthorne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like all the twists that each author can put on the zombie catalog. Each series has it's own flavor. It keeps it relatable, yet fresh.

[Adrian Bloxham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple story sublime art work

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice art.
I was happy to see that this comic really doesn`t take itself seriously, as the title led me to believe.

[Trike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zombies vs. Robots vs. Amazons is just as dumb as its title suggests with very little of the fun.

[Jeepz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection. It's not Sandman in terms of story telling - there aren't many layers of subtext or interweaving plot lines. What we get is pulp action at its finest. Humans are cleverly used to set the stage and help get the story moving, but once it does there's no mistaking they play second (or even third) string in this cast. The robots (well, one main robot) effectively carry the story, and we get a lot of fun robot v. zombie carnage that actually makes sense and is fun to see.

And do we see it! The art grabbed me immediately (I'd never heard of the book before, so it was the first impression of the art that caused me to pick it up). It's unpolished, kinetic, and integral to the post-apocalyptic tone of the story. As you might guess in a story with a robot protagonist and a cast full of zombies, the story hinges less on dialog and more on action. What the illustrations lack in intricate detail they more than make up for in camera angles and fine use of sequential panels to render the action from a variety of perspectives. The art also helps establish the character of the non-humans and gives them depth and personality. The zombies reminded me a lot of those in Thirty Days of Night - incomplete, decaying, terrifying, something less than human. It's all about brains, and they rip and shred the page trying to get them. The robots are unique, solid but not indestructible, and when their parts fly, they fly.

Ryall's Warbot carries the story as any pulp hero would, and the limited use of humans* reinforces that this is a robot and zombie world and humans are merely trying to survive. Wood's art reinforces that notion, and brings the battle between the zombies and the robots alive. I've heard people complain that Aliens vs. Predator didn't need humans in it to be the sort of story fans want to see, and I think Ryall and Wood have created exactly the sort of story that zombie fans and robot fans will really enjoy.

*Yeah, I know there are Amazons in it, but that's all I'm going to say about them. Go read the book and find out about them yourself!

[Joseph R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A trio of scientists (whose enormous egos keep rubbing the others the wrong way) use their government grant to build a trans-dimensional gateway that leads to the future. They bicker over who should go first. The first guy to go dies; the second guy takes a billion dollar suit and makes it back, unintentionally bringing the zombie virus that's wiped out future humanity. Said virus proceeds to wipe out present humanity. Luckily, one of the scientists is a roboticist and has built a large variety of bots who carry on in the absence of their creators. The bots wind up caring for the lone human survivor, a female baby named Lucy.

A later complication arises when it's discovered (after a lone robot wipes out the earth with nukes) that a tribe of Amazonian women are still around on a deserted island somewhere that didn't get nuked. They team up with the lone robot and have a go at stopping the zombies (who survived by being underwater when the bombs dropped) from re-propogating the zombie species with formerly living Amazonians.

The story is more interesting at the beginning but eventually dives into a darkly comic shoot-em-up between a war-bot and the zombies. The scientists with the overinflated senses of self were more interesting and made better satire than the slow march to eventual human obliteration in the rest of the first half of the book. The Zombies vs Robots vs Amazons part of the book came off like exploitation genre pulp and left a bad taste in my mouth. At least the zombie minotaur was pretty cool. I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to and I probably won't reread it. It's a shame because it seems like an awesome premise.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Picture source: parkablogs.com)

Halftone. Thick sketchy strokes. Broad colour brush paints. Zombies. Robots. Mad scientists.

What do they have in common?

They belong in a crazy world that's created by Chris Ryall and Ashley Wood.

This is a large format graphic novel that tells a story of an experiment gone terribly wrong — like it always does in horror stories. The cast and concept are similar to the movie 28 days later, except with robots thrown in. You'll get to see zombies and robots slug it out on the large canvas painted by Ashley Wood. The sketchy, chaotic brush strokes seem complementary.

Ashley Wood's style is indeed unique, sometimes bordering on abstract. I still prefer neat panels because they help in story flow clearly.

At the back of the book are a few pages of cover art done on robots. They look like oil on canvas.

The book ends off with a hint to a sequel, which there is in Zombies vs. Robots vs. Amazons.

This review was first published on parkablogs.com. There are more pictures and videos on my blog.

[Clay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Muddled.

If the art can't carry the story or the story can't carry the art, I expect the other to pick up the slack. Neither the story nor the art helped me understand the other one.

Three separate stories are contained. The first tells us why there are now zombies (but it really is some kind chicken and egg paradox) and where the robots come from. The second deals with the last remaining human child being taken care of by the robots and how the zombies can "smell" her and then communicate that to all other zombies. Finally, a hidden island of Amazons is revealed and our robot protagonist has to come to the rescue.

Unclear motivations from the all-too human thinking robots and unclear art to be able to tell one character from another when it really mattered. The battle scenes that are more than just cutting up or blowing away pieces of the undead tended to be a tangle of lines and sound effects writ large. I was wanting to see some more carnage of robots taking out hordes of zombies, as the title seemed to promise.

[John Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly a triumph of image over content; Ashley's Woods artwork- his ethereal oils and his minimalist inks- are superb! However, the story lacks meat, which is ironic really as that sums up the entire zombie dialogue, it starts quirky and humorous enough with the time portal and its tragic consequences on the unsuspecting scientist, however with the advent of the amazons, and their rather gratuitous tits and ass-etts, the story goes nowhere. The mind boggles as to what direction it will take as at the end there was the cry “flipping heck it’s Mermen!”

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knew the complete destruction of humanity could be so fun! Everyone knows the story is just a vehicle for Wood's crazy, gorgeous art. The fact that Ryall never really lets you get attached to Amy of the characters seems to be evidence of this. The only recurring character itself, warbot makes it clear he exists for one purpose only, and when that has been fulfilled, he's ready to donate his parts to the collective. Read it once, then go back and look at the pictures over and over again.
P.S. anybody else catch the Knuffle Bunny reference at the beginning?

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for the artistic style in this one, hard to see and understand what was going on. Also, the promised "war" was over in like three pages. It took us longer to get there than any actual fighting took place. The entire plot with the baby was glossed over. When the Amazons showed up this just became stupid.

Zombie stories need time to establish characters, and draw upon the metaphor of society v. barbarianism. This was supposed to be an orgy of mindless fighting, but we didn't even get that.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never thought I'd say this about a book featuring both zombies and robots, but it wasn't really my thing. The beginning with the three scientists was incredibly promising. The first half had a great storyline (robots trying to protect the last human child from infection). The frenetic almost childlike illustrations complement the subject matter well. Then came the Amazons. And I was so out.

[Antuan · Rating 2 out of 5]

You'd think that I'd love this book, basted on its title alone, but I didn't. While I loved the artwork, I found the narrative difficult to follow and the story unfulfilling. I'd love to have some of the splash panels as posters and I'll Zombies vs. Robots on my coffee table to enjoy them, but I won't be rereading this one soon.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once I finally got started I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. This was amazing! From the first page to the last! Amazing and creative and silly and awesome with unique artwork to add to the awesome. Any fan of zombie stories with some comedy thrown in should give this a try. It's a fast read once you get into the story and it is well worth the time. :)

[tartaruga fechada · Rating 4 out of 5]

As other reviewers have noted, Ashley Wood's art is reason enough to check this book out. The writing is something akin to the early Ax Cop webcomic (written by a 5 year old) and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Improbable plot twists with frequent detours into the ridiculous just give Wood more of an opportunity to shine.