3 / 5 for 'Marvel Zombies: Dead Days' by Robert Kirkman / Mark Millar / Reginald Hudlin & Sean Phillips / Greg Land / Francis Portella
This prequel entry in the 'Marvel Zombies' saga is a little bit of a mixed bag - the GN that it's named after, 'Dead Days' by Kirkman and Phillips is fantastic, and it has exactly the same tone and feel as the first 'Marvel Zombies' series / TPB. Kirkman's writing is just as dark yet humorous as the first series and Phillips art is just as action-packed, noirish and gory as the first series. The 'Dead Days' section is a fantastically enjoyable prequel to the Marvel Zombies saga. This section gets a well-deserved 5 / 5.
The 'Ultimate Fantastic Four' section by Millar and Land is awful, just awful. I mean, Greg Land's art is ALWAYS awful - how the guy still gets paid work in comics is beyond me. Anyone can trace over film stills and adverts and other comic pages, and pass it off as their own work. The guy is a talentless hack, and, as a general rule, if the named artist on a book is Greg Land, you just KNOW the artwork is going to be utter shit. But Mark Millar is usually a really good writer - I've read loads of his stuff, including his Marvel work and his creator-owned work too, and usually, he writes tight and exciting stories with great dialogue. This books 'UFF' section felt really forced, like Millar is contractually obliged to write it, but doesn't enjoy it in the slightest. Add that to Land's terrible art and the whole 'UFF' section is an ugly mess. This section gets a solid 1 / 5.
The 'Black Panther' section, written by Reginald Hudlin with art by Francis Portella, was quite enjoyable. Portela draws with lots of clear lines and the art feels very neat and detailed, which is an enjoyably different style for this zombie series. Hudlin writes well, and this section of the story was interesting and enjoyable, whilst never feeling particularly important to the story... this section felt a little bit lightweight and throwaway. This section gets 3 / 5.
So, overall, an enjoyable instalment in the Zombies saga, despite Greg Land's dire artwork and Mark Millar's lacklustre writing, with the highlight being Kirkman and Phillips parts, as always.
3 / 5