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The Waking #1
The Waking Vol. 1
Collects all four issues of THE WAKING, plus bonus materials!
From the writer of Zenescope's smash hit Wonderland trilogy and Image Comics THE GIFT comes Raven Gregory's newest tale of horror. In the big city, police detectives investigating routine murders discover that the victims of these crimes are coming back from the dead in search of those responsible for ending their lives. Now the detectives are in a race against time to find the source of the recent "wakings" before the victims deal out their own brand of bloody justice. Meanwhile, a father with an incredible ability must choose between avenging his daughter's death or losing her forever.
From the writer of Zenescope's smash hit Wonderland trilogy and Image Comics THE GIFT comes Raven Gregory's newest tale of horror. In the big city, police detectives investigating routine murders discover that the victims of these crimes are coming back from the dead in search of those responsible for ending their lives. Now the detectives are in a race against time to find the source of the recent "wakings" before the victims deal out their own brand of bloody justice. Meanwhile, a father with an incredible ability must choose between avenging his daughter's death or losing her forever.
138 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 28, 2010
3 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Raven Gregory
570 books89 followersExecutive Editor/Staff Writer of Zenescope Entertainment
Raven Gregory was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1979, the youngest of three brothers.
Discovered in 2000 by then Vice President of Publishing at Top Cow Productions, Renae Geerlings, his first professionally published work was the critically acclaimed creator owned independent comic series, The Gift, in 2003. The hit series would later be published by Image Comics as the writers' popularity continued to grow.
Years later, the young writer would come to attention of Zenescope Editor in Chief and co-founder, Ralph Tedesco, who recruited the writer to the newly created position of Executive Editor and Staff Writer of Zenescope Entertainment. Gregory would go on to co-create and write the best selling Wonderland Trilogy series with fellow co-creators Joe Brusha (President/CCO), and Ralph Tedesco as well as numerous other Grimm Fairy Tales spin offs, Crossovers and Creator Owned titles.
Known for his incredibly dark, yet realistic stories of horror, the writer's use of relatable personal tragedy, and powerful themes have made the writer a fan favorite creator across the nation.
After suffering the loss of a close friend to a car accident in June 2012, and the death of his ex-wife and mother of his children, Kourtney Keiser, to a hit and run accident one year later in 2013 Raven began work on his most personal story to date entitled NO TOMORROW. The story is currently set to debut August 28th, 2013.
Upon the debut issue's release it will be the 200th published story by the writer.
Raven lives in Arizona with his four children, a Pitbull named Wacko, and a Chichuana named Zombie.
Best selling fan picks: The Wonderland trilogy, FLY, The Theater, Irresistible, and the Dream Eater Saga
Raven Gregory was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1979, the youngest of three brothers.
Discovered in 2000 by then Vice President of Publishing at Top Cow Productions, Renae Geerlings, his first professionally published work was the critically acclaimed creator owned independent comic series, The Gift, in 2003. The hit series would later be published by Image Comics as the writers' popularity continued to grow.
Years later, the young writer would come to attention of Zenescope Editor in Chief and co-founder, Ralph Tedesco, who recruited the writer to the newly created position of Executive Editor and Staff Writer of Zenescope Entertainment. Gregory would go on to co-create and write the best selling Wonderland Trilogy series with fellow co-creators Joe Brusha (President/CCO), and Ralph Tedesco as well as numerous other Grimm Fairy Tales spin offs, Crossovers and Creator Owned titles.
Known for his incredibly dark, yet realistic stories of horror, the writer's use of relatable personal tragedy, and powerful themes have made the writer a fan favorite creator across the nation.
After suffering the loss of a close friend to a car accident in June 2012, and the death of his ex-wife and mother of his children, Kourtney Keiser, to a hit and run accident one year later in 2013 Raven began work on his most personal story to date entitled NO TOMORROW. The story is currently set to debut August 28th, 2013.
Upon the debut issue's release it will be the 200th published story by the writer.
Raven lives in Arizona with his four children, a Pitbull named Wacko, and a Chichuana named Zombie.
Best selling fan picks: The Wonderland trilogy, FLY, The Theater, Irresistible, and the Dream Eater Saga
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
September 9, 2016
This could have been better. I'll read volume 2 before I give up on it.
June 4, 2018
3.5 stars. If you like zombies and revenge then feast your eyes on the dead thrown into the city.
March 4, 2020
Not gonna lie... I found volume 1 & 2 on a clearance shelf in a used book store and paid practically nothing for both books. I didn't really even read the summaries, I just liked how the covers looked. Flipped through them both, didn't think the art completely sucked and bought'em.
I think Raven Gregory had a great idea for a semi-original story but polluted his own story with excessive characters and useless info. Too much time was spent on all the cops and not the Dad and his girl. He could have easily fleshed out that main plot and dropped a few of the unnecessary subplots/people, revamped the story to be more linear and this would have been a keeper.
The art wasn't bad. A bit too dark and shadowy but better defined than a lot of bigger names for Marvel/DC can manage. Most characters looked different and were easy to tell apart. Decent renderings for surroundings even if it was hyper focused on the female form.
I'll read the second volume, because I owe it (for now) but this definitely isn't a "hang on to and reread" duo.
I think Raven Gregory had a great idea for a semi-original story but polluted his own story with excessive characters and useless info. Too much time was spent on all the cops and not the Dad and his girl. He could have easily fleshed out that main plot and dropped a few of the unnecessary subplots/people, revamped the story to be more linear and this would have been a keeper.
The art wasn't bad. A bit too dark and shadowy but better defined than a lot of bigger names for Marvel/DC can manage. Most characters looked different and were easy to tell apart. Decent renderings for surroundings even if it was hyper focused on the female form.
I'll read the second volume, because I owe it (for now) but this definitely isn't a "hang on to and reread" duo.
December 7, 2016
More of a revenge tale than another pointless zombie book, The Waking is a decent story with pointless sexploitation. I'm a fan of Heavy Metal magazine, so normally nudity and such doesn't bother me (even though I'm gay and admittedly it does nothing for me) but it's quite pointless and tasteless in this book. Other than that, the revenge aspect of this story is interesting....the dead only come back to life to kill their killers. It's an interesting spin on zombiedom, so I'm going to continue on in hopes that the book gets a bit more solid and lays off of the ridiculous and useless nudity.
February 17, 2019
💩overall - $2 bargain bin purchase, below bargain bin story. I think I hated every aspect of this. Terrible characters with dialogue that is so bad it’s offensive to the reader. The artwork is juvenile and pointlessly sexed up. A 6th grader might find this racy and fun, but I think I might burn my copy. That is a far better option than donating it to Goodwill and having someone else be cursed with owning it. I would have much rather had my $2 eaten by a soda vending machine when I had severe cotton mouth on a hot and humid day. That experience would be such a better memory than the one I have of reading this. F’ this book.
May 25, 2017
So this has been interesting . I really like the story line.. I hate that the pictures change a bit as you move into the next stories. If you like something a bit dark but trys to teach a lesson then this perfect. I think it is a story of how we treat each other and what happens if we choose to do horrible things.
March 17, 2024
I liked this one, but I wouldn't say that I loved it. I read the second one and didn't realize it was a sequel. I liked the second one a lot because I was piecing together what I thought happened in the first one. The actual execution of the plot could have been better, but I'm not upset that I read this. It was fun for people who like graphic novels.
November 2, 2024
This book tried hard to feel like a multi-episode supernatural TV series. It has slow, weird, and confusing story that drags on the plot to keep the viewers interested each week. It has the quirky characters with attempts at witty banter. However, while this would work as a TV series it fails as a graphic novel.
The problem is the writing. The attempts at natural buddy dialogue seems forced and annoying; the characters have very little personalities and the ending is rushed and not satisfying.
The art is fine, but nothing to get excited about.
The problem is the writing. The attempts at natural buddy dialogue seems forced and annoying; the characters have very little personalities and the ending is rushed and not satisfying.
The art is fine, but nothing to get excited about.
July 26, 2020
I loved this!
June 8, 2022
Generally a fun graphic novel with an interesting premise hopefully in the sequels they’ll be able to get into more detail and more of a story
April 3, 2024
I've been thinking, did I ever really enjoy any of the stuff Zenescope put out?
May 27, 2024
সব মিলিয়ে খারাপ না তবে অবাঞ্ছিত সেক্স বা নোড সিন পড়ার আগ্রহ ক্ষীণ করেছে।
October 29, 2025
Leuker dan verwacht na het lezen van de reviews. Een uniekere kijk op een zombie verhaal, met leuke dialogen tussen de protagonisten.
June 24, 2018
This could have gone better or worse. It’s a very middle of the road zombie graphic novel. Maybe it would get better for me with more volumes, but I don’t feel invested enough to continue.
July 25, 2011
This is definitely the worst comic I've ever read. It's full of tired cliches like the sexy (skanky) female under-dressed cop and police banter that doesn't actually ever happen in real life. All of the dialogue in general was wince-inducing. It reminded me of terrible fan-fiction where the writer is just trying to imitate instead of create and even doing a bad job of THAT. Well, more like a 12-year-old fan-fiction writer since the author was throwing in curse words as often as possible just because he could.
There was no plot to speak of and every single element was glossed over. Thank god there was a random page with bios of the characters so I could tell what their personality traits were because I certainly couldn't tell from the comic itself. Apparently the narrator (who was not indicated as the narrator until the aforementioned bio page) has a wife who likes to have sex all the time. I thought this was lame but would obviously develop into some sort of character/plot point. Nope, she just likes to have sex. The characters literally just say "So, I hear your wife likes to have sex all the time, HAHAHAHA" and that's the extent of it. The end. You never learn anything else and I get the feeling that someone just said "Hey, we should have the guy's wife wanna bang all the time, wouldn't that be HILARIOUS?" and that was that. On the bio page: "Betty, the narrator's wife. She likes to have sex."
The most interesting aspect of this book was how terrible it was. There were zombies that you almost never saw and ABSOLUTELY were never worried about. They're too boring to even write about. Just don't waste your time, folks.
There was no plot to speak of and every single element was glossed over. Thank god there was a random page with bios of the characters so I could tell what their personality traits were because I certainly couldn't tell from the comic itself. Apparently the narrator (who was not indicated as the narrator until the aforementioned bio page) has a wife who likes to have sex all the time. I thought this was lame but would obviously develop into some sort of character/plot point. Nope, she just likes to have sex. The characters literally just say "So, I hear your wife likes to have sex all the time, HAHAHAHA" and that's the extent of it. The end. You never learn anything else and I get the feeling that someone just said "Hey, we should have the guy's wife wanna bang all the time, wouldn't that be HILARIOUS?" and that was that. On the bio page: "Betty, the narrator's wife. She likes to have sex."
The most interesting aspect of this book was how terrible it was. There were zombies that you almost never saw and ABSOLUTELY were never worried about. They're too boring to even write about. Just don't waste your time, folks.
June 23, 2013
Raven Gregory gives the tired zombie trope a whole new spin in The Waking. This is one of those books that begins following a few characters and spirals inward until they all connect. Gregory first introduces readers to Jonathon Raine, a man whose life falls to pieces under the weight of his young daughter’s murder. Next up are Detectives Laurence Williams and Keith O’Brien, who deliver quite a bit of comic relief. Finally, Officer Vanessa Pelagreno, the newbie, and her more experienced partner (with a nymphomaniac wife), the narrator. Bringing them all together is an army of newly awakened zombies with a very conscious goal.
Gregory weaves a lot of very different elements together that create a complex and moving story. His humor, crude at times, made me laugh. His despondency for those lost made me deeply sympathize with the characters. The love of a father he captures is painful and inspiring. And that makes for a very real story.
My only qualm was some confusion over the narrator. Make no mistake, I loved that voice. In fact, I began reading that part out loud simply because it sounded so good. But I was under the impression it was some anonymous viewer. In Part II, I learned who it really was. But then more confusion for the last part, because it became a conversation between the narrator and Jonathon. Other than that, a very well done graphic novel.
Though this is decidedly horror, I think this is one of those stories that transcends its genre. As long as readers don’t mind some gore and violence (oh, and some T&A), there is a story in here that speaks of the human core. Give it a shot and see that zombie stories aren’t dead yet.
Gregory weaves a lot of very different elements together that create a complex and moving story. His humor, crude at times, made me laugh. His despondency for those lost made me deeply sympathize with the characters. The love of a father he captures is painful and inspiring. And that makes for a very real story.
My only qualm was some confusion over the narrator. Make no mistake, I loved that voice. In fact, I began reading that part out loud simply because it sounded so good. But I was under the impression it was some anonymous viewer. In Part II, I learned who it really was. But then more confusion for the last part, because it became a conversation between the narrator and Jonathon. Other than that, a very well done graphic novel.
Though this is decidedly horror, I think this is one of those stories that transcends its genre. As long as readers don’t mind some gore and violence (oh, and some T&A), there is a story in here that speaks of the human core. Give it a shot and see that zombie stories aren’t dead yet.
February 28, 2016
This is a graphic novel about Zombies. Now, I've never really been that interested in mindless zombies (even when I read about the latest thing Congress is doing), but the blurb for the book definitely caught my attention.
What would happen if Zombies could be created with a single purpose, such as finding those who had murdered them in life. This becomes the central theme of the book and has a very interesting discussion between two police officers.
If the zombies are not attacked and no one tries to stop them, they only damage they do is to the person who murdered them. The philosophical question becomes should the zombies be stopped, or should they be allowed to have their revenge on the many murderers who are never caught or, if caught, buy their way out of being convicted? What would be the effect on the murder rate if potential murderers knew that, sooner or later, with no doubt, the person they murdered would return as a zombie and kill them?
The only way to stop that from happening would be for the murderers to make sure they destroyed the body of the person they were killing completely and most murderers don't exactly have the time to do some thing like that.
This makes this a very fascinating book to consider on a philosophical basis. It also works, though, as a horror story and especially with the bit about the father loving his daughter who had been murdered and was now a zombie herself.
Absolutely worth getting.
What would happen if Zombies could be created with a single purpose, such as finding those who had murdered them in life. This becomes the central theme of the book and has a very interesting discussion between two police officers.
If the zombies are not attacked and no one tries to stop them, they only damage they do is to the person who murdered them. The philosophical question becomes should the zombies be stopped, or should they be allowed to have their revenge on the many murderers who are never caught or, if caught, buy their way out of being convicted? What would be the effect on the murder rate if potential murderers knew that, sooner or later, with no doubt, the person they murdered would return as a zombie and kill them?
The only way to stop that from happening would be for the murderers to make sure they destroyed the body of the person they were killing completely and most murderers don't exactly have the time to do some thing like that.
This makes this a very fascinating book to consider on a philosophical basis. It also works, though, as a horror story and especially with the bit about the father loving his daughter who had been murdered and was now a zombie herself.
Absolutely worth getting.
December 15, 2012
One of the most original takes on the Zombie genre that I have read. This is a zombie graphic novel that had a compelling story, gore, violence, gore, plot twists, and gore. If you want blood you've got it along with a great story. Don't pass it up. A sequel to this called The Waking: Dreams End will be out as a graphic novel later this month. I'm looking forward to reading it and see where the author takes the story. I know I have talked a lot about the gore which it does have in spades but the story the author weaves is brilliant and should not be missed by anyone who loves a good zombie story.
September 30, 2016
An idea and some characters aren't enough for a story. The Waking feels like a first draft of fan fiction between the two most over referenced comics of the previous 2 generations, The Walking Dead and The Crow. Poor writing leaves characters with no purpose, and the constant shift in tone doesn't catch the reader off guard it just makes them walk away. As for the art... the book has fairly passable art however the variant covers and issue pages included in this trade may be the most out of place and 'skanky' (best said by another reveiwer) I have seen in a trade. Boobs, butts and bitches out of nowhere don't make your book edgy or sexy, just makes you look cheap.
January 27, 2015
Meh.
The blurbs and quotes made it sound like it had a crazy plot twist, but zombies killing people isn't any sort of spin on the genre. There's a stupid amount of nudity, and it's like the artist was incapable of drawing a female that wasn't in a shower. Or perhaps that's the writer's fault for not being able to think of any other way for a pretty girl to get got. Anyhoo, the art was pretty good, but I really wanted the little scary girl to actually be a key part of the storyline. That would've made me like it more as it left me vaguely disappointed.
The blurbs and quotes made it sound like it had a crazy plot twist, but zombies killing people isn't any sort of spin on the genre. There's a stupid amount of nudity, and it's like the artist was incapable of drawing a female that wasn't in a shower. Or perhaps that's the writer's fault for not being able to think of any other way for a pretty girl to get got. Anyhoo, the art was pretty good, but I really wanted the little scary girl to actually be a key part of the storyline. That would've made me like it more as it left me vaguely disappointed.
November 23, 2011
Interesting take on zombies. The ending was an interesting message about crime prevention.
May 27, 2013
creepy new way of how zombies exist. very much a father-daughter story in a horror way.
September 27, 2024
collects The Waking (vol 1) 1-4 (entire miniseries)
November 25, 2015
interessante twist sul classico modello della storia di zombies che riesce a rendere un sogetto decisamente troppo sfruttato nell'ultimo periodo ancora sorprendente.
April 27, 2011
A very unique take on a zombie stories. Loved it.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews