Anthrax: Among The Living

by Rob Zombie, Brian Posehn, Corey Taylor

In 1987, Anthrax unleashed a heavy metal & pop culture touchstone with the release of their historic Among the Living album!

Now Anthrax & Z2 invite you to explore the album like never before with this original anthology graphic novel!

Each song on the album is given an original story by an amazing creative team, along with extra content and the introduction of the new NOTMAN designed by Greg Nicetero (Walking Dead)!

Come on this dark journey into the ‘87 underground in America with these esteemed creators...

Genres: Graphic Novels, Music, Comics

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 6, 2021

About the author

Robert Bartleh Cummings, better known by his stage name, Rob Zombie, is an American musician, film director, screenwriter, film producer and writer.

He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie, and as a solo musician sold a further 15 million albums. Five of his albums have been certified platinum and another two have been certified gold, making him the artist with the most gold and platinum discs on the Geffen Records label.

Zombie has also established a successful career as a film director, creating the movies House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, as well as the 2007 remake of Halloween.

Reviews

[Tim Chmielewski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great except for Rob Zombie's chapter which ruins everything. Seems really out of place with the rest of the book also.

[Matt M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gets an extra star for the artwork. Most of these stories are not good and a couple are downright bad. But it's cool to own if you're a big Anthrax fan for the artwork alone.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories are always a tough sell.

[Marko Kivimäe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aasta siis oli 1987, mil USA thrash metal bänd Anthrax tuli välja nende kolmanda stuudioalbumiga "Among The Living". Kui tollasest kuulsast thrashi-nelikust Metallicat teab tänapäeval poisiklutt ja plikanatt, siis Anthrax, Slayer ja Megadeth on kahtlemata küll väga kuulsad - aga natuke vähem. Igaljuhul tuli sellest neljaraudsest väärt mussi aastatel 1982 kuni 1990 (aasta 1990 on mu tõmmatud ülimalt subjektiivne kvaliteedipiir) kõvasti-kõvasti, "Among The Living" on paljude jaoks Anthraxi luigelaul, nagu ka näiteks Slayeri "Reign in Blood", Metallica "Master Of Puppets" ja Megadethi "Rust in Peace". Eks on neil kõigil palju nauditavat muusikat märksa rohkem lisaks mainitud albumitele. Igaljuhul on Anthraxi "Among The Living" üks metalmaailma kõvasti mõjutanud album, mis ka värskelt koomiksivormi valati.

Koomiks on üles ehitatud klassikalises vihikute vormis, kokku üheksa lugu, igaüks kajastab ühte pala albumilt, neid ümbritseb Greg Nicetero loodud NOTMANi nimeline tegelane. Alguses on Anthraxi "Among The Living" aegse laulja Joey Belladonna sissejuhatus-kommentaar.

Koomiks lähebki käima "Among The Living" vihikuga, mis mulle vist meeldiski teatud nurga alt kõige rohkem. On see ju ka kõige lähemal mingis mõttes algsele laulule, mis on teatavasti loodud Stephen Kingi "The Stand" tellise (minu loetud paperback oli natuke üle 1300lk) põhjal, düstoopiline lugu sellest, kuidas inimeste loodud kuri viirus maakera tühjaks teeb. Igaljuhul on see versioon koomiksina pagana äge.

"Caught In A Mosh", nojah, moshpit ehk siis see koht lava ees, kus juuksed lendavad ja energia pulbitseb. Koomiksivormis päris tore ulmelugu.

Laul "I Am The Law" baseerub teatavasti Judge Dredd koomiksil, seega koomiks -> laul -> koomiks tulemus on selline hea, normaalne, okei. Ei midagi meeletult uut, samas kerge vimka on sees.

"Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)" - seda laulu kohapealt on pändiliikmed pidanud korduvalt ajakirjanikele täpsustama, et "Raisk, mine kuula laulu sõnu, see pole Ameerika Jalgpalliliigast (National Football League)!" "N.F.L." tähendab üldse "Nice Fuckin' Life", mida ka "Efilnikufesin" tagurpidi on. No igaljuhul on laul üldsegi narkosõltuvusest, koomiks... noh, sarnasel teemal. Sisukuse, loovuse ja muu sellise poolest on see vast koomiksi tipp, väga huvitav stoori.

"A Skeleton In The Closet" - jälle Stephen Kingi algmaterjalil põhinev pala, ilmunud eesti keeles "Isemoodi aastaajad" kogumikus nime all "Andekas õpilane" ("Apt Pupil"). Sürr lugu, visuaalses mõttes selle raamatu tipp mu silmis. Õnneks on Kingi algmaterjali (ja ka Anthraxi loo) osad (tänapäeva kontekstis tüütud) detailid koomiksist välja jäänud.

"Indians" - indiaanlaste elu reservaatides, koomiksis siis... omamoodi vormis. Ei töötanud, ei olnud väga huvitav.

"One World" - külma sõja aegne hoiatuslaul, koomiksis siis päris omamoodi viisil. Läks meeldivale poolele.

"A.D.I. / The Horror Of It All" on pühendatud Metallica bassimängija Cliff Burtonile, kes sai aastal 1986 autoõnnetuses surma, kes oli paljude jaoks oluline inimene. Koomiksivormis on lugu... segane. On vihjeid nii loo algmaterjalile kui üldisemalt horrorile. Oli kokkuvõttes "midagi".

"Imitation Of Life" on (muusikamaailma) valelikkusest ja silmakirjalikkusest. Koomiksina... ma ei saanud sellest aru! Nagu tegelikult ka, see oli midagi - aga mis? Ei tea.

Kokkuvõtvalt - nagu igasuguste selliste suurte monumentaalsete teoste ümber punutud lisakraamiga, eriti kui on palju autoreid, on tulemus üks mahedalt jälk surströmming, mis on pehmes krehvtises kastmes. Tähendab, kui nüüd tõsiselt ütelda, siis kõikuva kvaliteediga ning fännidele tore sirvida. Omade väga meeldivate hetkedega, ükskõikseks jätva osaga ja vabandage mu prantsuse keelt, aga paar tükki olid ikka puhas pas...khm, nojah, kehvikud. Aga kokkuvõtvalt ei kahetse ostmist hetkekski, panin ka sügisel sama koomiksifirma alt tuleva King Diamondi klassikalise albumi "Abigail" põhjal valmiva koomiksi eeltellimuse sooja.

Jah, otse loomulikult kuulasin ma selle lugulaulu kirjutamise ajal Anthraxi kõnealust plaati taustaks. Oli ikka hea küll. Endiselt.

[Dizzle729 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the artwork in all the stories. Different styles and yet all were well done, enjoyable to look at, and tied back to the story & song.

As for the stories, very hit and miss. Some did a good job tying back to the song, others were good stories but I couldn't find the connection between the band/album and the story. Then there were a few, like the Rob Zombie chapter that were out and out bad.

Great for Anthrax fans, good for those looking for a quick read, just be ready for a mixed bag.

[Alex Peragine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun enough. Not a bit comic book/graphic novel guy but I’d say at least half of these were enjoyable. I bought this just because I love Anthrax and more specifically Among the Living is a top 10 album. I thought it’d be cool for each song to have its own visual companion, but turns out the writers and authors really just used the title/theme of the songs and just went crazy. Overall fun and just made me remember how perfect Among the Living is

[Curtis]

Interesting experiment that ultimately didn't work for me. Some of the stories were structured like those old EC Comics, with ironic endings -- like a Tales from the Crypt episode. Nice variety of both art and storytelling styles.

[Stephen Hines · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every chapter had great art but only 3-4 of the stories were written well and whoever edited the book doesn’t know basic grammar.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these adaptations were really good, some were...head scratching, to say the least. But a fun collection altogether.

[Christopher Adam Purdy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very fun stories (Brian Posehn, Scott Ian, Grant Morrison, Rick Remender) one bad story (Rob Zombie) with mostly good art. As a long time Anthrax fan, I enjoyed it quite a lot on the whole.

[Rj Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very metal, and a lot of gory dumb fun! Really like the idea and would love to see other albums done like this!

[The_J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd Collection of death stories

[Logan Garber · Rating 5 out of 5]

The artwork for “skeletons in the closet” is by far the best, but the best story is “one world”. Rob Zombies issue was probably the weirdest thing I’ve ever read.