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Marvel Zombies (Collected Editions) #5
Marvel Zombies 5
MACHINE MAN IS BACK! Zombies of the multiverse, watch your rotting backs! To obtain a cure for the zombie virus for Morbius the Living Vampire, Aaron Stack, Agent of ARMOR, must traverse alternate realities hunting down the plague in all its myriad forms...with a most unusual (but somehow oddly appropriate) partner! First up: in the Alterniverse known as "The Territory," the Old West never died. But when the greatest gunslingers of Marveldom - Two-Gun Kid, Phantom Rider, Kid Colt, and many others - rise from their graves in Boot Hill, the stage is set for a High Noon showdown with flesh-eating outlaws the likes of which you've never seen! Saddle up and ride into the tale we had to call "THE DEAD AND THE QUICK!"
COLLECTING:
Marvel Zombies 5 #1-5
COLLECTING:
Marvel Zombies 5 #1-5
120 pages, Hardcover
First published November 3, 2010
9 people are currently reading
398 people want to read
About the author
Fred Van Lente
1,359 books321 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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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
September 6, 2020
This was more like it! With volume 5 of Marvel Zombies we return to ARMOR and their effort to wipe out the zombie plague, rather than the random silliness of volume 4. We also get my boy Machine Man back (HURRAH!) and he’s brought Howard the Duck with him (also HURRAH!). These two hop into a different dimension with each issue, encountering everything from zombie cowboys to H.G. Wells’ Martians, recruiting a third member into their team as they go.
The first and last issue were great; if the whole book had been up to that standard, I’d’ve been giving this one 4 stars. Unfortunately, the quality slackened a bit in the middle chapters, bringing my overall score down to a 3. I’m sure the creators will be crying themselves to sleep over that one. Why do I write these things again?
The first and last issue were great; if the whole book had been up to that standard, I’d’ve been giving this one 4 stars. Unfortunately, the quality slackened a bit in the middle chapters, bringing my overall score down to a 3. I’m sure the creators will be crying themselves to sleep over that one. Why do I write these things again?
May 20, 2019
Machine Man is back with the lamest Marvel Character ever in Howard the fucking Duck,(Really George Lucas, what were you thinking?). They travel throughout other realms on behalf of ARMOR in order to find a cure for the zombie virus. Along the way there are encounters with what or may not be "Easter Egg" zombies,(Look in the beginning, one looks like it may be Quicksilver and another is the original Ghost Rider. Jacosta is also back with her new friend, Iron-man 2020..The best part of this story however is the mouth breather at the end
March 7, 2023
The ending of this volume was actually pretty good. It was the ending of the Marvel Zombies run and it was well done, but as for the rest of the 90% of this volume..... what the heck did I just read? It made very little sense. I'm glad that they ended this run, because they were clearly running out of ideas. I'm excited to read a few of the special editions, but they had better have some of the Marvel characters that I care about instead of concentrating on machine man for 400 pages
December 31, 2018
Zombies.That I s what happened.😜LOL
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2014
It feels like Van Lente was trying to return to his goofy, explosive Marvel Zombies 3 form with this volume, following the dreadful, confusing MZ4. He plays with some really fun and interesting ideas in this one, and as I was reading it I just kept thinking how good I wanted it to be. Unfortunately, it just didn't really work.
The initial setup of this collection of mostly one-off zombie fighting stories sees Machine Man teaming up with Howard the Duck to take out all known forms of the zombie virus, across all known realities. This leads to a lot of potential for homages (the zombie categories are each named after a specific zombie movie director) and unique scenarios, but ultimately doesn't really pay off. First of all, the homage aspect burns itself out after 3 issues, resorting to made-up zombie types in the final 2.
Secondly, and more importantly, there just don't feel like there are any stakes in these battles. They can get pretty crazy (Machine Man hacking into a War of the Worlds spaceship and slaughtering thousands of zombies at once springs to mind), which is fun to look at, but Van Lente does basically nothing to set up why his characters are in these scenarios, who they are, and why I should care about them. Howard the Duck is essentially there as a living reference. A girl with a speed superpower shows up (can't even remember her name because she is very forgettable) and instantly falls in love with Machine Man, presumably because all women must inevitably fall in love with the first man they see. Machine Man is depressed because his girlfriend broke up with him. It's all super surface-level, uninteresting garbage that I would almost rather he'd left out in favor of more shooting.
Now, I will say there are several solid jokes in this volume. In fact, the entire 4th issue, while ditching the homage to zombie movies, is one huge, running parody of cyberpunk, that I thought was executed excellently. Everybody speaks in these garbled, ridiculous techno-languages, and the cyberpunk world itself is heightened to complete absurdity. That said, the zombie aspect of this one gets wrapped a little too neat and nice, and then it's over. I feel like FVL should just write a whole cyberpunk parody that doesn't have zombies in it, because he's clearly very good at it.
Now, for the last issue, which almost by itself makes me want to give this 1 star. In it, a bitter, angry nerd from Earth Zero (read: the Earth we actually live on), actively hates Fred Van Lente's MZ stories. He spends the first several pages complaining about how terrible they are, and how they aren't as good as the originals (which is true, by and large). Then, he gets home, opens an old comic book he ordered from Egypt or something (whatever), and contracts a zombie plague. Of course, Machine Man and Howard the Duck, the two characters from the comic he ordered, show up and blow him away.
It's so, so weird.
I would call it "passive aggressive," but writing a story where you murder a guy who doesn't like your comics seems to be openly aggressive. It's so gross and uncalled for, and just smacks of a whiny writer who can't handle online criticism (the lamest kind of criticism, and I say that as a person who is currently doing it). I mean, did he think that by writing something called "Marvel Zombies" he was going to be changing the world? It's a fun, stupid series that is obviously going to earn the contempt of some people, particularly when taken over by a less-known writer than the original. Don't show them that it gets to you, y'know? Just write what you want and ignore the haters or whatever. Don't make me read your diary.
Anyway, issues 2 and 4 of this series are decent enough to read, but I wouldn't go out of your way for this collection. At this point, Marvel Zombies is clearly out of great ideas, and would probably be best left to rot in the grave. That is a zombie reference! Get it?!!
The initial setup of this collection of mostly one-off zombie fighting stories sees Machine Man teaming up with Howard the Duck to take out all known forms of the zombie virus, across all known realities. This leads to a lot of potential for homages (the zombie categories are each named after a specific zombie movie director) and unique scenarios, but ultimately doesn't really pay off. First of all, the homage aspect burns itself out after 3 issues, resorting to made-up zombie types in the final 2.
Secondly, and more importantly, there just don't feel like there are any stakes in these battles. They can get pretty crazy (Machine Man hacking into a War of the Worlds spaceship and slaughtering thousands of zombies at once springs to mind), which is fun to look at, but Van Lente does basically nothing to set up why his characters are in these scenarios, who they are, and why I should care about them. Howard the Duck is essentially there as a living reference. A girl with a speed superpower shows up (can't even remember her name because she is very forgettable) and instantly falls in love with Machine Man, presumably because all women must inevitably fall in love with the first man they see. Machine Man is depressed because his girlfriend broke up with him. It's all super surface-level, uninteresting garbage that I would almost rather he'd left out in favor of more shooting.
Now, I will say there are several solid jokes in this volume. In fact, the entire 4th issue, while ditching the homage to zombie movies, is one huge, running parody of cyberpunk, that I thought was executed excellently. Everybody speaks in these garbled, ridiculous techno-languages, and the cyberpunk world itself is heightened to complete absurdity. That said, the zombie aspect of this one gets wrapped a little too neat and nice, and then it's over. I feel like FVL should just write a whole cyberpunk parody that doesn't have zombies in it, because he's clearly very good at it.
Now, for the last issue, which almost by itself makes me want to give this 1 star. In it, a bitter, angry nerd from Earth Zero (read: the Earth we actually live on), actively hates Fred Van Lente's MZ stories. He spends the first several pages complaining about how terrible they are, and how they aren't as good as the originals (which is true, by and large). Then, he gets home, opens an old comic book he ordered from Egypt or something (whatever), and contracts a zombie plague. Of course, Machine Man and Howard the Duck, the two characters from the comic he ordered, show up and blow him away.
It's so, so weird.
I would call it "passive aggressive," but writing a story where you murder a guy who doesn't like your comics seems to be openly aggressive. It's so gross and uncalled for, and just smacks of a whiny writer who can't handle online criticism (the lamest kind of criticism, and I say that as a person who is currently doing it). I mean, did he think that by writing something called "Marvel Zombies" he was going to be changing the world? It's a fun, stupid series that is obviously going to earn the contempt of some people, particularly when taken over by a less-known writer than the original. Don't show them that it gets to you, y'know? Just write what you want and ignore the haters or whatever. Don't make me read your diary.
Anyway, issues 2 and 4 of this series are decent enough to read, but I wouldn't go out of your way for this collection. At this point, Marvel Zombies is clearly out of great ideas, and would probably be best left to rot in the grave. That is a zombie reference! Get it?!!
May 24, 2023
#5 was another ok one. I get what Van Lente was trying to do. It worked to an extent, but the concept has gotten a little dull. I'm looking forward to the next installment to see if they can breath new life into it.
November 25, 2022
Okay, so Marvel Zombies Volume 5 may be the point at which the series jumps the shark, but I was okay with it because Howard the Duck plays a large role in it. Also, there are enough humorous blatant references to and parodies of “The War of the Worlds”, “Army of Darkness”, and “The Matrix” to keep a nerd like me occupied. Plus, a pretty self-referential rip on comic book nerds in the last story is a reminder that we needn’t take this too seriously.
June 6, 2023
Not for everyone but the creativity and the fun of this book really elevate it for me. Every book is a different zombie style, based on a director and I love every second of it. Also that Van Lente is a genuinely funny writer helps as well.
May 18, 2016
This is another Marvel Comics collected volume that I could rate higher than the "stars" reveal. I did, in fact, "really like" the premise, the art, the characters, and the overall theme, to wit: there is a super-secret para-governmental organization that has either been created or evolved to act against threats crossing between dimensions. There is a zombie plague skipping from universe to universe and eradicating entire populations. Apparently there are different forms of the plague, or other zombie diseases that are similar, so Michael Morbius, Ph.D. decides to secretly send Machine Man (plague resistant) and Howard the Duck (why the _duck_ he is a good candidate escapes me) to visit dimensions with the plague variations to gather samples to research a cure.
Good characters, right? Fun, funky, dimension-hopping plot, right? the m-zombie gore in the art we've come to expect, right?
Except the pieces don't fit well against each other. We build side-stories and cameos and metafiction and ladle a helping of zombie gore onto the top, without having the mythology explained... I don't know, there was a lot of potential here that petered out.
Good characters, right? Fun, funky, dimension-hopping plot, right? the m-zombie gore in the art we've come to expect, right?
Except the pieces don't fit well against each other. We build side-stories and cameos and metafiction and ladle a helping of zombie gore onto the top, without having the mythology explained... I don't know, there was a lot of potential here that petered out.
June 5, 2023
Well this one totally sucked.
Between bringing back the painfully annoying Metal Man and pointlessly shoehorning Howard the Duck into the story, some truly horrendous artwork, and crapping all over Kirkman’s original story to the point that this series isnt even recognizable, this final volume is a total dumpster fire.
Van Lente took a good thing and ruined it with asinine moments, awful humor, terrible Z-grade characters, and an overall moronic vision for something that had a lot of promise. It’s no wonder the series was cancelled for like 10 years after this horrible excuse of release.
I regret the time I spent reading this dog turd conclusion.
Between bringing back the painfully annoying Metal Man and pointlessly shoehorning Howard the Duck into the story, some truly horrendous artwork, and crapping all over Kirkman’s original story to the point that this series isnt even recognizable, this final volume is a total dumpster fire.
Van Lente took a good thing and ruined it with asinine moments, awful humor, terrible Z-grade characters, and an overall moronic vision for something that had a lot of promise. It’s no wonder the series was cancelled for like 10 years after this horrible excuse of release.
I regret the time I spent reading this dog turd conclusion.
October 22, 2010
It's time to kills this series Marvel... you clearly have nothing more to say about the topic when you devote an entire story to a meta commentary about how fans are whining about the comic yet still buying it.
February 6, 2021
Oh my God, let it end. I had to drag myself through this series, all in the name of being a completist. Just like the guy in the beginning of issue #5 of this run, I devoted myself to reading all of Marvel Zombies. Boy, did this series make it difficult. Please tell me there are no more.
I just looked, and there are more. As a matter fact there are 116 issues in the complete series. I just can’t. I surrender.
I just looked, and there are more. As a matter fact there are 116 issues in the complete series. I just can’t. I surrender.
January 3, 2022
A return of Machine Man and Howard the Duck which is a unusual combo but they journey though the multiverse trying to prevent the spread of the zombie virus and it was kind of funny as they go through a wild west world, an earth suffering from the aliens from War of the Worlds, a cyberpunk like world, and even a medieval one. The situations are kind of funny with that dark sense of humor. Also the ending is kind of anticlimactically funny.
November 30, 2018
This series has hit its stride since the rough beginning. The art is a lot better, the stories are cohesive, and the characters are funny and interesting. I originally picked up 1-5 and thought I'd end if there, but I might continue the series.
July 22, 2023
5 issues and a quick read. It was a bit of a let down for me. The story is pretty much the same each issue but with no real advancement of the quest to stop the zombies. I liked the art but that’s about it.
June 2, 2018
My Favorite in the series.
February 22, 2020
Machine-Man and Howard the Duck goes on a multiverse quest to find a cure for the Zombie virus. Not so good results, a bit confusing.
December 10, 2020
Still pretty good and excellent.
December 11, 2021
Personajes muy x, una historia aburrida, viajando por varios universos.
January 18, 2023
amazinggggggg
September 25, 2025
Literally is barely a marvel zombies comic and just uses that title to make it standout.
November 24, 2025
I liked only the last few
January 7, 2015
I've never experienced Howard the Duck, and I'll be honest... If he's always like he was in this book, then I love Howard the Duck. I bought this book in hardcover from my local comic book shop for a whoppin` $6. I was so excited, because, if you've read any of my other posts, I love Zombies.
Marvel Zombies volume 5 continues the saga of saving the multiverse from many strains of the virus that causes a zombie apocalypse. Each world has it's own strain of the virus, which in turn, creates it's own very unique set of zombies with slightly different traits.
The team charged with finding blood samples of each zombie strain consists of Machine Man, Howard the Duck, and a new recruit from one of the worlds they visit, Jacali Kane (Quick Draw).
Honestly, this story started bring the Marvel Zombies world back into what I consider "Worth" reading. Volumes 3 and 4 were starting to get a little dicey. Bringing Howard the Duck in seemed to have solidified the story for me. How a duck can do that for me, I have no idea.
Essentially, the goal is to get the strains of each virus so Morbius (vampire) can find a cure.
The art was, and always has been solid. I love zombie art, so I'm probably biased, but I really felt Michael Kaluta and Kano did a great job with the illustrations and penciling.
As a result, I had to give this book 4 of 5 stars. It wasn't the most profound story or even the best Marvel Zombies story I've read, but it was a solid one. I would have liked to have seen some of our favorite Avengers or X-Men zombies come back, but alas, that wasn't in the cards for this book. The star of this book was Howard the Duck, and I'm not at all ashamed to admit it.
Marvel Zombies volume 5 continues the saga of saving the multiverse from many strains of the virus that causes a zombie apocalypse. Each world has it's own strain of the virus, which in turn, creates it's own very unique set of zombies with slightly different traits.
The team charged with finding blood samples of each zombie strain consists of Machine Man, Howard the Duck, and a new recruit from one of the worlds they visit, Jacali Kane (Quick Draw).
Honestly, this story started bring the Marvel Zombies world back into what I consider "Worth" reading. Volumes 3 and 4 were starting to get a little dicey. Bringing Howard the Duck in seemed to have solidified the story for me. How a duck can do that for me, I have no idea.
Essentially, the goal is to get the strains of each virus so Morbius (vampire) can find a cure.
The art was, and always has been solid. I love zombie art, so I'm probably biased, but I really felt Michael Kaluta and Kano did a great job with the illustrations and penciling.
As a result, I had to give this book 4 of 5 stars. It wasn't the most profound story or even the best Marvel Zombies story I've read, but it was a solid one. I would have liked to have seen some of our favorite Avengers or X-Men zombies come back, but alas, that wasn't in the cards for this book. The star of this book was Howard the Duck, and I'm not at all ashamed to admit it.
May 25, 2015
What can I say...
I thought the travels through time and all the different variations of zombies was pretty interesting. I think my favorite alterniverse Machine Man, Howard the Duck, and Jackali Kane visited was probably the medieval England.
Also, when they made it to the final alterniverse, where everyone is "normal", I felt really bad for the character that it revolved around. Wendell Stuart is kind of a jackass, that kind of jackass that we all know and hate. You know that guy, badmouthing everything at the comic book store, and being generally annoying. I like to think that he would be what my friend Brandi and I lovingly call "a fucking mouthbreather" which is exactly what it sounds like.
Anyway, he's the original zombie in this issue. By the end he decides to either kill himself, or become a hero unlike the stereotypical zombie. unfortunately no one can understand what he's saying. I won't say how it ends, but I think you might feel the same way I did.
I thought the travels through time and all the different variations of zombies was pretty interesting. I think my favorite alterniverse Machine Man, Howard the Duck, and Jackali Kane visited was probably the medieval England.
Also, when they made it to the final alterniverse, where everyone is "normal", I felt really bad for the character that it revolved around. Wendell Stuart is kind of a jackass, that kind of jackass that we all know and hate. You know that guy, badmouthing everything at the comic book store, and being generally annoying. I like to think that he would be what my friend Brandi and I lovingly call "a fucking mouthbreather" which is exactly what it sounds like.
Anyway, he's the original zombie in this issue. By the end he decides to either kill himself, or become a hero unlike the stereotypical zombie. unfortunately no one can understand what he's saying. I won't say how it ends, but I think you might feel the same way I did.
October 3, 2023
Each issue of this explores a different universe with its own version of the zombie plague. It's nothing more (and nothing less) than that. Just a romp through the multiverse fighting different zombies. Which is sometimes fun, sometimes a tad too stupid.
March 25, 2012
In the unrelenting gross, gruesome, and downright grave universe of Marvel Zombies, this volume is a breath of fresh(ish) air. Being a zombie nut(job), I've stuck with the Marvel Zombie thing despite some of the stories being dull and less-than-inspired, so it was great to read a volume that brought some levity to such a grim storyline.
Howard the Duck, parallel universe hopping, "types" of zombies with designations that will give any zombie-lover a laugh, sarcasm, wit, a decent story line, and you know what? This is just shiny. It's not spectacular or life-changing, but it'll leave you with a grin and a bit of an uplifted feeling. Hard to come by in this universe of rotting, ravenous revenants.
Howard the Duck, parallel universe hopping, "types" of zombies with designations that will give any zombie-lover a laugh, sarcasm, wit, a decent story line, and you know what? This is just shiny. It's not spectacular or life-changing, but it'll leave you with a grin and a bit of an uplifted feeling. Hard to come by in this universe of rotting, ravenous revenants.
February 7, 2017
I really liked the Marvel Zombies Return by Van Lente, so this was a huge disappointment to me. Too much effort to be funny and goofy turned this to be just numb.
November 11, 2016
Definitely the goofiest of the lot, but I enjoyed it I think because of that. The art and story were all over the place, but again it seems to add to it's quirky demeanor and the ending story where it is fully aware of having "jumped the shark" kind of makes up for the weird direction it took it. That ending is, I have to say, one of the weirdest things I've read in a super hero comic.
This was one of those comics that I really enjoyed but I can't really say why. Maybe because it was just so weird?
This was one of those comics that I really enjoyed but I can't really say why. Maybe because it was just so weird?
September 19, 2011
One of the few comics I've read. Howard the Duck on the cover was what caught my eye. This being the first Marvel Zombies I've read thus far. It was difficult ti follow at first but I did like the cameos and inclusions of various characters and the inclusion of the multiverse. Being the first of my marvel comic compilation collecting. I'll say it was a great buy. I'll definitely be checking out the others in this series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews