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Zombillénium #1
Gretchen
Francis von Bloodt, vampire de son état, gère en bon père de famille le parc d'attractions Zombillénium. On n'embauche pas n'importe qui, chez Zombillénium : les simples mortels n'ont qu'à passer leur chemin, ici on ne travaille qu'avec d'authentiques loups-garous, vampires et momies. C'est ce que va découvrir Aurélien, un homme au bout du rouleau, trompé par sa femme ; et qui va se retrouver embauché malgré lui dans cette étrange entreprise. Gretchen, sorcière stagiaire, va l'aider à faire ses premiers pas...
Après avoir débuté dans les pages du magazine Spirou, Arthur de Pins a multiplié les collaborations dans l'animation, l'édition et la publicité. Sa série à succès Péchés mignons, chez Fluide glacial, revisite avec humour les classiques de la BD coquine. Avec Zombillénium, il aborde un autre registre, celui de la comédie fantastique des plus loufoques, truffée de clins d' il, de références décalées et de répliques déjà cultes.
Après avoir débuté dans les pages du magazine Spirou, Arthur de Pins a multiplié les collaborations dans l'animation, l'édition et la publicité. Sa série à succès Péchés mignons, chez Fluide glacial, revisite avec humour les classiques de la BD coquine. Avec Zombillénium, il aborde un autre registre, celui de la comédie fantastique des plus loufoques, truffée de clins d' il, de références décalées et de répliques déjà cultes.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published August 27, 2010
13 people are currently reading
576 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews
January 9, 2016
Well, I just loved this book! I wish the library had all of them that are out or that I could afford to buy them all that are out on Amazon!!!!!
So you have Gretchen and she's a witch that works at Zombillenium an amusement park for monsters.
The book starts out with some of the monsters going to pick up one of their friends that decided to leave because he never got a good gig and he was always picked on or laughed at by the kids.
Meanwhile, Gretchen is sitting in a bar and this dude is trying to hold the place up so she stops all of that and sends him on his way... but... the monsters in the car aren't paying attention and run over him! Oops.....
She does a little spell on the peeps at the bar and goes out to help get the dude in the car and take him back to Zombillenium so they can recruit him for work. I just love it!
They all get back to the park and some things happen, he gets recruited and they show him around and put him in the cotton candy booth until they find out what monster he is going to be.
Obviously I'm not going to tell or show you what kind of monster he is, just know he's awesome. The whole book is wickedly funny, accept for the dog part, I didn't like that!
I can't wait to read more adventures about the gang! OH AND THE GRAPHICS ARE AMAZING!
So you have Gretchen and she's a witch that works at Zombillenium an amusement park for monsters.
The book starts out with some of the monsters going to pick up one of their friends that decided to leave because he never got a good gig and he was always picked on or laughed at by the kids.
Meanwhile, Gretchen is sitting in a bar and this dude is trying to hold the place up so she stops all of that and sends him on his way... but... the monsters in the car aren't paying attention and run over him! Oops.....
She does a little spell on the peeps at the bar and goes out to help get the dude in the car and take him back to Zombillenium so they can recruit him for work. I just love it!
They all get back to the park and some things happen, he gets recruited and they show him around and put him in the cotton candy booth until they find out what monster he is going to be.
Obviously I'm not going to tell or show you what kind of monster he is, just know he's awesome. The whole book is wickedly funny, accept for the dog part, I didn't like that!
I can't wait to read more adventures about the gang! OH AND THE GRAPHICS ARE AMAZING!
May 9, 2019
2,5/5. At first I like the originality of it but the story bored me pretty quickly. Just too light for my taste i guess. It has some potential and the illustrations are beautiful, i really like the style, but the humor and storyline, even if not bad, didn't had enough substance for me to totally enjoying it!
February 4, 2016
The English translation suffers from giving the characters American backgrounds when in fact, the setting is undeniably European. All the characters appear to be continental, except for Gretchen, who is undeniably British.
The concept of a zombie theme park populatwd by real monsters is intriguing. I'm a bit disoriented with the pacing but I'll probably get a hang of it if I continue the follow the series.
The concept of a zombie theme park populatwd by real monsters is intriguing. I'm a bit disoriented with the pacing but I'll probably get a hang of it if I continue the follow the series.
August 14, 2014
Best cover for paranormal folk ever: play themselves at a Halloween-themed amusement park!
It's goofy and fun and silly and great. There's a mummy and a vampire and a werewolf and a witch and an invisible being and a demon and a ghost and a... The beings have to tangle with the corporate offices quite a bit, which is amusing.
It's a fun world to play in, and slides in somewhere between the all ages appeal of Ghostopolis and the gravitas of iZombie.
I didn't notice that it's translated, and the illustration style (obviously not hand-drawn) was easy to get used to. The full color and large size of the thing were fun and makes it stand out.
I want more and am bummed that it does not seem to be forthcoming in the near future.
Try if you like the above works, plus:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pulp Fiction
Neptune's Children
Blacksad
It's goofy and fun and silly and great. There's a mummy and a vampire and a werewolf and a witch and an invisible being and a demon and a ghost and a... The beings have to tangle with the corporate offices quite a bit, which is amusing.
It's a fun world to play in, and slides in somewhere between the all ages appeal of Ghostopolis and the gravitas of iZombie.
I didn't notice that it's translated, and the illustration style (obviously not hand-drawn) was easy to get used to. The full color and large size of the thing were fun and makes it stand out.
I want more and am bummed that it does not seem to be forthcoming in the near future.
Try if you like the above works, plus:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pulp Fiction
Neptune's Children
Blacksad
September 27, 2017
Sympathique! Ça faisait longtemps que je voulais lire cette BD et la news de l'adaptation en film arrivant bientôt m'a rappelé de l'emprunter à la bibliothèque!
Le cadre bien français est drôle, les monstres et la touche de magie sont à mon goût: je lirais la suite!
Le cadre bien français est drôle, les monstres et la touche de magie sont à mon goût: je lirais la suite!
September 1, 2020
Surprisingly good! A very good monster slice/of/life parody!
November 21, 2022
Je pense que je vais adorer cette BD 😂 c'est complètement décalé et drôle 🤣 en plus ya pleins de références sympas !
February 10, 2020
Gretchen (Zombillenium #1) is a terrific book about an amusement park run by and worked by monsters. Vampires and werewolves and mummies and demons. All take a shift at this horror themed Disneyland.
Summary
Gretchen is a new hire, a witch by trade, when she is witness to a robbery gone awry. It gets even worse when the thief runs off into traffic and is run down by a vampire driven car. To save him, the vampire bites the thief and turns him into a monster. Zombillenium has a new attraction!
As the new recruit gets adjusted to being a vampire, he finds that he may be much more than just a vampire. Zombillenium must now deal with the growing powers of the new recruit as well as the uncertain loyalty of their new witch, Gretchen.
Review
Zombillenium has been on my radar for a long time and I am in instant regret of not picking it up sooner. It is irreverent and funny and just this side of the dark things that go bump in the night. In some ways it is a modern take on the Addams Family genre of humor/horror but with some very real undertones of discrimination and acceptance.
There is a particularly hilarious panel where the vampire and werewolf cannot decide on how they will save the new recruit and take turns biting him to keep him from dying, thusly creating a hybrid of both. Gretchen is goth and moody and a terrific character.
I loved it and am on to the next book in the series!
Summary
Gretchen is a new hire, a witch by trade, when she is witness to a robbery gone awry. It gets even worse when the thief runs off into traffic and is run down by a vampire driven car. To save him, the vampire bites the thief and turns him into a monster. Zombillenium has a new attraction!
As the new recruit gets adjusted to being a vampire, he finds that he may be much more than just a vampire. Zombillenium must now deal with the growing powers of the new recruit as well as the uncertain loyalty of their new witch, Gretchen.
Review
Zombillenium has been on my radar for a long time and I am in instant regret of not picking it up sooner. It is irreverent and funny and just this side of the dark things that go bump in the night. In some ways it is a modern take on the Addams Family genre of humor/horror but with some very real undertones of discrimination and acceptance.
There is a particularly hilarious panel where the vampire and werewolf cannot decide on how they will save the new recruit and take turns biting him to keep him from dying, thusly creating a hybrid of both. Gretchen is goth and moody and a terrific character.
I loved it and am on to the next book in the series!
August 13, 2017
This is a cool concept and somewhat enjoyable, but I didn't find the storytellng to be all that compelling. There's a lot of action, but the joy of it is lost on me because I find the characters to be a bit unexplored. I may or may not check out other books in the series.
August 15, 2019
The story was fun and made me chuckle a few times and I loved the artwork!
December 3, 2022
J'adore !
January 22, 2014
We're putting this in our adult collection but I think it's safe for YA.
Anyway.
This is cute, light-hearted and fun. I enjoyed the illustrations immensely as well as the concept/story idea. It reminded me a bit of the Boneyard: Volume 1 - In Full Color books (also published by this group).
The one problem I had was with the actual writing. It needs some work. The conversation doesn't flow...heck, even the word bubbles don't flow well in many cases. The overall story ends up being clunky.
So while I loved the drawrings and the idea, the actual dialogue just tripped me up a few too many times to give this more than 3 stars. However, I'm hoping that lessons will be learned and volume 2 will work out much better.
Anyway.
This is cute, light-hearted and fun. I enjoyed the illustrations immensely as well as the concept/story idea. It reminded me a bit of the Boneyard: Volume 1 - In Full Color books (also published by this group).
The one problem I had was with the actual writing. It needs some work. The conversation doesn't flow...heck, even the word bubbles don't flow well in many cases. The overall story ends up being clunky.
So while I loved the drawrings and the idea, the actual dialogue just tripped me up a few too many times to give this more than 3 stars. However, I'm hoping that lessons will be learned and volume 2 will work out much better.
July 16, 2019
This was different from what I expected, more funny than scary, but I really loved it! While the crew of the Zombillennium theme park were an odd mix of all kinds of creatures going bump in the night, they had to handle a lot of very normal, human tasks. However, them being what they are, this caused a lot of comical situations. That was a highly entertaining read, and I can't wait to visit Zombillennium again.
(Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of the book, all opinions are my own)
(Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of the book, all opinions are my own)
March 1, 2023
Un premier tome intéressant dans lequel il se passe déjà plusieurs choses. On prend vite connaissance de l'univers et des personnages, et ça finit avec une information qui change bien des choses!
April 3, 2025
fallait être là quand c'est sorti, c'était une dinguerie, et ça l'est tout autant en 2025
December 9, 2022
Mes aventures BD continuent ! J’en lis très rarement mais pour la première fois j’en ai lu plusieurs en novembre. Et je peux vous dire que Zombillénium était une très belle découverte !
On se retrouve au parc d’attraction Zombillénium qui refuse d'embaucher des mortels. Les travailleurs et même les stagiaires sont des sorciers.ères, loups-garous, vampires, zombies et momies… et les visiteurs sont des humains.
Je vais être honnête, je m’attendais pas à autant aimer ! On a une histoire intéressante et débordante d'humour, c’était un énorme plaisir de le lire ! De plus j’ai adoré les dessins, c’était juste magnifique !
Les personnages sont très drôles, on a plusieurs références et même des allusions à l’univers de Harry Potter. Les dessins sont très bien réussis et nous transmettent les émotions des personnages.
J’ai vraiment aimé ma lecture et je compte lire la suite !
On se retrouve au parc d’attraction Zombillénium qui refuse d'embaucher des mortels. Les travailleurs et même les stagiaires sont des sorciers.ères, loups-garous, vampires, zombies et momies… et les visiteurs sont des humains.
Je vais être honnête, je m’attendais pas à autant aimer ! On a une histoire intéressante et débordante d'humour, c’était un énorme plaisir de le lire ! De plus j’ai adoré les dessins, c’était juste magnifique !
Les personnages sont très drôles, on a plusieurs références et même des allusions à l’univers de Harry Potter. Les dessins sont très bien réussis et nous transmettent les émotions des personnages.
J’ai vraiment aimé ma lecture et je compte lire la suite !
September 5, 2014
In this book you've got real monsters, and as a solution to the problem of how they live in a world where people are not monsters, they all work at a monster-themed amusement park. Sort of like Adventureland, except with zombies instead of disaffected youth. Although there is a mummy who seems to be a disaffected youth, so maybe even MORE like Adventureland than I thought.
I was thinking about about Disneyland. Because that's the obvious analogue when someone talks about a theme park, right? The Magic Kingdom as it's called. The Home Of Mickey And His Pals. The Cryo-Crypt of Walt's Frozen Head.
Here's what sucks about Disneyworld. It's too...Disneyworld. Nobody gets hurt, nobody makes a mess, and the whole thing is so polished that it's fun, but horrifying at the same time. You don't say that guys in costumes came over. You call them cast members. Shit like that.
So what's a fella like me to do?
Enter: Haunted Trails.
Just your average Chuck E. Cheese, except that it's got a Halloween theme.
This place was not too far from my grandma's house, so whenever we went to visit, we'd make the trip.
Okay, it wasn't perfect. There were cheesy parts. And it was in a shit neighborhood, so there was a good deal of kid on kid panhandling going on, something that I didn't know much about other than when a kid asked for money, I would hold my grandma's coin purse, which she loaned me for the afternoon, and say No. Not because of some nascent boostrapper attitude or something. Because I was a kid, and I was at the stage of development where I was inexperienced enough to have no real opinion on straight-up asking someone for cash, yet mature enough to do the math on the fact that if I gave someone a token, I didn't have it anymore. Oh, and also, I was pretty well developed as far as a sense of people being your friend because they want something, sadly.
But I think this is more fun than Disney. I suppose there's a price you pay for a good time that's little less safe, and when I say "safe" I'm not saying that I was about to be shived by a sharpened mini golf putter for a Haunted Trails token. I just mean that when something is super safe you can be reasonably certain that nothing outside your normal realm of comfort will go down.
And I guess that's what signals fun for me. Think about it. Booze, drugs, nights out, cities, dating. All of the time, you trade just a smidge of your safety for something fun. I'm certainly not saying that the less safe something is, the more fun it is. If I lived by that logic I'd just go ahead and litter the floor of my apartment with broken glass and dangle knives from the ceiling. What I AM saying is that most fun things have just a small element that feels a little unsafe. Blood fountain, strange neighborhood, or a kid giving your grandma's coin purse a hard stare while he fashions a bludgeoning tool from the kazoo he won with 8 tickets.
I was thinking about about Disneyland. Because that's the obvious analogue when someone talks about a theme park, right? The Magic Kingdom as it's called. The Home Of Mickey And His Pals. The Cryo-Crypt of Walt's Frozen Head.
Here's what sucks about Disneyworld. It's too...Disneyworld. Nobody gets hurt, nobody makes a mess, and the whole thing is so polished that it's fun, but horrifying at the same time. You don't say that guys in costumes came over. You call them cast members. Shit like that.
So what's a fella like me to do?
Enter: Haunted Trails.
Just your average Chuck E. Cheese, except that it's got a Halloween theme.
This place was not too far from my grandma's house, so whenever we went to visit, we'd make the trip.
Okay, it wasn't perfect. There were cheesy parts. And it was in a shit neighborhood, so there was a good deal of kid on kid panhandling going on, something that I didn't know much about other than when a kid asked for money, I would hold my grandma's coin purse, which she loaned me for the afternoon, and say No. Not because of some nascent boostrapper attitude or something. Because I was a kid, and I was at the stage of development where I was inexperienced enough to have no real opinion on straight-up asking someone for cash, yet mature enough to do the math on the fact that if I gave someone a token, I didn't have it anymore. Oh, and also, I was pretty well developed as far as a sense of people being your friend because they want something, sadly.
But I think this is more fun than Disney. I suppose there's a price you pay for a good time that's little less safe, and when I say "safe" I'm not saying that I was about to be shived by a sharpened mini golf putter for a Haunted Trails token. I just mean that when something is super safe you can be reasonably certain that nothing outside your normal realm of comfort will go down.
And I guess that's what signals fun for me. Think about it. Booze, drugs, nights out, cities, dating. All of the time, you trade just a smidge of your safety for something fun. I'm certainly not saying that the less safe something is, the more fun it is. If I lived by that logic I'd just go ahead and litter the floor of my apartment with broken glass and dangle knives from the ceiling. What I AM saying is that most fun things have just a small element that feels a little unsafe. Blood fountain, strange neighborhood, or a kid giving your grandma's coin purse a hard stare while he fashions a bludgeoning tool from the kazoo he won with 8 tickets.
May 18, 2016
AMAZING!!! Like laugh-out-loud kind. Characters - all the mosters - have their own personalities and all of the pop culture references were hilarious. Exactly what I need atm.
Highly recommend.=)
And Aurelian, ah... That guy.
Moving to #2! Woo-hoo!
P.S. Thank you for showing this in your video, Estelle!!!(*_*)
July 2, 2014
The first in a series. Feels like an introduction in many ways, so it isn't completely satisfying as a story, but it introduces some interesting characters, has fun with them, and the cartoony art seems appropriate to the tale. I don't love it yet, but I could get into it, maybe.
May 6, 2019
This was quirky and interesting. A bit too fast paced at some moments but it was enjoyable and funny. It doesn't hold back from dark topics. I'll have to search for the rest to continue.
Got the Digital copy from Netgalley for an honest review.
Got the Digital copy from Netgalley for an honest review.
May 11, 2019
This is good fun!
Zombillenium is a Halloween theme park, which happens to be staffed by real monsters. Gretchen, who is a witch, befriends Aurelian who is the newest 'employee' in the park. Aurelian has a hard time fitting in. He was killed after his attempted hold up was foiled by Gretchen. Running out into the road Aurelian was run over and killed, and he ends up being recruited to the park where he thinks he is in a nightmare.
Surprisingly enough Aurelian ends up being the new star attraction but this doesn't go down well with the zombie staff who see him as a threat to their jobs.
The artwork is good but it is the actual story that had me laughing out loud. I was pleased to discover that this is actually a movie, although it is in French. I do hope they will produce an English version.
In any case until then, there are four volumes of the graphic novel version to enjoy.
Good artwork, good humour and an all round entertaining story with good laughs.
Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Zombillenium is a Halloween theme park, which happens to be staffed by real monsters. Gretchen, who is a witch, befriends Aurelian who is the newest 'employee' in the park. Aurelian has a hard time fitting in. He was killed after his attempted hold up was foiled by Gretchen. Running out into the road Aurelian was run over and killed, and he ends up being recruited to the park where he thinks he is in a nightmare.
Surprisingly enough Aurelian ends up being the new star attraction but this doesn't go down well with the zombie staff who see him as a threat to their jobs.
The artwork is good but it is the actual story that had me laughing out loud. I was pleased to discover that this is actually a movie, although it is in French. I do hope they will produce an English version.
In any case until then, there are four volumes of the graphic novel version to enjoy.
Good artwork, good humour and an all round entertaining story with good laughs.
Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
December 4, 2018
J'ai ADORÉ ce premier tome de Zombillénium, une saga que je voulais découvrir depuis tellement longtemps... mais tous les exemplaires étaient toujours empruntés et sur liste d'attente à ma médiathèque.
Quand les éditions Dupuis m'ont proposé de recevoir les 4 premiers tomes, j'ai sauté de joie (merci encore à eux) !
C'est une BD bourrée d'humour et de références à la pop-culture (Mickaël Jackson et son mythique clip Thriller, Harry Potter... et même Claude François !).
Cerise sur le gâteau, l'univers graphique est juste sublime.
Je n'ai qu'une hâte : lire la suite !!!
Quand les éditions Dupuis m'ont proposé de recevoir les 4 premiers tomes, j'ai sauté de joie (merci encore à eux) !
C'est une BD bourrée d'humour et de références à la pop-culture (Mickaël Jackson et son mythique clip Thriller, Harry Potter... et même Claude François !).
Cerise sur le gâteau, l'univers graphique est juste sublime.
Je n'ai qu'une hâte : lire la suite !!!
April 1, 2018
Excellente BD !
J'ai bcp aimé ce premier tome, l'humour et les références qui y sont reprises comme HP ou encore les clips de Michael Jackson !
ça se lit très vite, les dessins sont très réussis et je compte vite acheter les tomes suivants !!!
Et dans les prochains jours, je vais regarder le film avec chéri ;) J'espère qu'il sera aussi bon !
J'ai bcp aimé ce premier tome, l'humour et les références qui y sont reprises comme HP ou encore les clips de Michael Jackson !
ça se lit très vite, les dessins sont très réussis et je compte vite acheter les tomes suivants !!!
Et dans les prochains jours, je vais regarder le film avec chéri ;) J'espère qu'il sera aussi bon !
April 7, 2020
It's fun and doesn't have that stink of the overplayed zombie thriller.
Funny concept that's about "zombies" because they all are alive after dying. The "brains zombies" are the majority of co-workers to the main cast which is made up of all species of universally known monsters most of which are tremendously entertaining.
Funny concept that's about "zombies" because they all are alive after dying. The "brains zombies" are the majority of co-workers to the main cast which is made up of all species of universally known monsters most of which are tremendously entertaining.
January 25, 2020
J'ai décidé de me mettre un peu plus aux BD / Mangas cette année et WOUAH ! J'ai adoré, j'ai ris, j'ai admiré les dessins, j'ai aimé le scénario, bref, j'ai le tome 2 mais je crois que je vais bientôt retourner dans mon cultura pour choper les 3 & 4 car c'est juste gé-nial !
September 18, 2021
Nice and spooky!
Cette BD m'intriguait depuis un certain temps et je ne regrette pas du tout de l'avoir ouverte, je n'aurais pas refusé quelques pages de plus cependant ! Je vais donc lire le suivant 😉
Cette BD m'intriguait depuis un certain temps et je ne regrette pas du tout de l'avoir ouverte, je n'aurais pas refusé quelques pages de plus cependant ! Je vais donc lire le suivant 😉
January 27, 2019
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting premise. Loads of tricks throughout. Will be interested to see where it goes from here
Interesting premise. Loads of tricks throughout. Will be interested to see where it goes from here
February 24, 2019
Une BD super sympa qui m’a fait explosé de rire à plusieurs reprises j’ai adoré ma lecture ! J’ai hâte de me plonger dans la suite !
May 20, 2019
C'était plutôt fun, j'ai bien envie de voir ce que les autres tomes vont apporter. Le dessin est pas mon style préféré mais ça reste regardable...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews