Review of FVZA: Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency Issue 1
Publisher: Radical Comics
Writer: David Hine
Pencils: Roy Allen Martinez
Paint\Coloring: Kinsun Loh & Jerry Choo
Cover Art: John Bolton (Cover A) and Clint Langley (Cover B)
“FVZA: Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency #1†is the first of a three issue mini-series written by David Hine and is based on the mythos originally conceptualized from the popular website, FZVA.org. Both the comic series and the website revolve around an alternate reality where the world is basically identical to ours with the exception of zombies and vampires chomping on the innocent since the Civil War era.
As I’m sure you know, the current portrayal of vampires have become closer to romantic and sexually charged godlike figures rather than the disgusting, blood-sucking parasite variety. We can blame the popularity of “Twilight†and “True Blood†for that. However, I am glad to tell you that the vampires within the pages of FZVA are more like the monstrous “Nosferatu†than a GQ approved “Edward Cullenâ€. Obviously, I cannot forget to describe the zombies! They are shown as terrible, rotting corpses that can walk and have a habit of thoroughly consuming live mammals (no, the family Labrador is not safe). Just the way we love them, am I right?!
Of course, victims that are unlucky enough to live from a vampire or zombie bite will eventually be afflicted with the respective disease. This causes all sorts of obviously horrific problems that the US government needed to create a department to deal with it. Enter the FVZA! The FVZA does their job accordingly and a vaccine for both vampirism and zombism was eventually created. By the time disco was invading the radio waves, there were no more vamps or walking dead and the FZVA was shut down for the lack of monsters that needed slaying.
Our story really begins in the current era of text messaging and bars where you can’t smoke. Dr. Hugo Pecos, former FZVA member, has been educating his grandchildren, Landra and Vidal, about the very real vampire\zombie threat that affected the world and how to defend themselves against it for the past couple of decades. Of course, the training they received was not in vain as new cases of both vampire and zombie attacks have been reported and the FZVA is forced to be reopened. Meanwhile, we are given a glimpse at what could be the source of these recent attacks and the conspiracy behind it.
I will admit that the title of the book is a bit cheesy, but the foundation of the story does come from the FZVA.org website so I can put that minor issue aside. The only other negative thought I have about this first issue is that it was not long enough. The issue is definitely not short on content (44 full color pages along with a 10 page backup story promoting “Last Days of American Crime†is bigger than many of those “giant-sized†issues the two leading comic book publishers come out with), but I thoroughly enjoyed it so much that I just didn’t want it to end.
The storyline itself was so easy to digest and follow especially being a loyal fan of the horror genre. The zombie\vampire history was shown through vivid flashbacks described by the good Dr. Pecos’ which I thought were extremely well done. I also appreciated the explanation of the degenerative states that a victim goes through when afflicted by both vampirism and zombism. As for the art, nearly each page deserves to be framed and mounted on a wall. It is strange to call artwork of zombies ripping a person’s organs out beautiful, but yeah, it is just that! Admirers of gory scenes from zombie flicks like “Dawn of the Dead†will definitely not be disappointed. Also, there is an abundant amount of these morbid scenes which there should be since it is a serious, horror comic about live mammal eating zombies and rabid, blood-sucking vampires, after all. My anticipation is very high for reading the second issue as the story and artwork have sufficiently piqued my interest! Be sure to come back for the next review!
