The Flash Fire Mini-Reviews series continues this week with some new comic reviews from Decapitated Dan! Dan takes a look at a selection of horror titles from Antarctic Press.

The Littlest Zombie vs. The Littlest Vampire

“It’s Tom & Jerry meets 28 Days Later as the Littlest Zombie and the Littlest Vampire fight tooth and nail, hand-to-detachable-hand for scant sustenance! Their quarry, the Littlest Survivor, must pull out every trick in the Apocalypse Survivor’s Handbook to keep his two supernatural stalkers at each other’s throats and off his!”

Dying Breath: 4.5 out of 5
It is officially time to begin the Littlest Brawl of the century! Ladies and gentlemen I have said time and time again that The Littlest Zombie is a book that should be on your reading list and this one proves why. Fred Perry bring to the dinner table two of the cutest little creatures that in reality you would want nowhere near you. The Vampire girl is hilarious and her dialogue proves why, brilliant job. As usual the must LZ plays a supporting role that is to die for, pun intended. The artwork is one point page after page. The ending with this issue does tell me more should be on the horizon so I can not wait! The LZ line of books are so good, so well done and this one is no exception. If I was reading this review I would have bought it by now. Great art, great writing and tons of fun to be had here.

Artwork: 4.5 out of 5
Story: 4.5 out of 5

To Fight With Monsters

“Based upon the short story by Mike Oliveri & Brian Keene. When humanity rapidly devolves into a monstrous state, teenager Rick Donovan joins his fellow townspeople in makeshift trenches to defend their homes. However, the monsters may already be among them… New post-apocalyptic horror from Bram Stoker Award-winning horror novelists Mike Oliveri (The Pack, Werewolves: Call of the Wild) and Brian Keene (The Last Zombie, Dead of Night: Devil Slayer) and Godfather of American Manga Ben Dunn (Marvel Mangaverse, Ninja High School, Warrior Nun Areala)!”

Dying Breath: 4.5 out of 5
Oh my friends this is one book you should not miss. I want to start with the visuals, Ben Dunn you are sick, because this book looks amazing! From one panel to the next panel I was never let down. Also to the art side I say thank you for not using any grey in this issue, it seemed to add to the edge of the story. Oh the story, this is one you HAVE to read. Did I say should, could or might want to? No, I said HAVE to read. Very seldom are we as horror comic readers presented with what I would say is a real interpretation of how things might go down. It’s not always black and white in terms of good and bad, so for this book to be able to fill in that grey area (you see how I did that with the colors) and not be afraid to show you what could happen is amazing. Keene and Oliveri have won me over on this one, and the title is such on play on what happens. UGH, I just can not seem to stop gushing on how much I enjoyed this book. You HAVE to read this book!

Artwork: 4.5 out of 5
Story: 5.0 out of 5

Planet of the Living Dead #1

“An investigative landing on a farming planet has brought the crew of a Marine rescue ship face to face with an entire population of flesh-eating zombies. Even if they manage to survive the initial onslaught, their slim hopes of survival are about rot away even faster than the moldering, deadly hordes out to devour their flesh!”

Dying Breath: 4.5 out of 5
What you can’t see right now is how excited I am to write this review. I am in love with the Planet of the Living Dead series so far. The artwork is so perfectly done that only a story this good could perfectly compliment it. Following the events of Planet of the Living Dead #1, this book is a fantastic sequel that leads perfectly into the next book that will follow. The dialogue is fun, yet very militaristic, since this one is based on the army getting to the planet. It really is not until the end though until we see the zombies emerge, which is fine by me since they did such a great job building up the suspense. The zombies look great, the story is great and I highly recommend checking this one out, you don’t really need to have read Planet of the Living Dead, but it will help. Antarctic is still killing it on horror titles.

Artwork: 4.5 out of 5
Story: 4.5 out of 5

The Last Zombie #5

“Continuing AP’s popular new series, The Last Zombie: Inferno picks up where The Last Zombie left off, as Doctor Ian Scott and his team of soldiers and scientists make their way across the wastelands of a post-zombie apocalyptic America. Infected with the virus that caused the zombie outbreak, Ian struggles to stay alive long enough to see his wife again. As if that wasn’t enough, the team find themselves caught between a raging, state-wide wildfire and the radioactive destruction of a nuclear reactor meltdown.”

Dying Breath: 4.0 out of 5
Chapter 2 is under review folks! For anyone who doesn’t know how awesome Chapter 1 was, go back and read it, I will wait… okay good to have you back. This issue is practically a way to recap and bridge the gap from what happened before, moving forward a little and bringing in what is coming next. Of course we are reminded of the big secret, but for the most part this is a great transition to the next arc, so action wise it is a slower issue. The artwork is as good as always. I honestly didn’t believe that 3 people were on art duties because it was so seamless. I am happy to have this book back because of how fresh it is. I love new takes on genre’s that could be considered done, so to get a chance to read this and love it, makes me happy to tell you about it. The Last Zombie is perfect for your horror collection and should be a part of it.

Artwork: 4.5 out of 5
Story: 4.0 out of 5

If you would like to know more about any of these horror comics you can find them at Antarctic-press.com.

Reviews by Dan Royer

Tags | comic books, horror comics