Reviews of Zombies Calling
During the holiday break, I spent a lot of time idly playing Left 4 Dead, a game that involves a lot of shooting, not too much thinking, and a lot of zombies. The girl character (because you know there can't be more than one) is a college student and horror movie enthusiast who, according to the game manual, might be better off in a zombie invasion because of her horror movie knowledge. Hunh! It seems Joss, from Faith Erin Hicks' Zombies Calling has a philosophical sister in a zombie video game. That's pretty cool. (The game's been in development for years but didn't come out until last month in the U.S. and Zombies Calling comes from an idea Faith had a few years ago, too, so there's probably no real cross-influence -- one of those zeitgeist things, I guess.)
People are re-discovering Zombies Calling, Faith's first graphic novel now that her new The War at Ellsmere is out in stores and getting great reviews. First, Johanna Draper-Carlson at Comics Worth Reading, who is very clear about her dislike for zombies (I didn't send her a review copy of ZC for this very reason), discovers that zombies don't necessarily lead to the kind of stories she dislikes (which are also the kind of zombie stories I dislike):
"I don’t care much for zombies because too many people seem more interested in how gross they can be than in doing anything substantial with them. Hicks, on the other hand, wants to make a point about the university system and some of its flaws, so the zombies serve a purpose. Plus, I like the way Joss’ knowledge of a specific genre of pop culture works for her. By pointing out the similarities among all the films, Hicks provides a hook for someone like me to appreciate what Joss (and she) sees in them. And her observations were fresh (to me, at least)."
Johanna also notes Faith's skill with expression and her "strong, beautiful ink lines."
Don MacPherson at Eye on Comics had a similar experience: "I’d heard of Zombies Calling before, but I opted not to pick up a copy, dismissing it as just likely the latest in a long line of competent but typical zombie comics. I’m glad the Ellsmere buzz got me to change my mind." MacPherson gives the book an 8/10, noting the strong development of the main character, Joss.
However, I think MacPherson takes too much for granted in his pronouncement of "influence" rather than perceived similarity between Faith's work and that of Bryan Lee O'Malley and Hope Larson. I referred him to Hope's introduction to The War at Ellsmere in the comics, in which she writes about how she was inspired to wrcomics by artists like Bryan, as well as Faith, who has been drawing comics and posting them on her website for years.