KISS Zombies #1: Zombies Love to Shout It Out Loud!

Ok, stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Post-apocalyptic America overrun by zombies, and there’s a guy who’s running the show with an overbearing style. Welcome to KISS Zombies. Now don’t get me wrong, this comic was exactly as I expect KISS comics to be…exactly like their music. Meaning you’re going to have some really great elements and some that make you say “…huh.” Let’s start at the beginning. The story starts out in New Detroit, with Ben tied to a pole who begs to be untied before the approaching zombies make it to him all the while singing “Rock-N-Roll All Night” (this why is I love KISS comics). Ethan Sacks has created a world where music and loud noise attracts zombies. Crusher who is the pseudo leader of New Detroit feels that the “devil’s music” attracts the zombies and didn’t mind giving his son to the zombies in the name of keeping them safe. Now, this is where the story kind of drops off a bit, but I don’t mean that in a bad sense. I mean that this becomes a zombie story with zombie characters.

There is a group of kids who refuse to go with the status quo and embark on a journey to find clues that could lead to their salvation. Rodney Buchemi does a great job of giving us awesome and gruesome visuals that drive the book panel to panel in true horror fashion. The only thing greater than Buchemi’s art is the way Sacks introduces the band at the end in true KISS comic fashion.

I will say that Sack does a good job of creating a future world where zombies are dominant and characters that have the potential to get behind and root for but let’s be honest here, what we really want from KISS comics is to see Starchild, Demon, Space Ace, and the Cat-Man beat up the bad people, and do while wearing platform heels. Whether or not you believe KISS comics are targeted to a specific audience or not, well there may be some truth to that, however, if you are lumping these comics in with the same caliber as some of their eighties era records like Hot in The Shade or The Elder, I assure you the comics are better. These comics are Hotter Than Hell, and to be honest the only thing that could make these books better would be if they were dipped in Double Platinum. If you get the reference, chances are you’re going to stick around for issue for #2 and see KISS form into the War Machine and take it to the zombies.