Year Zero #2: Live Undead

We begin Year Zero #2 picking up where issue #1 left off. We’re back at the Polar research center, I’m starting to think that the outbreak may have originated here. Then the book takes off and we are back with the same survivors that we were introduced to in the previous book. This is where Ben Percy’s craft is on full display with the characters having such an authentic feel that it is really easy to fall directly into their lives and what they are going through.

Percy’s ability to build on each of the individual characters and at the same time build a world overran with zombies and make it stand out with such an organic and natural flow of the storyline is brilliant and horrifying all at the same time. If you remember in the first issue we got a glimpse into Da Vinci’s notebook that included a zombie in the notes. Following in that trend in issue 2 we are treated to the suggestion that they were the Black Death! This is the kind of storytelling that makes for a phenomenal horror story. Gore doesn’t make horror, good writing does.

When I first read Year Zero #1, I had an immediate feeling that the survivors would end up meeting each other at some point and in some form. I don’t foresee a Walking Dead scenario where they start a new world, etc, etc. The chaos that is their current situation and especially with the reveals with Daniel in Mexico City and B. J. in Minnesota. I am not saying I think these two events are connected, but this does add to my line of thought about the characters at some sort of interaction, however, given Percy’s remarkable ability behind the pen, I’m sure this is not the case at all.

As if Ben Percy’s writing didn’t have you looking over your shoulder, or double thinking that noise you hear downstairs, you have Ramon Rosanas’ art to make sure you have a visual to go along with the insanely good trip that is Year Zero. Rosanas never misses a beat with how he takes Percy’s words and turns them into reality on a palette. Lee Loughbridge’s colors add an extra layer of spine-tingling fright. His ability to differentiate between characters and give them their own personality fits perfectly into the whole scheme. This creative team is pure gold!