Orginally published at Fangoria.com on January 15, 2011
IDW Publishing presents INFESTATION, an ambitious crossover event that will tie in with their popular TRANSFORMERS, STAR TREK, G.I. JOE and GHOSTBUSTERS titles. This first-ever event ignites a zombie uprising that threatens to tear the universe apart. Fans will undoubtedly enjoy an all-out massive battle between zombies, vampires, ghost hunters, space cadets and giant robots.
In the hot desert of New Mexico, an ammunitions storage facility has been the secret hiding place for a government laboratory. A horrible catastrophe leaves all the doctors, the scientists and nurses dead inside. The military arrives in the midst of chaos, firing a storm of bullets at the reanimated cadavers.
Because their mission is to protect humans from the supernatural, CVO (Covert Vampiric Operations) has been assigned for clean-up duty. The top-secret squad of vampire agents investigates the cause of the disaster while wiping out the undead, who are roaming around in the abandoned building. While team leader Cross directs the annihilation of the zombie army, Benny, the “brains” of the operation, discovers the source of the incident. He finds out that the scientists were working on an interdimensional portal, a gateway to Dimension Z.
A voice in the darkness calls out to Benny, tempting him to betray his teammates. He suddenly loses his sanity while attempting to shut off the portal. The army of zombies are linked to a hive consciousness, called the Undermind. This unstoppable force has a never-ending appetite for fresh meat and knowledge. Bent on world domination, the Undermind intends to use the portal to spread through other dimensions.
Writing duo Dan Abnett and Andy Landing grab hold of the reader’s attention with their blood-soaked opening. The narrative builds to an epic confrontation between CVO and the Undermind, leaving fans anxiously anticipating the next action-packed issue. The writers have also cleverly supplied enough material to keep their audience engaged to follow the other IDW titles.
The artwork by David Messina is rich in character design, providing each CVO member a specific look to reflect their personality. Every single page is littered with intense zombie action. Messina’s cinematic angles keep the eyes focused on zombie bites, arm dismemberment and heads being blown off.
With the groundwork set, INFESTATION #1 becomes a phenomenal event that will surely have comic book and horror fans buying every single issue. Readers shouldn’t be expecting BLACKEST NIGHT or another CIVIL WAR; this is a zombie outbreak done absolutely right, full of carnage and nonstop action!
From January 19 to April 6, INFESTATION spreads onto TRANSFORMERS, STAR TREK, G.I. JOE and GHOSTBUSTERS. This writer anxiously hopes Snake Eyes (Yo Joe!) will slice and dice zombies with his swords. To see the Ghostbusters team use their proton packs against a zombified Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, that’s worth buying alone!
To follow IDW’s INFESTATION series, go to the official website here.
