Originally published at Fangoria.com on July 16, 2011
Action-packed and always exciting, ZOMBIES VS. ROBOTS: UNDERCITY #3 (IDW Publishing) is a must-read! A zombie plague has spread across dimensions, traveling its way across time and space. Watch as mindless robots/pre-programmed defenders battle against rabid zombies/rotting intruders. As the fight continues, only desperate times remain for the rest of humanity. This is a simple concept turned twistedly entertaining!
Houses Omen remembers exactly what happened during the Big Game, his last defining moment as a football player. After being tackled, he fumbled the ball and completely froze as the entire team jumped on top of him. The bodies were crushing him, making it very hard to breathe. Houses felt buried alive, trapped in a mass grave. Now, he is hanging from a rope, locked in a prison cell. Life makes no difference being deep underground, when the world above is being destroyed.
With no intentions of losing to the zombies, the Elite Guard roams around a city in ruins. Their sole mission is to shoot and kill the undead horde. These robots never thought they would actually go to war against their own metal kind. The Godbot Fleet, led by the Rapture-obsessed Reverend Ironwood, will stop at nothing to purify the world from evil. Driven mad by power, Ironwood orders his Godbots to blast their way through fortified doors and assassinate the President of the U.S.
These aren’t the only horrors facing the dying human race. Because they were living below civilization, the Mole-People became primitive and brutal. These Mole Men have no minds of their own and just feed on their basic needs. With two prisoners in their hands, are these underground creatures making them queens or slaves? The robots and zombies are tunneling their way underground, forcing an inevitable confrontation with the Mole Men.
IDW editor-in-chief and author Chris Ryall progresses through each subplot by developing the characterizations of his protagonists and antagonists. Forced to abandon their world, the survivors represent the best and worst of humanity. These handful of reluctant fighters have to team up and rescue the kidnapped prisoners. The Mole Men may prove to be a deadly threat to the zombies and robots, who might have a common adversary.
The artwork by FEAR AGENT’s Mark Torres is incredibly gritty and violent, especially during the battle sequences. The zombies are swallowed up in fire as the robots fly around, igniting the inferno. The flashback narrative by Houses is genuinely gripping and somber at the same time. The Mole Men have an interesting character design, because they have batlike ears and no eyes.
With a story and art that instantly draws you in, ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS: UNDERCITY #3 is a great comic book that readers should take a long look at. Robots and zombies now have a common enemy as Reverend Ironwood intends on kick-starting the Rapture! But an even greater threat lurks underneath the city, waiting to be unleashed! You’ll end up rooting for either robots or zombies to win this fight!
