James Groves
Oct 23, 2004, 10:11 am
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/1004/ToeTagsfeaturingGeorgeRomero1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/1004/ToeTagsfeaturingGeorgeRomero1t.jpg" align=left alt="Toe Tags #1"></a>Reviewer: James Groves, JamesandtheDragon@hotmail.com
Quick Rating: Above Average
Story Title: The Death Of Death
Zombies...More Zombies...Even More Zombies...And An Elephant.
Created And Written By: George Romero
Pencilled By: Tommy Castillo
Inked By: Rodney Ramos
Lettered By: Rob Leigh
Colored By: Lee Loughridge
Assoc. Editor: Michael Wright
Editor: Bob Schreck
There's nothing more enticing then entitling your first foray into the medium of comic book literature, with a name that conjures up images of mortuaries, decomposition and the fallen dead. There's an inherent sense of foreboding within the description of toe tags - small pieces of cardboard, tied around the toe of an individuals dead body, that lists all their details upon dieing - that creates an uneasy and unsettling atmosphere; perfect for a cult horror genre book. Created by and featuring the scripting talents of George Romero - who changed the face of fear films with his groundbreaking Night of the Living Dead horror flick - Toe Tags incorporates a number of sub-genres and repeated themes within its initial premise, to make for an entertaining read. However, the strengths of this book are, unfortunately, its weakness' too. The reader's attention is focused entirely upon scenes of action, violence and gore, rather than creating an intimidating atmosphere, a suspenseful mood and most importantly of all; characters that you really care for.
The issue starts with one of the protagonists - Damien Cross - looking out upon a zombie laden cityscape, trying to come to terms with his current mystifying circumstance and why one memory is most prominent in his mind. Meanwhile, the female protagonist of the piece makes her lonely way through the legions of zombies filling the city, before coming face-to-face with Mister Tembo - an elephant, who's causing mass zombie casualties and general commotion. She then rides on the elephant, who guides her to where Damien is located. Whilst making her way to meet him, she continues to fight off hordes and hordes of zombies, before coming face to face with a very different looking Damien. We are then greeted to a flash back three months earlier, that gives us a glimpse into how all this came about and a brief background into what happened to Damien and the reason for his current condition.
The plot of the issue is very cliché and there's nothing really subtle about the storyline itself. George A. Romero's zombie drama series sparked off many imitations during the 1970's horror film boom period and unfortunately, Toe Tags reads like an imitation of his own work in the film industry as well. The explicit violence and taut storytelling style can be seen at play here, as can themes of exploitation, cannibalism and mass conformity amidst the many gore-fests that are on offer. The fast paced nature of the issue sits well with the chaotic nature of events that transpire and the morbid and gruesome depiction of Carnation city and its undead residents, is really emphasised with some well placed dialogue and narration.
Unfortunately, what it lacks is relatable characters, suspenseful scenes and anything that’s remotely frightening, which, I grant you, is not Romero's forte, but with a wealth of horror books out at the moment, there needs to be something which really pulls the reader in - apart from the genre necessity of brains blowing up and blood spilling everywhere - and this hasn't got that crucial x-factor. There is an underlying mystery at play here - regarding Damien - and seeing how he will cope with being disfigured and/or zombie-fied will make for an interesting read next issue. The reasoning behind why the dead can suddenly walk again, will also be intriguing and the use of an elephant in the issue also makes for a positively surreal moment as well, but unfortunately, I wasn’t really caring about Judy’s predicament in certain situations and that for me, made for a rather apathetical read.
The artwork is perfectly suited for the tone of the story and the theme of horror within it. The line work is crisp and there is a great deal of detail within each of the panels. The panels themselves have a thick dark red outline to them when dealing with violence, that really emphasises the bloody nature of the action scenes and the way the fight scenes are choreographed, portrays the chaotic and confusing attacks of the zombies and elephant very well. There’s a realistic approach to the characters at play here and the image of the elephant is striking for both its impact and its ferocity and there are also many splash shots throughout the issue that carry high emotion and energy. Castillo's in his element here, dealing with dismemberment, disfigurement and disembowelment and he captures the horrific nature of the fight scenes very well; basically, there are enough images to please even the most sadistic of readers out there. Loughridge's dark and muted color scheme also captures the dreary and murky aspects of the pencils very well.
If you’re a fan of the formulaic horror genre that features blood and gore, then I would say this should appease most fans for its excellent quantity of the human life source. If however, you were looking for something a little more challenging or relatable then I’d stick with The Walking Dead.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dchalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dchalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg
‘Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save!’ (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=1510&cat=TOE+TAGS+FEATURING+GEORGE+ROMERO)
Quick Rating: Above Average
Story Title: The Death Of Death
Zombies...More Zombies...Even More Zombies...And An Elephant.
Created And Written By: George Romero
Pencilled By: Tommy Castillo
Inked By: Rodney Ramos
Lettered By: Rob Leigh
Colored By: Lee Loughridge
Assoc. Editor: Michael Wright
Editor: Bob Schreck
There's nothing more enticing then entitling your first foray into the medium of comic book literature, with a name that conjures up images of mortuaries, decomposition and the fallen dead. There's an inherent sense of foreboding within the description of toe tags - small pieces of cardboard, tied around the toe of an individuals dead body, that lists all their details upon dieing - that creates an uneasy and unsettling atmosphere; perfect for a cult horror genre book. Created by and featuring the scripting talents of George Romero - who changed the face of fear films with his groundbreaking Night of the Living Dead horror flick - Toe Tags incorporates a number of sub-genres and repeated themes within its initial premise, to make for an entertaining read. However, the strengths of this book are, unfortunately, its weakness' too. The reader's attention is focused entirely upon scenes of action, violence and gore, rather than creating an intimidating atmosphere, a suspenseful mood and most importantly of all; characters that you really care for.
The issue starts with one of the protagonists - Damien Cross - looking out upon a zombie laden cityscape, trying to come to terms with his current mystifying circumstance and why one memory is most prominent in his mind. Meanwhile, the female protagonist of the piece makes her lonely way through the legions of zombies filling the city, before coming face-to-face with Mister Tembo - an elephant, who's causing mass zombie casualties and general commotion. She then rides on the elephant, who guides her to where Damien is located. Whilst making her way to meet him, she continues to fight off hordes and hordes of zombies, before coming face to face with a very different looking Damien. We are then greeted to a flash back three months earlier, that gives us a glimpse into how all this came about and a brief background into what happened to Damien and the reason for his current condition.
The plot of the issue is very cliché and there's nothing really subtle about the storyline itself. George A. Romero's zombie drama series sparked off many imitations during the 1970's horror film boom period and unfortunately, Toe Tags reads like an imitation of his own work in the film industry as well. The explicit violence and taut storytelling style can be seen at play here, as can themes of exploitation, cannibalism and mass conformity amidst the many gore-fests that are on offer. The fast paced nature of the issue sits well with the chaotic nature of events that transpire and the morbid and gruesome depiction of Carnation city and its undead residents, is really emphasised with some well placed dialogue and narration.
Unfortunately, what it lacks is relatable characters, suspenseful scenes and anything that’s remotely frightening, which, I grant you, is not Romero's forte, but with a wealth of horror books out at the moment, there needs to be something which really pulls the reader in - apart from the genre necessity of brains blowing up and blood spilling everywhere - and this hasn't got that crucial x-factor. There is an underlying mystery at play here - regarding Damien - and seeing how he will cope with being disfigured and/or zombie-fied will make for an interesting read next issue. The reasoning behind why the dead can suddenly walk again, will also be intriguing and the use of an elephant in the issue also makes for a positively surreal moment as well, but unfortunately, I wasn’t really caring about Judy’s predicament in certain situations and that for me, made for a rather apathetical read.
The artwork is perfectly suited for the tone of the story and the theme of horror within it. The line work is crisp and there is a great deal of detail within each of the panels. The panels themselves have a thick dark red outline to them when dealing with violence, that really emphasises the bloody nature of the action scenes and the way the fight scenes are choreographed, portrays the chaotic and confusing attacks of the zombies and elephant very well. There’s a realistic approach to the characters at play here and the image of the elephant is striking for both its impact and its ferocity and there are also many splash shots throughout the issue that carry high emotion and energy. Castillo's in his element here, dealing with dismemberment, disfigurement and disembowelment and he captures the horrific nature of the fight scenes very well; basically, there are enough images to please even the most sadistic of readers out there. Loughridge's dark and muted color scheme also captures the dreary and murky aspects of the pencils very well.
If you’re a fan of the formulaic horror genre that features blood and gore, then I would say this should appease most fans for its excellent quantity of the human life source. If however, you were looking for something a little more challenging or relatable then I’d stick with The Walking Dead.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dchalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dchalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg
‘Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save!’ (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=1510&cat=TOE+TAGS+FEATURING+GEORGE+ROMERO)