War is a nightmare and war with the undead, well that’s a
hell all on its own. Deep in the jungle of Cambodia, the young and beautiful Miss
Landers sits among a small group of G.I.s. with a film crew capturing her every
moment. Her message is simple, to send the
thought of peace to every living room in America and get our fighting boys back
home. Declan Rule leads this small crew for this good will message back home.
After telling his team his expectations he excuses himself and makes his way
aboard a helicopter in order to do a land survey for their next location shoot.
The two airmen in charge of the chopper inform Mr. Rule that they don’t run a
taxi service. With a flip of his wrist, Mr. Rule answers back with his C.I.A
credentials. Soon Rule and the airmen are up and away to a secret L.Z.
Back in the merciless bush, Yam continues fighting for his
life against the massive deformed zombie monster. As he unloads all of his ammo
on the creature, Yam notices zombie VC crawling by, packing a bazooka. With a
well placed shot Yam and Nero’s victory is short lived as the sound of a voice
calling for help gains their attention. Meanwhile in Firebase Aries, The Doc
and Captain Duncan are coming to the harsh and disturbing terms with the dead
returning to life.
As the day progresses, Mr. Rule and his airmen open fire on
a platoon of VC just nine kliks outside of Firebase Aries. Before they know it,
a rocket is fired and takes the chopper out of the air. On the ground Yam and
Nero find the source of the screams. Yam’s Sergeant has fallen into a bamboo
pit trap. Being the hero that his is, Yam rescues his Sergeant and bandages his
up just in time to see Mr. Rule’s chopper go down. In hopes of an answer or
guidance, Captain Duncan raises 2nd Corps on the line to tell them
the news that the dead have risen. To their shock 2nd Corps already
knows.
Okay, Mark
Kidwell (Bump)
writes and Jay Fotos & Nat Jones (Death
Dealer) handles the art. All of these guys keep their excellent
performances up. Nothing falls off in the art; every panel keeps a strong
consistency and brilliance. The story moves along nicely while introducing new characters
and continuing to expand and fill out the older ones. The talent on this book
is disciplined and solid in every way. Now that is out of the way, it’s time to
gush over ‘68 #2.
When the first issue of ‘68 was reviewed, the sheer joy of
the book was the fact that creative team understood what makes Zombie stories
great. The reason it’s successful is if you have never read a story with
classic zombies you could read ‘68 and have that experience. It introduces the
“rules “and lore into its world. They just don’t assume you know everything about
zombies and start the story without you.
Plus they add so many nods to classic undead movies and stories that it
will make true Zombie fans smile. The second issue of ‘68 gives the reader more
of the same. It adds to the pacing through the day and one of the best bookends
in a comic seen in a story in quite some time.
If that wasn’t enough, they go out of their way to add
Sissy; a four page short story about a G.I. in love that would do anything for
his girl. Sissy is a nice little treat that you don’t deserve as the reader but
revile in it anyway because it’s awesome. So get up and go buy ‘68 or wait for
the trade or whatever, just get it because it is simply a fun comic book
experience. Here’s a free bit of advice Hollywood, make this into a movie--
Now!
Overall Score – 8.9/10
* Great- Easily
getting a second printing- Worth any comic fan's time and money.