Everything Dead & Dying by Tate Brombal; Artwork by Jacob Phillips
Many thanks to Image Comics and NetGalley for the advanced copy
of Tate Brombal’s exciting take on zombie horror, Everything Dead &
Dying. This comic was surprising for a few different reasons, and they were
all good diversions from zombie horror. In fact, I think that this story
presents the kind of survivor story where the competing goals and hopes of
survivors become more of the horror than the actual zombies. Nevertheless, these
pages are filled with decay, gore, and violence, all while providing an inventive
and emotional rendering of this kind of horror.
The story focuses primarily on Jack Chandler, a man who
lives in a remote rural farming community with his husband and daughter. We learn
that Jack’s father left him the farm and land despite being estranged from him
due to Jack’s sexuality. Through the use of flashbacks throughout the story, we
learn more about Jack’s challenges to find acceptance in this small town with
his husband and daughter. Although they face some discrimination, they eventually
grow as a family and become a part of the greater community. Nevertheless, once
Jack’s husband and daughter begin experiencing flu-like symptoms that seem to
infect other members of the community, things change for Jack and the town of
Caverton. Jack’s story is told through flashbacks, where we see the past
through colorful and sunny panels that contrast with a kind of harsh, dark and
bloody panels of today. Jack, seemingly immune from the virus that transforms
residents into zombies, has decided to take care of the infected and feeds them
to ensure that they no longer attack. Furthermore, as the resident zombies are
fed, their muscle memory allows them to maintain their previous lives,
following a bland routine of behaviors and actions that they carried out during
their lives. This creates a kind of groundhog’s day like scenario where Jack
lives both in the past and the present. His memories of the past, when his
husband and daughter were among the living are intercut with the present.
Although his family and neighbors have no language and can only communicate
through grunts and guttural noises, Jack still provides for them, ensuring a
level of dignity and humanity that others might find strange or even
problematic.
One such group of survivors does encounter Jack’s family,
initially killing Jack’s zombie mailman who meets with him on a regular basis. Sensing
the threat to his family, Jack proceeds to hide them from this group, although
the group wants to not only rescue Jack, but also see what kind of supplies and
resources he may have to offer. Harboring a zombie family creates a standoff as
Jack wants to maintain his memories and past, and not have an intrusion on his
private life. I loved how the horror shifted from the zombies, who are
relatively passive as long as Jack feeds them regularly, and the band of
survivors, who want to shoot first and ask questions later. To me, those kinds
of confrontations in the house in Night of the Living Dead or in the mall
in Dawn of the Dead always were just as scary, if not scarier than the
zombies themselves. Brombal’s storytelling is excellent, as he makes almost a
disorienting use of flashbacks to help us understand the kind of mind state
that Jack finds himself in, trying to push aside the grief and maintain some
semblance of his life, keeping the town running and ensuring the zombies have a
steady diet of flesh. Phillips’ artwork is equally jarring in the contrast
between the past and the present. In particular, the depictions of Jack’s zombie
daughter, Daisy, are really disturbing in the best way possible. While this isn’t
necessarily a fun horror story, it does raise some great questions about
survival and about our daily lives and activities in general. In particular, I
also felt like it raised questions about nostalgia and the past, and whether we
are looking to move ahead or whether we want to reside with a dead, rotting
past. The story felt particularly relevant in today’s US political climate as there’s
almost a kind of nostalgic infection that’s seemed to grip a part of the population.
Although I doubt that this group will read this book, Brombal and Phillips have
created a great twist on zombie horror that has everyday relevance. Highly
recommended!
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