Marvel Zombies Halloween #1

[flint_marko]

I know it's after Halloween, but I wanted to post seven pages from this issue so I had to wait a little bit before posting it. 

This is from Marvel Zombies Halloween #1, by Fred Van Lente and Alessandro Vitti. 

The story takes place in a version of the Marvel Universe where a plague has turned people into zombies.

A woman is living in an abandoned house with her son, a boy named Peter, using a sniper rifle to fend off the zombies trying to attack the house. Peter tells his mother he hears something in the walls, which turns out to be a black kitten. Peter names the kitten Blackie.

Later Peter is looking at a calendar when he sees the word "Halloween." He asks his mother what it is, and she explains how it was a holiday people celebrated before the plague.





Peter sees Blackie outside of the house and runs after him. He loses him and goes looking through the town. All the houses are rundown, except for one that looks brand-new and has the lights on.



Peter continues looking for Blackie when he's attacked by zombie versions of Squirrel Girl, Darkhawk, Mettle, Alex Power, and Karolina Dean. They are about to eat him when his mother comes to his rescue, grabbing him and phasing through the nearby schoolbuilding. 

Inside the school, the zombies find them again. The clock ticks midnight and suddenly the old man from before appears and taunts the zombies, who try attacking him.

Comments

[mullon]

Damn son, being in a zombie apocalypse did wonders for Kitty.

[damar148]

I know right.

[icon_uk]

Okay, that was really rather sweet, in a zombie filled icky sort of a way.

With the kid called Peter and a "black cat" and a Spider-Man reference I was expecting this to be relating to the Parker family. The shadow-cat reference seems obvious in retrospect. :)

Did it HAVE to be Piotr as daddy though? Couldn't it have been Pete Wisdom, or even the other guy, the cute blond one who spent so long dead he probably would be immune to zombie virus? ;)

[cainofdreaming]

The virus affects Spirits of Vengeance and computerized personalities, so I doubt poor ol' Doug would be immune either.

...have they even tried applying some logic into how it works?

[stolisomancer]

Not really. Basically, nobody is immune. There are occasional hints that it's a sentient being that calls itself the Hunger Gospel and speaks through the people it's infected.

[cainofdreaming]

Not really. Basically, nobody is immune.

Except, of course, Aaron Stack.

[zechs80]

And DOOM. Doom kept his will up even after bit and only feasts when he damn well wants to.

[cainofdreaming]

He wasn't really immune, though. He was just, well... Doom. Machine Man, Jocasta and apparently all non-fleshies were actually immune for that one Marvel Zombies mini.

[stolisomancer]

Well, it gets a little weird. The Vision shows up as an infectee at one point in the original "Crossover" arc in UFF, but that gets retconned in MZ3 or so.

Basically MZ in general has an exceedingly shaky grasp on its own continuity and Marvel's reaction to this has been basically "Eh, whatevs." Which is probably fair.

[bruinsfan]

I recall, back when it was beginning in Ultimate Fantastic Four, that it was a superbug version of necrotizing fasciitis and the victims were still alive, just being disfigured and deranged by the infection.

But then Ultimate Victor von Doom got himself trapped on the origin world while he had a baby Great Old One in the oven. I figure if that somehow merged itself with the plague, it would explain why it changed so much and became able to infect nonhumans, gods, heralds of Galactus, and such.

[stolisomancer]

The problem is that by the time van Damme shows up, he drops right into the middle of the Galactus-eating scene from MZ #5, which is well after the initial release of the plague. Then he reappears back on Ultimate Earth with zero explanation, because Jeph Loeb.

[theflames]

Hehe, I dunno why, after all the wierd bad blood between the two, Piotr and Kitty really go together... the other relationships don't feel like the works been 'put in'.

[icon_uk]

Every time someone has attempted to show work being put in to the relationship between thw two, in comes across as false (Joss Whedon getting the two together in the face of twenty years of them notably NOT being together, and frequently stridently not together) or just plain creepy (look at the ghastly attempt by Piotr to "woo" her during his Phoenix Five period, after that she should run a mile every time she sees him, or knee him in the crotch, both work for me)

[onceaskrull]

I'll confess to being a little disappointed that the Colossus was the father. The Colossus/Shadowcat relationship is one I tried to get into, I really did, but it really just doesn't work for me.

[salinea]

well the creepiness was intentional during AvX. Not that I don't agree, I very much agree. That's a ship that has long sailed, IMHO; but Aaron showing in the worst possible way in order to prop the Bobby/Kitty ship that he didn't bother to make work and that seems to exist for the sole sake to show that Bobby is awesome is even more creepy to me.

[icon_uk]

Yeah, I saw the start of the Bobby/Kitty thing in the couple of issues of WATXM I picked up but it really didn't work for me at all either.

[auggie18]

Or a certain time traveling red-head who has knocked boots with death a few times herself?


The story was pretty clever doing that twist. Spider-man spider-man spider-man X-MEN.

[captainbellman]

I thought the Black Cat was an oblique Poe reference, myself.

[theflames]

This is sweet, I figured it was kitty, but didn't realise immideately, haha they really tried to hammer home that his dad was Collosus. 'Peter Rasputin Pryde... OR SHOULD I SAY, PIOTR?! Y'know, Like your DAD... COLLOSUS!'

The Rasputin name drop was enough.

[filthysize]

"Shame that he died. He was quite the man. Now he's... EX-MAN! Also, your resemblance to him is quite UNCANNY!"

[sharky_chan]

Now I'm sad that this dialogue wasn't in the comic :\. Truly there is no greater evil than trolling a fatherless child with godawful puns.

MEPHISTOOOOO!!!

[leikomgwtfbbq]

I would totally read an entire series of nothing but Mephisto running around saying godawful stupid puns and trolling people. "You know what, fuck it, I don't care about souls anymore. I apparently cared enough to buy a goddamn 'marriage,' whatever the fuck that even meant. I'm just going to screw with everyone from now on. AND THE REAL TORMENT BEGINS WITH PUNS!"

[onceaskrull]

Grah. That last page did me in with the feelings.

[brooms]

cute as fuck.

i'm v. ok with the father.

it means strong jaw genes survive the zombie apocalypse.

[akodo_rokku]

Cutest zombie story EVER. Poor zombie Squirrel Girl though, the Rudolph of the zombie horde :-(

[selke]

I wish they'd do more like this. Thanks for sharing. :)

[starwolf_oakley]

Kitty looks like Izumi Curtis from Full Metal Alchemist.

[beoweasel]

Hopefully she won't start vomiting blood when the plot demands it.

[rdfox]

...so... Kitty's response to the Zombie Apocalypse is to start cosplaying as Lara Croft?

(And great. Zombie Doreen survived her little run-in with Ape Speedball, after all, so I guess I gotta pick up another MZ comic. Despite hating zombies.)

[queenrikki]

Damn, I think I might have to buy this. I know a lot of people don't like that Piotr was the father but I like it. I've always liked Kitty and Colossus since I was a wee little girl (literally) so that makes me happy. Mostly glad it was Pete Wisdom (It took a long time for me to realize I actually liked Pete Wisdom since I hated Pete/Kitty so much).

[silverhammerman]

I've been waiting for someone to post some of this, it was a fantastic issue. Normally I steer well clear of all the Marvel Zombies stuff, but this was really just great. One of the things I like most about it is that it works as a sweet standalone story but also leaves me wanting to see more.
I mean, I know it's silly of me, but I just really want to see what that kid's mutant power would be, invulnerable dad, intangible mom, what's the kid gonna be?

[espanolbot]

Judging from the usual logic surrounding mutant genetics, probably the ability to always tell what cards his opponents have while playing poker. But only if the pattern on the back of the cards consists entirely of the colour blue.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I'm a sucker for black cats, and this was good. Thanks for posting it. =)

[glprime]

The kitty! Playing with tissue paper!

And the feels! All the feels! GAAAAAAAH!

[blackruzsa]

Love love love <3 I did not expect such feelings to come out of Marvel Zombies.

[wizardru]

So Van Lente can even make me like Marvel Zombies.


...So noted. Well Played, Fred. Well Played.

[amaniwolf]

Awww...it's so cute, Kitty with her son. As for him being Peter's son, this is an alternate universe, so we can't judge how things went with Kitty and Peter here to the normal 616 verse. I'd love for someone to finally write a version of this universe were a cure is found and there's hope.