Zombie Mondays
As I started this column earlier this year, I realized that zombies were a major fixture on the landscape of fantasy. But I didn’t realize how much until I really looked around. Even a perusal of the shelves at my local library revealed a healthy (?) interest in the walking dead.
Here are a few of the more interesting events from earlier this year that mattered for the confirmed zombie fan.
“We’re still rooting for you, Glenn….”
One of the big points of discussion regarding ‘The Walking Dead’ this year was the fate of Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun), who seemingly wound up as a zombie blue plate special during the sixth season of the program. Of course, he’s a popular character and it eventually emerged that he really didn’t die. Some fans breathed a sigh of relief while others denounced it as a dramatic cheat and a stretch in credibility.
More ‘Walking Dead’
Not only did the fifth season of ‘The Walking Dead” end this year and the sixth season start, but AMC launched a spin-off – ‘Fear the Walking Dead.’ The series, which is based off the comic book of the same name from Image, received generally good reviews from critics but mixed word-of-mouth from fans. It also brought a different general sensibility to the franchise with an urban setting and an approach favoring atmosphere over action.
“Hail to the king, baby…”
Bruce Campbell revisited his iconic role as Ash in the ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’ television series from Starz. It brought back the tongue-in-cheek approach to horror that made the original ‘Evil Dead’ movies so watchable.
Hot and cold
The CW offered two seasons of iZombie, which featured Rose McIver as beautiful zombie and crime solver. The series is based off a comic book from DC’s Vertigo subsidiary and appears to be quite popular.
So bad it’s good?
‘Z Nation’ debuted this year on SyFy and has been described by some of my acquaintances as having a reputation for being one of the worst shows on television (it is produced by The asylum, which is admittedly not encouraging). But the series’ blend of absurd humor and interesting genre variations appears to have generated some interest, and it already has two seasons under its belt.
