Night of the Living Dead Volume 3 by Mike Wolfer & Dheeraj Verma

Night of the Living Dead Volume 3 by Mike Wolfer & Dheeraj Verma.  This is a tricky book to review, because you can see a great deal of effort put into it.  The two stories contained in this volume are Death Valley and an untitled bayou bonus. 

In each arc there is a clear attempt to elevate the characters involved above typical horror tropes, that being said it does not always succeed.  The art hurts especially in Death Valley in this regard as the characters are nearly identical.  They look as though they were inspired by Liefeld from the mid 90’s, so the cast they seem to be nothing more than people with perfect bodies, with a total lack of nuisance.  Again I am not being a prude, but when the cast is mostly naked, and the features are so similar it is difficult to keep track of who is who.  This is a shame, especially with the intricate back stories that were worked out to show character growth. 

The action and gore sequences though are quite well done, and I know if I stumbled on this book back when I first began reading comics they would have been ingrained in my mind in their intensity and graphic detail. 

In keeping true to Romero, each story makes an attempt at some level of social commentary, however it never really works. 

This collection was a fine read but frustrating as it never reached the level the creators were clearly trying for.  That being said I always prefer an honest attempt at something, rather than half asses shit even the creator has to admit they didn't give their full effort to.