It’s that time of the year again, that time when Juliet and I pack up and load our bags into the trusty Mazda CX5 and head to Cranberry Township for another Monster Bash Convention Vacation! This year I was very much looking forward to it as the crazy Virus Crisis of 2020 to present day has ruined so much for everyone and seemed to just blanket the world with fear, anger and depression and I needed a most relaxing time away from it all and needed to get to the classic monsters that bring me joy and of course Evan City Cemetery to recharge my creative batteries! Plus I needed my Wing King Fix and not to even mention the best part of these vacations spending a few days with my lady who works a stressful job, and it’s nice for her to get a little bit of relaxing time as well. And like always we will be taking a look at a comic series based on a George Romero film series and this is one series that I have saved for an anniversary year of the blog as it was a comic series that got me back into collecting modern Horror comics when they were released back in 2004. I am talking about the Dead Dog Comics miniseries Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles! So let’s climb into the Mazda and hit the highway as we have a date with some zombies and some classic monsters.
We woke up early on June 24th and went to Dorothy Lane Market and got ourselves some drinks for the trip as we have a little over four hours on the road and along with our bags and some road snacks, our journey to the bash begin. We got a late start so making it to Monster Bash the first night was not possible. I was a little bummed but it was ok. As we drove along Juliet and I talked about comics, wrestling, Horror Hosts, Horror movies, baseball, podcasts and everything in-between as nothing beats a good conversation while on a road trip. I also accidentally exploded a small bag of Animal Crackers all over the car, but I was able to at least save a few. We stopped in for lunch at Ruby Tuesdays and I had a good meal of Blackened Salmon with rice and a baked potato as Juliet had a bacon cheeseburger, a tasty meal and a great way to truly kick off this vacation. We then checked into our room at the Hilton, and we ran to New Dimension Comics were I found a ton of cool indie comics in the $1.00 bins. That night we relaxed in the hotel and watched some of the Pittsburgh Pirates game as well as WWE Friday Night Smackdown and had Eat N’ Park for dinner. And I was really looking forward to getting to Monster Bash the next day to grab some spooky goodies and spend time with The Monsters and the fans of them.
On the morning of June 25 we woke up early and got ready and I also quickly read Action Comics # 572 a comic I got for $1.00 from New Dimension Comics. And right before 10am we made our way to Monster Bash I was wondering what monster statues awaited us as well as if a fancy monster themed car would be pulled up front, these past few years they have not had a car that I have seen and I miss them as they add to the event. And when walking into Monster Bash that this year took place at a different event I did not see the Monster statues but did notice that they had multiple rooms filled with guests and venders. Right off the bat the Horror Hosts in attendance you could see with those being Son Of Ghoul, Mr. Lobo and Drac & Countess Cartia! Sadly I did not get to chat with many of them as they had people at their table, and Juliet and I were on a schedule that day…but later I did get to quickly chat with Drac. Many cool stuff to look at from the vendors including movies, posters, toys, posters, comics, art and magazines. Also got to chat with my filmmaker friend David “The Rock” Nelson and we chatted classic TV, events from his youth and of course his films! It was a fast day at the Bash for us but a very fun one.
We ended up having lunch at Max & Erma’s and we chatted about all types of stuff over a good meal. After a while we headed to Mars where Juliet had a coffee from the Mars Brew House and we enjoyed the small town feel for a few moments. This is such a cool town that embraces their name and plays up on the planet Mars as well as UFO’s and aliens as many of the small businesses even have alien figures in their windows. We will visit the Mars Brew House one last time before we head home as this is a must stop place for us every year.
And for those wondering what was the haul for our first day at Monster Bash is: I got two wood plaques, one featuring Indiana Horror Host Sammy Terry and the other being Godzilla and they were $25.00 each! And then I got two films of David Nelson’s with those being “Pumpkinman” and “Werewolf & The Witch” and they were $20.00 each! A great batch of stuff for such a short time at the event and tomorrow we will spend a little more time and I will find those monster statues!
That night after hanging around the hotel room we decided to get Wing King for dinner and we also decided to have a movie night and picked Pumpkinman for the spooky feature! As the weather was hot outside and what a cool way to end the day then to eat some wings, munch on some fires, drink some Coke and watch a shot on video fright flick. I ordered 12 Garlic Wing and a order of cheese fries and as always the wings from Wing King were amazing and this is my favorite wing place I have every tried as they have the best Garlic Wings ever and the event was a fun watch on a very hot day and a great way to end Monster Bash Day 2. We also watched episodes of The Simpsons, Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers that night, as you cannot beat classic Fox cartoons.
June 26 started our third day of Monster Bash 2022 and it was a cool cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms kind of day, but for me that is the perfect weather to spend time with the classic monsters! And Juliet and I knew we had to find those statues and we also thought that on Saturday we missed a vender room, and it’s always fun to make that one last sweep through the convention to grab the stuff you might have missed before. And I felt really silly when the monster statues was right in front of us, and man they had some great ones from The Wolf Man, Phantom Of The Opera, The Fly, Gillman and many more and as always they looked great and added to the experience. Sadly there no horror themed car that we saw. We walked around and ended up seeing some cool stuff and the two shirts we wanted the venders did not have in our sizes so no She-Ra shirt for Juliet and no Chilly Billy Cardille for me. We walked around for a while and then headed to Starbucks for coffees, then checked out the small cemetery in Mars before eating lunch at Moes! We then headed to the hotel to cool down as the temperature was down but the humidity was high. A fun final day at Monster Bash that sadly I left empty handed as I did not find anything that screamed to me take me home besides a very cool The Craving Poster that I just don’t have room for.
The night of Monster Bash Day 3 we decided to order AEW & New Japan Pro Wrestling “Forbidden Door” event and watched it on our laptop. I wanted to see the Thunder Rosa vs. Toni Storm match, the icon Sting in action and as well see El Desperado in action! While Juliet was looking forward to Chris Jericho’s match as she is a big fan of Y2J! We ended up having Eat N’ Park and had the Mile High Meatloaf with Mini Potato Pancakes and a slice of Strawberry Pie for dessert. And what was nice a thunderstorm ragged outside as we watch a history-making event that was really good and showcased the talents of both companies. Once the event was over we hit the sack and tried to figure out our plan for the next day.
On June 27 we woke up and had breakfast from Einstein Brothers as a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich with an orange juice to drink was a great way to kick off the day! After we ate we headed out to Evan City Cemetery the filming location for Night Of The Living Dead and walked around awhile and then Juliet headed to Target to pick some things up for the trip back home, and then we had lunch at Burgatory where I had a Oreo Peanut Butter Pie Milkshake and had a Triple B Burger that was made of Bison meat and had beer cheese an bacon on it, and I have to say it was a very tasty meal. We then hung around for awhile and ended up eating Wing Kings again for dinner as I had to have those Garlic Wings again and we ended the night watching WWE Monday Night Raw.
On June 28 Juliet and I woke up and had breakfast at Starbucks and then headed out to Pottersville Bible Church Cemetery to try and find a grave for someone on the website “Find A Grave”, and we walked the whole cemetery and was unable to find the grave as we think it might be unmarked. We then headed to Moraine State Park a very cool massive park near Pottersville that had lots of trails, wildlife, and lakes. It was a great day to walk around the lake and see snakes and fish. This was a very cool place and if you are visiting that area make sure to give this place a visit. After that we headed to the Snowman and I was craving a Yeti Shake and when we got there I was very happy to see that they brought the horses back as they always make a visit to the Snowman even more awesome. After that we set out to enjoy the rest of our vacation that included movie-watching, site seeing and relaxing!
On July 4th Juliet and I decided to get some snacks make a breakfast casserole and have ourselves a Horror Movie Marathon to bring a end to our vacation and this time around we had lots of films to catch up on and we both were looking forward to spending a quite evening with the monsters an killers of the films so we selected 12 films to watch. We kicked off the day with “Revenge Of The Devil Bat” a sequel to the 1940 Bela Lugosi film The Devil Bat that is about the grandson of the original mad scientist wanting revenge on those who he feels wronged his family. “Dark Night Of The Scarecrow 2” was the next film on our list and was about a mom and her son having to locate to a new town and find themselves in the sites of Bubba The Scarecrow who has returned to right wrongs. The third fright film was “Female Mercenaries On Zombie Island” about a female mad scientist who is turning all the men of the island into flesh eating zombies and killing any females that stand in her way. “Zombie Army” was up next and was about army soldiers who are being turned into zombies by a crazed mental patient when they are forced to train at a run down mental asylum. The Horror Comedy “Gingerweed” man was next and had the Gingerweed man having to save his female human love interest and a small living pot bud named Buddy from an evil corporation. The sixth film was a Kaiju one called “God Raiga vs. King Ohga” and had the two monsters clashing as well as fighting the defense force in Japan. Next we kept up with the giant theme as we watched “Attack Of The 50ft Cam Girl” about a famous camgirl who eats experimental food and grows to 50ft only to have to face her rival who does the same to get famous. The Demonic Toys spin off film “ Baby Oopsie” was next and had the doll coming back to life thanks to Satan and tricking a lonely YouTube show host into restoring it back to life to collect souls. The first slasher film of the night was the indie film “Beware The Woods” that has a group of friends staying in a cabin being hunted down and killed by a mean old woman. The deformed killer in the woods film “Freak” was up next and had a group of friends being killed by a deformed cannibal killer. The slashing continued with “Children Of Camp Blood” that brought the clown masked killer back and this time he was going after the relatives of past victims who go to the camp for help in order to get over the trauma of their lives. And the final film of the night was the remake of “Slumber Party Massacre” that has a group of girls being stalked by a driller killer who has killed in the past, but this time these girls are ready…or are they? And those were the spooky, silly and creepy films that made up this marathon.
This was a great Horror Movie marathon as it’s always a great time watching spooky films with my gal and enjoying some tasty food and snacks! The Golden Turkey of the Marathon was one that Juliet and I both agreed on as it was Female Mercenaries On Zombie Island as it was a little over long, had plot holes the size of the grand canyon and was just kind of silly…but I myself have to say I am a Tina Krause fan so it was awesome seeing her as the lead of the film and I liked the masked zombie named Luke who wore a flannel shirt. And here is my Top 3 films of the marathon, coming in at # 3 was Beware The Woods as I really enjoyed this indie slasher film and feel that it had a cool and creepy killer and was paced really well and had some good kills. # 2 for me was Slumber Party Massacre as this was a pretty fun remake that had some fun and creepy moments and also has a nice twist and cool kills. Juliet’s top films was # 3 Freak, # 2 Baby Oopsie and # 1 Slumber Party Massacre as she really got a kick out of this remake! And I have to say I miss having these Horror Movie Marathon’s and am going to try and have more in 2023!
The Golden Massacre Award for this marathon goes to The Devil Bat with around 8 confirmed kills in his return to the world of cinema! And while none of them are super bloody it does goes for the throat and tries to deal death with its fangs and makes it slow as it chews on neck flesh. The best kill of the film has The Devil Bat attacking his own creator (played by John Link) as it attacks his neck the two fall off a cliff. So here is to you Devil Bat for making the body count a little higher for this marathon.
Dead Dog Comics was an indie publisher that I became a fan of the first time I read one of their comics and the first one I read was “Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles # 1” in 2004 that I bought from the Horror Convention Cinema Wasteland where I got to meet many of the creators and owners of the company who all spent time talking to me about Horror Comics as well as comics based on films that they had in the works. Every year after that I would set up the table for Independent B Movie or Night Crew Video and would make my way over to the Dead Dog Comics table and grab whatever new issues they had out and would chat with them about upcoming releases, and once the long day of selling movies to the shoppers was over and then grabbing some dinner with friends I would read the comics I bought from them the first night at the hotel. I can remember how amped I was when they told me they would be doing comics based on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Howling, Day Of The Dead and ones based on classic monsters like Frankenstein’s Monster and Dracula. But like all good things Dead Dog Comics came to an end as they closed shop in 2006 before they even wrapped up mini series and stories going on in their issues, and something seemed very odd leading up to the closer as The Howling comic series before released was turned into “Curse Of The Blood Cult” and many of their planned comics like a series based on Texas Chainsaw Massacre went to another comic company (Avatar) and the Creature From The Black Lagoon inspired Classic Monster comic being published by Image Comics and many of the artist separated and started working for other indie publishers and creators. Dead Dog Comics was much like Topps Comics and Fangoria Comics for me as they brought my love for comics back to life as they delivered comics based on things I was interested in and didn’t just flood the market with generic superhero comics with head scratching storylines, they brought readers well thought out Horror Titles that delivered the bloody terror. Over the years I have chatted with some of the minds behind Dead Dog Comics and always try and spark a rebirth of the company, but sadly I think that the company truly is over as many of them have their own things going now. But while Dead Dog Comics was short lived for those Horror Comic readers like myself who read their issues they made a mark on the industry and are very much missed by readers worldwide.
Before we start too far into the review part of this Monster Bash update and take a look at the series Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles, I want to once more talk and reflect about just how important and iconic George A. Romero was to the world of Horror Cinema! While walking the Evans City Cemetery its like hallowed ground as you can feel so much more creative and you really realize just how important Night Of The Living Dead and George Romero is to the Horror Genre. Growing up a Monster Kid I have so many great memories of seeing the films of Romero from the network broadcast of Night Of The Living Dead that aired in October when I was a kid, to seeing Day Of The Dead on the USA Network for the first time and being total taken into it’s world and heck even getting free preview tickets from a friend of mine to see Land Of The Dead in the theater two days before its release to the masses. And no matter what it was I also was so excited when a new film was being released that had his name attached to it. The name George Romero has always meant something to me and has always brought the feeling of Horror Cinema to me, like it makes me go back to the days of my youth when Horror was a big topic on the playground and even to the days of picking up a old VHS Camera and filming no budget horror movies like “Werewolf Of Ohio”…in other words George Romero and his work has been one of the factors in my life that has made me creative and want to entertain fellow Horror lovers with creative projects from SOV Horror Movies, Horror Comic Books, Horror Blog Updates, Horror Short Stories and of course Horror Host Shows! So once more thank you George Romero for all you have done to not only inspire me but thousands of others who have went on to be creative forces in the Horror Genre. This update is for you Mr. Romero may you Rest In Peace.
So now that we have chatted about Monster Bash as well as the legend George A. Romero and the comic company that released the series that we are reviewing in a few moments I want you all to sit back and thank a few moments about your favorite Romero film…go on I will wait. And with that lets head to the Dead Dog Comics series “Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles” and I would like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So with that lets head back to the graveyard and see the Romero undead rise once more on the pages of these comics.
NOTLD: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles # 0 ***
Released in 2004 Cover Price NA Dead Dog Comics # 0 of 3
Barbara Cole survived the zombie attack on the farmhouse and is now apart of a group’s salvage team that goes out heavily armed and brings back food and supplies when needed. While at a grocery store looking for canned food they are attacked by a horde of zombies and blast the undead the pieces. But Nicotero and Alex two members of the team do not get along because Nicotero is sloppy at what he does, and because of this he gets the group attacked by another zombie horde! And as they fight them all off, Alex and Nicotero have a major clash that ends up them threatening each other and storming off, but unlucky for Nicotero he is bitten by a zombie and as his fellow group walks away Barbara puts a bullet in his brain.
This Promo Comic is a little taste of what Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles was going to be about and follows Barbara who now is apart of a group that stick together and while some members are at odds they look out for each other. And that’s the cool thing Barbara went from being a comatose style victim to a gun shooting, coldblooded zombie ass-kicking machine! And this mini comic also lets us into her mind set of not remembering so much the past, when the world have no zombies and the main topics was who won The World Series. As a reader this baits you into wondering how Barbara survived the zombie attack in 1968 and how she has ended up with this group. Alex seems to somewhat in this issue be the lead of this supply run group and also seems to have respect for Barbara and her gun skills, while Nicotero seems like he is cocky and does what he wants when he wants and the safety of others as well as his own takes a backseat in his mind. The zombies are more rotted in appearance and seem to be way more hungry for human flesh, and that makes them super dangerous to our survivors. Over all this short look at the mini series was a great way to get readers hooked and is a must read for fans of this series as well as the film that sparked it. The cover is great and eye catching and the interior art done by Mark Kidwell is great. This was a great way to kick off my relook at this amazing Horror Comic Mini Series. Oh and for those wondering this is an ashcan-sized comic.
NOTLD: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles # 1 ***
Released in 2004 Cover Price $4.95 Dead Dog Comics # 1 of 3
Barbara is having a terrible nightmare as she relives that night in the farmhouse that had zombies surround her and the strangers inside, and just as she is pulled outside by the undead she wakes up and finds herself in a safe place with her new “family” a rag tag bunch of people who are apart of the living who are fighting back against the zombies that have started to take over the world. The group is Alexander Quinn an older man who was once a printer, Laura Martin an angry woman, Rufus Porter who was an inspiring writer, Sara a young girl who likes to draw and Derek Moran a punk young man who is cocky. Barbara and her crew head to S-Mart in their school bus to try and look for supplies to bring back to the survivors compound they are living at, but while looking for goods they also find a man named Peter Cooke who claims he is from D.C and was apart of a research group that all passed when their helicopter ran out of gas, they take Peter with them and along the way he talks about how he and others in his field gathered pieces of a satellite that fell from space in 1968 and that they tried to create a gas that was suppose to turn the zombies against each other, it didn’t work and just made them more aggressive and slaughter the humans around more brutally! As Barbara and her crew return to the compound they find that it’s under attack and looks like there might be no survivors.
What a great read and a great way to kick off this series as the plot follows Barbra a woman who survived the events of Night Of The Living Dead and is now living in a compound with other survivors and while she has PTSD from the zombie attack she survived, she powers up and leads groups into the city in order to get supplies for all she can. Barbra started out as a scared woman whose shock leads her to almost be a shell of a person (as seen in the film) but by the time she is pulled out and is among the zombies something clicks inside her head and she becomes a fighter and a survivor as she fights back against the zombies and lives through the attack. Now while she does have terrible memories and nightmares, she is able to lead her friends into the over ran cities in order to gather supplies that would help her fellow man. Her group Alexander, Laura, Rufus and Derek are loyal to Barbara’s words and will stand by her side even when the odds are not looking good, it’s clear that Alexander is the one who watches out for Barbara the most and she respects the hell out of him for doing so. Peter Cooke is a small man who claims to be a researcher for the government who tried to crack the code of why the dead have returned and if space debris had anything to do with it, I don’t trust him as I don’t think he is telling the whole truth. The zombies are many and they want to eat the living and its clear that they are now out numbering the living, plus I would guess the ones who were infected with the gas that Peter and his people sprayed on them will become more and more dangerous. I like the Idea that Barbra was able to escape and live and now has went on to become a tough woman who can take care of herself and is a born leader. The issue has some blood and kills but nothing over the top and has a more modern horror feel to the over all story, but that’s a good thing as it’s not just a retelling of the film. The cover is pure late 90’s through early 2000’s indie horror comic stuff and is very well done and eye catching. The interior art by Mark Kidwell is really great and I for one am a fan of his style as I think his zombies look fantastic! A solid horror comic that had me hooked on this series as well as this company sense 2004 and in 2021 is still holding up! Lets get to issue # 2 and how the story goes forward and see if it holds up like this first issue did for me.
NOTLD: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles # 2 ***
Released in 2004 Cover Price $4.95 Dead Dog Comics # 2 of 3
Barbara and Alexander are arguing at their camp outside of the compound as Alexander gave the order for them to flee the area and not help, save nor search for survivors as it was being attacked by zombies…while Barbara wants to go in guns blazing and save anyone and everyone that is still alive as they are family and friends. The night ends with Barbara blaming Peter Cooke for making the zombies smarter and states that now matter what at Dawn she is going in to save people with or without her crew! The Next morning they go in and see nothing but death all around, all their friends and the people they helped feed and protect are now dead…all besides Sara who has been bitten, but not eaten as she hide on a statue and this saved her life. The group decide to head to D.C in order to see of any medicine that Peter Cooke and the government created will help cure Sara from the bite, Derek is not happy about this as he thinks that the young girl will turn and cause more issues for the group…but he is out voted and they start their quest. The highways are blocked with abandon cars so they must leave the bus behind and set out on foot, when Peter suggest they head to the water ways and take a boat as it would be more safe…they all agree. Derek finds the boat as Laura goes around to the boathouses to find supplies…but she pays with her life when a zombie stabs her with a harpoon and Barbra is forced to shoot her friend before she changes. Once out in the water Peter keeps hinting that the D.C lab has a surprise and to their horror they spot a massive boat that is filled with tons of zombies on board as well as in the water all around one even clogs the motor of Barbra’s boat and this leads to her being grabbed by a zombie and Rufus dies saving her when the zombies rip him apart in the water. The group is now way smaller when they arrive at the D.C lab as Peter leads Barbra, Alexander, Sara and Derek that is hidden in Arlington National Cemetery and once inside they lab they see a massive U.F.O. and Peter says that it could be what has caused the dead to rise.
This second spooky issue ends with a big question of did aliens cause this undead plague on us living on the planet Earth? This issue has Barbara and her friends heading to the compound and finding that all but one person is dead and the only survivor has been bitten and is getting more and more sick. They make a plan to get to the lab that Peter worked in and along the way loose two members and find that zombies are also in the water…so there is no safe place away from them. Barbra is a woman on a mission and is the one who fights with Alexander in order to go back to the compound and tries to rescue anyone that was left alive. And she is the one who is leading the way and taking issues into her own hands that includes even having to shoot one of her dying friends in the head, but after watching a friend get ripped in half she sadly breaks back down and turns into the shell of a person. Derek and Alexander are the only two group members left who are doing what they can as well to protect not only themselves but others, I do think that Derek could have been right about this being a big risk all to try and save an infected young girl who could turn at any time. Peter Cooke while I still do not trust him, does seem to lead them to a safe place with the lab and does also show them they U.F.O that could be what is causing all this, but he also seems to have a sinister grin on his face while doing so…I just don’t trust him. The zombies are everywhere and are coming in all shape and sizes and are super deadly as they are getting smarter and are using weapons as well as are going to the kill more violently. This issue has lots of blood and even some guts and has a true feeling of dread with only a dash of hope and the characters you are going for the ride with are dropping off like flies and this helps add to the over all horror feel. The cover is great and the interior art by Mark Kidwell is great and is they style I love for indie Horror Comics. With only one more issue left it’s a shame that this was only a mini series as this series I will go on record saying is the best comic series based on Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead film! So with that in mind let’s get to the third and final issue in the Dead Dog Comic and Mark Kidwell spooky horror comic series.
NOTLD: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles # 3 ***
Released in 2004 Cover Price $4.95 Dead Dog Comics # 3 of 3
Barbra once more wakes from a terrible nightmare that has all her friends now zombies eating themselves, and when she wakes up she is back to normal and out of her breakdown and finds herself in the lab. The group remain quite and find the room with the medication and Peter injects Sara with a “cure” that might be able to help her live and not turn, he also throws in that is if they caught the infection in time. Alexander and Derek do not trust Peter and notice that he looks at Barbra very weird and force him to give them a tour of the next room so they can try and see who and what he is about and once inside the other room they see the body of an alien Peter calls Horsemen # 4 as well as body parts of other aliens from a crash. Peter opens up the door to were Horsemen # 4 is and tells Alexander and Derek that the virus started in the blood and later was airborne and could only spread to the dead, as they look at the body of Horsemen # 4 Peter quickly locks them into the lab room with the creature that wakes up and is hungry and violent! Peter goes back to Barbra and its clear Sara is dying and then Peter shows his true colors as he informs Barbra at gun point that he is the one who set up the fall of this lab that killed all his co-workers and he did it all cause he loves a woman who didn’t love him back, he then tells Barbra to get naked as she will be his Eve! As Barbra strips down Horsemen # 4 busts in as he has gotten out of the lab and he has the body parts of Derek and Alexander and Barbra gets a gun and kills Horsemen # 4 with two shots to his head as Sara turns into a zombie and bites and kills Peter our hero Barbra is all alone in the lab. She finds a door that has a bullet train and climbs aboard and uses it, the stop brings her to the White House were she finds that cult leader Charles Manson had made a new home and has a new family.
The long asked question for Horror Movie fans of why the zombie outbreak happened in Night Of The Living Dead is answered here by Mark Kidwell and Dead Dog Comics as they alert us readers that this virus was caused by infected Aliens who crashed here on Earth all over the world and they were like the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse, keep in mind that is their story for their created NOTLD universe. This issue has Barbra loosing everything besides her life as she sees her final two closest friends die at the hands of an infected alien, the young girl she risked it all for ends up still turning into a zombie, the safe place of the lab turns into a nightmare as the government man she trusted turned out to be a psycho pervert and in the end once away from the horrors of the lab she finds herself in the company of nut job criminal and killer Charles Manson and his new version of The Manson Family! But the thing about Barbra throughout this mini series is no matter how many times she is rattled and on the verge of being broken, you just cannot keep her down nor count her out. Barbra in this series is a fantastic strong and flawed hero that you find yourself cheering for. Alexander, Derek and Sara who all stick together sadly all die together inside the lab that is more like a tomb, as Peter Cooke is a crazy man who wants to find a mate and will kill in order to do so and is in fact the doctor of death for all of Barbra’s friends that make it back to the lab. Dr. Cooke really is a terrible person who does not value human life and is partly to blame for unleashing the gas that helped make the zombies a little smarter. Disease caring Horsemen # 4 is a alien who helped spread the virus and I would guess is undead himself and was sent here from an alien planet to either wipe us out or to get ride of the infected from their planet, or I guess they could as well just be aliens and this is just a side effect from their world to ours. The zombies are few and far in this issue and while not overly around their creepy presence is felt throughout. Charles Manson being around during this time is very well thought out as his Manson Family cult was started in 1967 and he was not jailed until 1969 for the murders he sent his members out to do, imagine if the zombie outbreak did happen at this time cult leaders like Manson would have somehow gotten followers with their doomsday talk. The issue is filled with blood, kills, partial nudity, creatures and all types of other stuff that makes for a good Horror Comic. Mark Kidwell not only did the amazing artwork for this mini series he also was the writer and he does a pretty good job of making this all feel like its apart of the movie universe that was created by the iconic George A. Romero, but yet also feel very much like his own with Manson and Aliens and even taking Barbra and making her the zombie butt kicking machine. The cover for this issue is great just like all the others in the series and is very eye catching. I have been a major fan of Night Of The Living Dead: Barbra’s Zombie Chronicles sense it was released in 2004 and after reading it again it really holds up and remains one of the better indie Horror Comics from that time. Check out the artwork bellow and see the style of Kidwell in this issue.
I really miss the creative teamwork that made Dead Dog Comics so special and I can say that Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles was just a great series that helped spark my love for comics again back in 2004 and showed that Horror Comics will never die for readers and will always be what keeps me loving and reading comics. And while Dead Dog Comics is long gone companies like Eibon Press, Blood Moon Comics, HorrorHound Comics and Blood Scream Comics are keeping the tradition of delivering original and licensed spooky Horror Comics to reader’s hands. And I also have to throw in that I really do love attending the Monsterbash Convention and truly enjoy spending time in the Cranberry Township area of Pennsylvania! And with that I am going to six back and relax a little and before I wrap this one up I should let you know that the next update will take us to the streets that will be laced with poison as we take a look at Captain America and his war on drugs…or should I say those few issues were he himself becomes a drug addict! So until next time read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next update as you know for Rotten Ink’s 10 Year Anniversary that we had to at least spend one update with Cap.
Rotten Ink 