The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks
written by
Max Brooks

illustrated by
Ibraim Roberson

Three Rivers Press, October 2009, 144 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-307-40577-7

Genre: Comics
Subgenre: Graphic Novel / Zombies
Reviewed: 4/6/2010

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Graphic Novel Page

 

Synopsis
Throughout the centuries, zombies have infested our planet. With just a single bite, the disease can take over a living being and turn them into the living dead. With no thoughts in their head other than to eat and spread the disease, zombies are hard to kill . . . again. A head shot is the best method, or decapitation, is the best way to finish them off for a final time. If you are not quick enough to figure this out, you may soon be joining them in a tasty meal of human flesh.

This dark book is a graphic novel about zombie attacks that have been recorded throughout human history. The book contains twelve different short stories stories throughout time about the living dead attacking humans. The following is a list of chapter names:

60,000 B.C., Katanda, Central Africa

3000 B.C., Hieraconpolis, Egypt

A.D. 121, Fanum Cocidi, Caledonia

A.D. 1579, The Central Pacific

A.D. 1589, Siberia

A.D. 1611, Feudal Japan

A.D. 1690, The Southern Atlantic Ocean

A.D. 1862, St. Lucia, Eastern Caribbean

A.D. 1893, French North Africa

A.D. 1942-45, Harbin, Japanese Puppet State of Manchukuo

A.D. 1960, Byelgoransk, Soviet Union

A.D. 1992, Joshua Tree National Park

The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks is a graphic novel written by Max Brooks and illustrated by comic book artist Ibraim Roberson.

 

Review
The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks is a fairly intense graphic novel. The book is beautifully illustrated by Ibraim Roberson. The artwork jumps off the page and I really enjoyed the style of the artist. During the reading, I even found that I started looking around me just bit just to make sure no zombie was creeping up behind me while I was preoccupied. Kinda spooky.

Max Brooks gives us twelve very interesting stories about the living dead. Told from a historical point of view, a narrator guides you through the stories. There is not any dialog between any of the characters. The book is completely in black and white, which helps give an eerie feeling to the book. The stories themselves are all entertaining and kinda grody.

Since I had not read Max Brooks previous two novels, The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, I did not have an background on what this graphic novel was going to be about. I was please with the reading and found that it kept me highly entertained, if not a little grossed out. I read the book in about thirty minutes while enjoying the fantastic artwork.

The only thing I would have liked to seen was some dialog. I think that it would have enhanced the story and given me more of a feel for what the characters were going through.

Overall, The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks is a great graphic novel about attacks by the living dead throughout history. Be warned that this book is fairly intense and can be quite graphic. So, if you are looking for a book on zombie attacks, this just might be the one that will make you sit up and say, "Eeewwww . . . gross. That was cool!"

I rated this book an 8 out of 10.

This site was created and is maintained by Conan Tigard
2010