Rotten #1

I love zombie stories, but quite frankly the zombie formula does have a tendency to play itself out. Well Mark Rahner teamed up with Robert Horton to create a new vision for the popular genre. It's a lengthy 56 pages that develops the storyline nicely and kept me enthralled all the way through.

The story begins with a man dissecting a dead body, while two very nauseated and pissed off law men arrest him for his unusual behavior, followed by an ominous warning from the detained man. Next we are introduced to a lone man and his horse traveling through the hot desert who to his extreme misfortune stumbles upon a very ill looking fellow traveler, being the good Samaritan that he obviously is, he attempts to help the man who returns the favor by eating him up. Zombies never make for good traveling buddies.

Cut scene to another man, the main character William Wade a.k.a. C.O. Jones wandering aimlessly in the town of Shimmer looking for signs of life, only to have his horse shot by a very terrified villager. Looks like the zombies have taken hold and fear has set in. Wade is of course mad as hell that his horse was killed and completely amazed by the screwed up looking creature that attacks him from behind and attempts to bite his face off. Of course he is saved by the man that shot his horse (Ed Kemper). Where they take refuge in the local bar/whorehouse where Wade discovers the woes of the town and the mysterious illness that has stricken the town with unspeakable horror.

Of course, like any small Western town, the locals are ruled over by a tyrannical money hungry boss prick that runs the whole town's economy, while the locals cower in his wake, attempting to scrounge up a livable wage. The town centers around a silver mine owned by the despicable Mr. Blankenship, but more than silver has been coming out of that mine, but the men have no choice but to work in the less than favorable conditions.

The story continues as the true identity of William Wade is revealed, as well as the reasons behind the unorthodox behavior of the gentleman cutting up bodies. Wade discovers that there is more than meets the eye in this small town and uncovers a mysterious character with motives unknown, while attempting to get his keister out alive. Good read! This is my first review. So of course if it sucks, I'll blame it on that.