The Good

DC has made me really happy this week by delving back into the war genre, kinda. STAR SPANGLED STORIES: G.I. ZOMBIE is less of a war book and more of an espionage book, but it takes a different approach than what fans are used to. It's not about flying off to far off lands and taking down terrorists in Middle Eastern countries. G.I. Zombie takes on threats here in the United States.

The overall story of G.I. ZOMBIE is easy to fall in love with, especially those who really enjoy the covert operations genre of comics. Writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti truly know what they're doing with books like this. The reason I jumped into this book was because of their work on the Unknown Soldier stories from G.I. COMBAT and folks who loved those stories will easily enjoy this book.

The first issue introduces the reader to Jared AKA G.I. Zombie and his partner Carmen King, the "stone-cold killer of fortune." These two characters couldn't be less like each other. It creates some nice back and forth dialogue later in the issue as Carmen seems to be dealing with a lot and Jared is a zombie, and not just in the literal sense. He comes off flat and the type of guy who is very monotone, which is something I fell in love with here.

The art is a bit different, but it's really a great fit to this book. Scott Hampton creates a haunting piece that will stick with the reader. Hampton's art style has shades of old DC horror comics in it, which really work well for when Jared sets off on his own in the issue.

The Bad

The issue is a lot of story set-up and not as much about the character as readers would normally expect. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but as far as first issues go, G.I. ZOMBIE opens up much differently than a traditional first issue.

The Verdict

This is a very impressive debut for G.I. ZOMBIE. Readers who may not be a fan of the espionage genre may not be too excited to jump onto this series, but this is something DC needs and who better to do it than Gray and Palmiotti. The debut issue focuses more on the story rather than the lead character, but the allure of mystery about G.I. Zombie, also known as Jared, is just one aspect of this book that will keep readers coming back. Overall, this is an impressive debut and it's fantastic to see a book of this caliber and genre within DC's fold. I highly recommend G.I. ZOMBIE.

Nice review. I might pick this up

I'm kind of surprised to see 5 stars for this book but I'm glad to see it is getting off to a strong start. I really like that DC frequently takes some pretty big risks on titles like this one

Cool! I enjoyed All-Star Western and love this team!

@syncig: it wasn't a 4 star for me. If anything, it would be a 4.75

Hamptons art is really different to Cooke's on the cover. It was a big shock, a nice one that is.

I wonder what frame of mind you have to be in for this to get 5 stars...

Damn I'm checking this out then. Hopefully this will fill in for All Star Western.

I really like this first issue of this new series.

Will definitely be buying this at the shop today. Thanks for the review, Mat.

My body is soooooo ready for this! Comics got delayed 'til tomorrow though T_T

@syncig:

Why ? Sure the theme might look good but a good writer makes a difference.

@vitalius: Which part of my comment are you asking why about? My surprise for the five stars? Or my admiration for DC taking big chances on weird titles?

@syncig:

Cannot be both?

@vitalius: It can be both. Just making sure. I was surprised to see a 5 star review for this because of the concept of the book mostly. While I do enjoy that DC puts out a large amount of fringe books like this one, I just wasn't sure if something like this would work well at DC. Palmiotti and Gray are certainly good writers and have done a lot of great things but I don't think their records are spotless so I was slightly skeptical. As to why I admire DC putting out strange books like this one, I enjoy variety at my comics publishers. Marvel lacks that variety when compared to DC in my opinion. Many people argue the opposite but if you take a look at what Marvel is publishing and what DC publishes then it isn't too hard to see that DC takes bigger risks. Yes, Marvel does have great variety in terms of tone but not really in the titles they release.

@syncig:

I am really happy that you like variety. But i dont think this comic will pass from issue 8

@vitalius: I agree. I doubt it will last very long but I'm glad DC hasn't given up on releasing weird new books. It would incredibly easy for them to just go the easy and safe route but so far they haven't and that is a good thing in my opinion.

@syncig:

Well i going to buy it when i get the chance. People complain about DC´s variety, but it is fans or costumers that reject DC´s unusual titles or diferent titles.