The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks

There's no ‘new' story in this book - it's instead a graphic-novel adaptation of the ‘Recorded Attacks' section of Brooks' Survival Guide. For those of you who haven't read the guide, the section in question outlines zombie outbreaks in various points in history, ranging from prehistoric Africa, ancient Rome, the age of Sail, and others.

Adaptations are tricky things. They require balancing being faithful to the story material with having something unique to say; this becomes even more difficult when the same author's writing both versions. Recorded Attacks doesn't really have anything unique beyond the change of format from written medium to visual one, and Brooks has clearly thought about what makes for a scary comic versus a scary print story. So while I can't really call it great, it's a solid story that's a worthwhile read for fans of zombie comics as well as for those who have read the Guide and want more.

What really makes the collection worth a read, though, is the art by Ibraim Roberson, whose work I wasn't familiar with prior to this. The man draws a mean zombie, and also does a pretty good job of capturing the various cultures throughout history that the zombie attacks take place in.