Most of you know the story of the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, whether you learned of it from your schooldays, a book, a movie, or a TV show. How many of you know about the aftermath? It seems we may not have been told the full story, but thanks to Tombstone of the Dead, that story can finally be told.
The gunfight at the O.K. Corral was just the beginning of the nightmare for Wyatt Earp, his brothers Virgil and Morgan, and Doc Holliday… The dead have risen in the frontier town of Tombstone. The first issue of this all-new horror/western comic presented in landscape format sets the scene after the fateful gunfight at the O.K. Corral unleashes a terror-filled tornado that twists through the streets of Tombstone. The repercussions of the blood spilled in the shootout with the McLaurys and the Clantons unleash a horror for the Earps and Holliday when zombies rise from their graves on Boot Hill.
The story, by Dan Taylor, is full of what you’d expect from a zombie book set in the Wild West, with shootouts, whiskey, outlaws, the dead rising, and quite a few genuinely fun moments. It all begins just as the gunfight is ending, and jumps right into the story without a wasted second. The pacing is perfectly balanced, moving fluidly from beat to beat, and the dialog is crisp. There is not a single boring moment, and there are a few laughs. It’s a fresh take on zombies, with a little revisionist history thrown in for good measure.
The art, by Dan Lauer, while quite cartoony, fits the story so perfectly. Every character has their own distinct look/body type, which is something you don’t even find in Marvel or DC books a lot of the time. My only gripe is the coloring by Chris Barker. Mind you, I don’t think the colors are bad in any way, I just wish, for my own personal taste, that they went with a more sepia toned palette, to give it a warmer sheen. I love the landscape format, as that makes Tombstone easily readable on any tablet, laptop, or PC.
These creators have crafted a fun new spin on the tired zombie genre, in a “why didn’t anybody think of this before” book, and I’m definitely along for the ride until the bitter end, and you should be too. Tombstone of the Dead is available for the Kindle right now, with other digital platforms coming soon. More information is available at http://sparquire.com/
