My 'Take' On: ZKS Zombie. Kill. Squad #0: From Forbidden Panel Productions and AJ Herrera     - Above Photo:  The Front Cover to ZKS #0 From Forbidden Panel Productions. - At the Top Left: AJ Herrera at the August 2010 Semantink Comic Savvy Meetup in San Diego.  - At the Bottom Left: A promo poster for Zombie Kill Squad.

TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3264:

I have posted a few blogs mentioning AJ Herrera attending the Semantink's Comic Savvy in San Diego that I have been attending this year.

However, I haven't blogged about any of his works to date.  Back at the August 2010 Comic Savvy, AJ brought the Zero issue of Zombie Kill Squad as shown at the top left of this blog. 

With Halloween coming up next weekend, this would be a good time to review blog it here....

Here is what this series is about, per the promo on the web site:

Z.K.S. is a new comic series put out by Forbidden Panel. In this series we see how the world is trying to adapt and over come being overrun by the undead.

It is written and created by AJ Herrera
Cover Artist Ryan Cain
Scripting and Editing by Bryan Kreusch
Pencils, Ink and all art by Justin White
Characters created by Brandi Auset

Okay...So what is 'My Take' on this Zero Issue?

Starting with the understanding that a Zero Issue (#0) is usually just a preview / promotional issue for an upcoming series, I'm not surprised that just the premise is shown in this zero issue.

Which is okay, because there is enough storyline, text copy, and artwork to give me a 'feel' for what the creators are wanting to do with this series.

As I've mentioned several times before, there have been dozens of comics sent to me full of zombies / vampires / were-this-or-that.  So a new series has to have something 'different' for me to take the 1 - 2 hours to review blog it here.

Front Cover: Good promotional text / font used on this zero issue.  The black / white / grey / red colors add additional emphasis, without being over the top in presentation.

Inside Front Cover:  The Credits are shown in very large white colored letters.  Without indicating further what the series is about. So hopefully the Splash Page will give the reader more?  

Splash Page:  Nope...just a variation of the graphic shown at the 2nd top left of this blog post.

The Interior Pages: A total of eleven pages are presented to get the reader interested in the concept.

The storyline / premise is fine...I find myself wondering where this will go.  So that purpose of this promo issue is doing its job.

The artwork is black & white in color. Which is also okay for this promo issue, especially with the subject matter.

The illustrations get the point across, meshing fine with the copy text.

The lettering also intertwines well with the illustrations, not overcrowding the panels.

The 12th interior page is a pin-up page by Joey LaBartunek. I don't see him listed in the credits, so having a guest artist this early in a series doesn't really add any value for me as a possible series reader. I would have preferred to see a little more promotion on this series. I shouldn't have to go to the web site to find out more, if I am seeing this at my LCBS's shelf for new comics.

The Inside Back Cover: The same creators that were listed on the Inside Front Cover are listed again, this time with details on who they are, and some of what they want to do.  Okay, this is what a promo issue is for.

Back Cover: This is a Printer's ad, this time by ComiXpress.  Which is okay.  I see a lot of this from self-publishers.  ComiXpress is a quality printer.

So, that's the end of the presentation of this Zero Issue.

For the most part it piqued my interest enough to 'review blog' it here today.  The premise and storyline is something that I believe could make a good series.

The artwork fits this genre, and the usage of different sized and shapes of panels added depth to the story.

However, as this is a 'promo issue' / a 'zero issue', I would have expected a little more 'tease' for what's to come in at least the next issue.  

Thus my 'comic book grade' for this publication is a VERY FINE PLUS  (VF+) 8.5 on a 10.0 comic book grading scale.

Here is the link to Zombie Kill Squad so that YOU can purchase this comic book for yourself to read!

Here is the Facebook Fan Page for Zombie Kill Squad, which I suggest YOU 'like' also to keep up with what this publisher is presenting next.

My thanks to AJ Herrera for bringing this publication to my attention!

PLUS: My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now over 3,260 total posts in number! I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this Blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app!  We currently have over 1,990 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet...I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note: Our online comic book shop carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items at the link seen below.  

http://www.comicbookscircus.com/

 

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"Hammering Out the Web For You Since May 12th, 1998!"       Note: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:   Make It So Marketing Inc. PO Box 130653 Carlsbad, CA 92013   ComicBooksCircus.com - It's Under The Big Top Of Comics! Click the Above Circus Tent to See Our Current Listings!

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