Mississippi Zombie #2 [Part One] - Caliber Comics

MISSISSIPPI ZOMBIE #2, November 2020

Offering an enjoyable continuation of the zombie menace within the Mississippi region, Bradley Golden’s second anthology of horror centred entirely within the thirty-second largest state of America certainly packs its pages with plenty of brain-chomping terror and thought-provoking adventure. Indeed, the graphic novel’s creator even goes so far as to cram in both a sequel story to this title’s original volume following a modern-day military expedition's unwise decision to pay Horn Island a visit, as well as a couple of exciting cliff-hangers which will doubtless have this book’s buyers clamouring for more details as to when the third volume of “Mississippi Zombie” will be released.

First up however is a quite delightful visit to the glorious Gulfport Beach to meet this weighty tome’s bikini-clad narrator nonchalantly drinking a fruit-laden cocktail whilst the long-haired decaying corpse enjoys watching some crows peck away at the remnants of a man’s dismembered cadaver. Toasty hot and glamourous in her gruesomeness, the skeletal-faced ‘babe’ sets the publication’s somewhat morbid-humoured ambiance as she encourages the local “beefcake” to run screaming for their lives with just her perplexing presence on the shore.

Equally as dark, though somewhat lengthier than the long-dead chronicler’s all-too brief appearance, is the quite personal account of Doctor Madison Wilde in “I Did It All For Him”. Penned by Travis Gibb, this penitentiary-based nightmare depicts just how the utterly deluded prisoner manages to orchestrate his “largest controlled experiment” to date inside an incarceration facility following the discovery that his son has been transformed into a zombie. Intriguingly drip fed details of the disgraced medical practitioner’s plan bit by bit, this gruesome yarn genuinely gets the periodical off to an enthralling start, and is arguably only let down by some of Juan Pablo Milto’s somewhat unclear, scratchy-looking panels.

Somewhat easier on the eye though is the action-packed “Butcher Brothers” written by Lou Graziani. Boiled down to its most basic level, this eleven-pager just follows the two heavily-armed siblings as they gorily tear through a horde of the undead with all-manner of close combat weapons, and debatably seems to just be an excuse for Florentino Santibanez to demonstrate his insane, slightly Rob Liefeld-like pencilling. Packed full of pulse-pounding splash panels depicting the duo mercilessly chopping up their grisly opponents into ghastly bits, it’s no wonder the tale concludes just as reinforcements arrive with the text box “to be continued…”

Writers: Travis Gibb & Lou Graziani, and Penciler/Artist: Juan Pablo Milto & Florentino Santibanez