Mississippi Zombie #3 [Part One] - Caliber Comics

MISSISSIPPI ZOMBIE #3, January 2022

Promising “some killer stories” as the zombie menace continues to threaten those residents dwelling within Mississippi, Bradley Golden’s third collection of brain-munching narratives provides an impressively broad range of tales, varying from a hapless postman simply going about his daily business in Pontotoc County, through to an apocalyptic sea-faring world where Augustus King stoically defends the river’s shores from flesh hungry cadavers whilst his ship sails towards the mysterious port of Commerce. Occasionally, such disparity in a book's line-up might be slightly off-putting to some horror fans, but in this instance all the different locations/time zones appear to be intrinsic to the various writers’ plots and are all clearly linked to one another by being set inside the Magnolia state.

Leading this latest anthology’s charge is Golden’s very own “Dog Eat Dog Life”, which essentially deals with an over-tired van driver mistreating a poodle after the beast bites him in the ankle. Initially, readers might feel the animal is entirely justified in subsequently leading a horrifying horde of zombies back to the vendor in revenge. However, with hindsight some may recall that it was the fluffy-white ‘Mutt” which actually started the fracas, and subsequently feel sorry for the mail carrier getting chomped to pieces by so many of artist Dan Gorman’s grotesque-looking cadavers.

Decidedly more complex is “All About Commerce”, which intriguingly continues a storyline first told in one of this title’s preceding graphic novels. Writer Peter Breau does a good job in bringing across the salty vocabulary of his piratical nightmare world and getting the good ship Mike Fink’s latest recruits up to speed with its crew’s hierarchy. Yet, it is probably the adventure’s fast-paced land battle between a pair of swashbucklers and the Undead, which will be viewed by bibliophiles as the yarn’s highlight; especially when it’s so well drawn by Harrison Wood. 

Rounding up this publication’s opening half with a disconcerting insight into a Mississippi-based male fraternity is “40 oz Of Death” by Jeff Carroll. This account of three boys visiting Madam Freak Shop to prove their strength of will is debatably as smutty as a comic can get without Jorge Cabotto’s illustrations crossing into full-frontal nudity. In addition, the script potentially does a fine job in misdirecting the audience as to where the ghoulish threat to the students emanates from.

Writers: Bradley Golden, Peter Breau & Jeff Carroll, and Artists: Dan Gorman, Harrison Wood & Jorge Cabotto