Mississippi Zombie #3 [Part Two] - Caliber Comics

MISSISSIPPI ZOMBIE #3, January 2022

Filled with “To Be Continued”, Part One’s and open endings, the second half to this ghoul-infested graphic novel certainly contains a surprising number of cliff-hangers which seemingly lead straight into a fourth ‘future’ collection of cadaver-filled shenanigans. Indeed, Peter Breau and Paul Carberry’s “Samhain’s Gate” is a good example of this storytelling-technique, with the American Civil War based terror tale coming to an abrupt, precarious conclusion with its central protagonist being crucified upside down in the middle of a deadly, occult ceremony; “Slowly I open my eyes, hoping for a vision of Saint Peter at the gate.” 

Happily however, such an unexpected culmination doesn’t stop this particular twelve-page plot from still being one of the highlights of “Mississippi Zombie”. Artist Benito Tovar Junior does a fine job imbuing Sheriff Levi Ellingwood’s group with plenty of energetic spirit once the Undead attack the search party and savagely munch their way through the deputies with plenty of intestine-tearing aplomb. Whilst its two writers somehow manage to cram in an intriguing political element behind the thickly bearded lawman’s mission, when it’s revealed they’re looking for Senator Brown’s only son Jacob after the Confederate soldier mysteriously disappeared from the Third Battalion.

Equally as intriguing though is the initial instalment of “Zombie Heist” by Marcus H. Roberts. Starting in a similar vein to an episode of “Mission Impossible” or perhaps a criminal incarnation of “The A-Team”, this ‘bank robbery gone wrong’ takes a no-nonsense approach to its narration to quickly bring its considerably sized cast into contact with Mississippi’s brain-hungry denizens. In fact, no sooner has driver Bobby Chavez “made his way to the pier of the old shipyard” to “wait for his comrades to return with the loot”, than the felon is set upon by two ravenous flesh-eaters and temporarily dragged off the jetty into the water.

Rounding off this anthology book’s contents is the rather emotional yarn “The Dead Don’t Die”, which sees an old sailor desperately trying to save his infected wife from a group of self-centred survivors who see his small-sized nautical vessel as their personal salvation. Poignantly penned by Paul Carberry and proficiently sketched by Emi Utrera, this gripping fiction is also noteworthy for its coverage as to how the state’s modern-day zombification occurred, courtesy of Pharmakon Pharmaceutical’s generous donation of numerous flu vaccines.

Writers: Peter Breau, Paul Carberry & Marcus H. Roberts, and Artists: Benito Tovar Junior, Dan Gorman & Emi Utrera