Plague of the Living Dead 3

Issue #3
Written by John Russo

We begin by seeing a dream sequence with Private Terry Ellis and his wife Kelly making love. He is summarily awoken by Corporal Todd Clark, since he had been resting in a drain pipe with him and Private Steve Green after they "escaped" the MP's transferring them to Fort Sill. The guys then notice someone coming up the pipe and see a zombie at the other end. At the same time in Stone Mountain, Jessica and Darlene are still fending off the zombies in the Price basement when Jessica suggests they try to get out through the storm cellar door. Jessica tries to open it, but hears someone outside trying to open it as well. Her and Darlene decide to open it anyway and Jessica is shown unlatching the door as the scene switches back to the Army men fighting the two zombies. They are able to incapacitate both and make their way out of the pipe. As they walk along the road towards town, Terry talks about how he is worried about Kelly possibly being unfaithful. They are unawares that the MP's are not far away from them and have decided to use lethal force instead of reporting to their superiors that the men escaped. The final panel shows the Stone Mountain men in a cross hair.

I am surprised at how pleased I am with this series. While I am sure some people would find the diversion to the men as taking away from time spent more on the zombies, it gives the story a very human nature. I like where the script for them is going. As for the two surviving women, I pretty sure that is Patrick on the outside of the storm door. It should be interesting to see what his reaction towards the women is and if he will leave them in the cellar to die. Very good issue.

Score: 4 / 5

Plague of the Living Dead 2

Issue #2
Written by John Russo

We pick up the story of the zombie invasion in Stone Mountain in the Army truck that is transporting Corporal Todd Clark and Privates Terry Ellis and Steve Green to Fort Sill for psychiatric help. Todd starts to talk with one of the sentries watching over them, an MP named Terry, who they knew prior to going to war. He tries to sympathize with him about the crap they saw with zombies in Vietnam while Terry was able to stay home in Stone Mountain. Terry makes the drivers stop the vehicle and tells the men they have to take a piss. The men think that Terry is now under orders to execute them in the woods. Back at the Price household, Jessica is still in disbelief seeing her zombie father in the doorway. Darlene has to ax him in the head and closes the door again. Jessica is in denial, but when the zombie's burst through the door, she finds the key in her fathers pocket for the gun case. While Darlene fends off the zombies, Jessica tries to open the case, but the key snaps off in it. In the Stone Mountain woods, Terry doesn't kill the men, but instead lets them go after telling them to knock him around a bit. When Terry stumbles back to the vehicle, the others don't believe him but don't care either, since they know the three men are going head for the town where the Army knows the zombies have overrun.

I still feel like the issues are over way too fast and I am little sad, especially when I believe these are great ones. It was interesting to see how the men got there exit from the Army truck. I am glad they got help instead of having to kill/harm any of the "innocent" other troops. As for the survivors of Darlene and Jessica, hahaha! That has to suck when you see that key break. Where is Patrick? I guess maybe we will see him next issue, either dead, alive or zombie'd.

Score: 4 / 5

Plague of the Living Dead 1

Written by Joe Russo
April 2007

Picking up where the Plague of the Living Dead Special left off, the survivors in the Price household try to get a grip on what is happening. They try to phone the police to no avail and Jessica sees the zombies eating Kelly. Zombie Greg busts through the door and Mr. Price is taken. As he is, he yells for Larry to get the women to the basement where his guns are. They watch Mr. Price get eaten. The women head for the basement, but Larry doesn't want to be stuck down there and wishes to stay above ground. Jessica and Darlene go down and leave him upstairs. On the Stone Mountain military base, Major Henry is having Corporal Todd Clark and Privates Terry Ellis and Steve Green transferred to Fort Sill. Todd hears gunfire in the distance, but Major Henry shrugs it off, telling their guards to use lethal force if necessary. Back at the Price residence, Darlene is trying to open the gun cabinet, but Jessica says her father must have the key. In shock, Jessica goes to open the door to the basement, thinking it is her father. The startling fact is that when she opens it, it is him, only now a zombie.

Now reading this after knowing the back story from the PotLD Special issue, I enjoyed this more. While it short (16 pages), they are able to show the crazed desperation that takes over. Mr. Price bits it and comes back in zombie form at the end. I am sure Larry got out alive somehow and will show up in an issue or two. The story with the troops is interesting, especially since the Major seems to know something. I am sure that their convoy will be stopped somehow by zombies. The art is top-notch again and is a pleasure to see the evilness, hah. Still, the comic is a bit to short to get an above average score for me.

Score: 3 / 5

Plague of the Living Dead Special

Written by Joe Russo
February 2007

In this special issue of Plague of the Living Dead running up until the series begins in Issue #1, we learn (sorta) what is happening in the quiet little town of Stone Mountain, Virginia in August of 1971. We start at the Stone Mountain bridge where teenage lovers Katie and Robbie talk about their futures; her going to college and he heading to Vietnam. As she begins to fellatio him, his brother Greg shows up to interupt them, telling them about the peace rally going-ons at the Price residence before leaving again. Katie and Robbie go to Katie's fathers store to get condoms. At the Price home, we meet the other youngsters getting posters and such ready for the peace rally. It turns out three of the women have fiances/husbands in Vietnam their are trying to get returned home. Mr. Price, a veteran of the Korean War, comes downstairs due to the noise, but doesn't mind since he agrees with the young adults to a degree. Elsewhere, the reader is shown those men from Vietnam just discussed: Privates Terry Ellis and Steve Green and Corporal Todd Clark.

These men are under military psychiatric evaluation due to problems in Vietnam. They told a story about how they were shadowing a troop and burning these troops' tracks. When they accidentally catch up to them, they witness the carnage the troops reek on a Vietnamese village. They are zombies unleashed by the American Army. Now, their superiors tell them there is completely no record of any of this. Back with Katie and Robbie, they have arrived at her father store, they are ambushed by zombies, and are killed. Back at the Price household, Sandy finds out Greg is having sex with Kelly, her brothers wife. As she runs out of the house, she is attacked by zombies, as is Greg and Kelly. The zombie then begin to siege the home while the other panic. Back with the Terry, Steve, and Todd, they find out to their surprise that they are actually at the base in Stone Mountain.

I first began to read the initial issue of Plague of the Living Dead and felt I was missing something. Reading some stuff on the internet, I find out that this special issue came out first. Having now read this and the first one to completion, I am glad I got to read this because it gave almost all of the background information. It introduced all of the major characters and what happened when the plague hit Stone Mountain. Overall, I think this zombie story is pretty interesting, especially the army side of things with these three men actually being in the town when it goes to shit. The art is great and really fills the comic with dread for the living people.

Score: 4 / 5