[Graphic Novel] Night Of The Living Dead: Aftermath, Volume 2

Follow on from NOTLD Volume 1, it's great to see where the characters are going, however, it was left on a cliffhanger so I definitely hope Volume 3 is in the works because I'm starting to get attached to the characters!

The storyline makes you question what people would do in a situation like this. Would they come together? Or go against one another? Especially higher status persons such as the military and the government.

Is it right to experiment on people for the "greater good" to find a "cure" despite the idea being completely morally wrong?

I feel the story really evolved in the second volume, making me itch for the third.

[Graphic Novel] Night Of The Living Dead: Aftermath, Volume 1

Within this graphic novel I love the fact that there is a strong, female character as one of the main characters. Usually we have a damsel in distress with her boobs out, but in this case if it came to zombie killing this is the character I'd love to be.

We follow a couple of characters through their story of how the apocalypse broke out - again - in 1977 a few years after the first sightings of zombies, which slowly dwindled away.

It's based in Las Vegas which is a brilliant place for this to be set in. Who doesn't appreciate a zombie Elvis?

Again, the art work is phenomenal, if you read this graphic novel really take in the detail of all the work, especially at the end in the 'Gallery' section.

Cameron Romero Announces 'Night Of The Living Dead' Prequel!!

That's right! Cameron Romero - George Romero's son - is writing and directing a prequel to Night Of The Living Dead! The ground breaking legacy now has a prequel in the mix.

It's going to be titled 'Origins' and I am so excited for this, especially as it's Romero's son.

Read more about it here: http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/87191/cameron-romeros-night-living-dead-prequel-origins-headed-way/

[Documentary] Birth Of The Living Dead (2014) Review

A couple of weeks ago I was walking around HMV looking for Carl Sagan's Cosmos and by chance I managed to spot this new release titled 'Birth Of The Living Dead.' It's a really cool documentary about the origins of Romero's 'Night Of The Living Dead.'

The documentary gives insight into the history of the sixties regarding the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. This shows what the audience of the sixties felt about this film and especially when it came to a black man being the hero. The meaning behind this film goes so much deeper into the social context of the time. There's a political aspect to this sub-culture, underground film. As Romero states, the main character, Ben, was not written with a race in mind, they purely hired Duane  because he was a great guy.

Romero has a good sense of humour in this documentary and he made me laugh a lot, making me so glad I met him as he's obviously a decent bloke. I love is hippyish use of the word 'man' and he explains how ten of them chucked in $600 each and managed to make a movie. All cast members being family and friends and people they have previously worked with. They managed to beat the odds - budget, being a black and white film and not being well known film makers.

A mad fact is that nobody knows how much money it has made. They received no royalties for this film due to copyright issues. Somebody forgot the copyright sign in the opening credits!

If you get this, there's still scenes after the credits. It's a great companion alongside the film, definitely recommend it.

Night Of The Living Dead Graphic Novels - Trilogy Completed!

After receiving the third Night Of The Living Dead graphic novel by John Russo, Mike Wolfer and Thomas Aira I decided to read Volume #2 again and of course, start off, and finish, Volume #3. I think after the second read I appreciated the comics a lot more and seriously got into the story line and connected with characters, whereas before I found it a little hard to do. I think that I possibly got used to the writing style and that made me enjoy them so much more.

I love how they're based in the swinging sixties! I think this adds a different element to them and that makes these graphic novels individual in their own right because of this.

All I need to get now is the Aftermath series and this mini collection will be done.

You can read my original post here: http://thestrollingunwell.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/night-of-living-dead-graphic-novels.html

(Apologies for the glare on the photo)
I know you're thinking 'but there are four books, that's not a trilogy!' The first book in the picture, as mentioned in my linked post above, is just a preview book of the three graphic novels (the next three books in the picture). You can also read about that book in my previous post (above).

[Film] Night Of The Living Dead (1990) (Remake) Review

If I remember correctly, this was the first zombie film I ever watched. I was 15 and I watched it in 2009, I remember watching it with my mum because we both couldn't sleep. I absolutely loved it, but for some reason I never thought to sought out other zombie films, especially those of Romero. Maybe it was because I was a measley fifteen years of age and all of Romero's greats were rated 18.

I believe this film sparked something in my mind, something, a flame maybe, that wasn't relit until I was about 17/18. Of course, being 2009 The Walking Dead had not yet been released, and Season 1 would not air for at least another year. So my zombie passion was just with film, and after I realised it, I noticed a whole new world of zombie medium.

I thank this film, for starting that love and I love this film a significant amount. I feel it compliments Romero's Night Of The Living Dead wonderfully. It will always have a special place in my heart. I like the fact that even though it is based on the original characters, the storyline differs in many places from the original 1968 version.

A cool thing is that at London Film and Comic Convention I managed to find a really cool original film cell of this film.

If you want to read about that experience, you can do so here: http://thestrollingunwell.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/night-of-living-dead-film-cell-lfcc-3.html

Night Of The Living Dead Film Cell, TWD Comic #1 LFCC #3

My main posts about London Film and Comicon were ultimately based around me meeting George A. Romero. However, I did pick up a couple zombie related goodies which make really cool additions to my collection.

Firstly, I found a stall called A Place In Space, they caught my attention because they had a load of Walking Dead memorabilia, so of course, this drew me in. I was having a look at the books when I noticed the first ever Walking Dead comic for £3!! I thought this was amazing because I was often on eBay looking for one. Not necessarily a first print or anything I just thought it would be a great addition to my collection considering I had all the Walking Dead books. The comics on eBay were going for quite a bit of money, at least £10 so I bought it straight away, and for £3 you can't really argue.

Secondly, I bought a really cool a Night of the Living Dead film cell, they were four for £10 or £3 each, I love this sort of stuff so I got four, only one zombie related one though. The others I got were from The Godfather, Beetlejuice and The Jungle Book. Anyway, back to zombies! This film cell isn't from the original, it's from the 1990 remake which I think is brilliant anyway. It is so hard to take a picture of the film cell itself, but basically it is when brother and sister, Johnnie and Barbara are in the cemetery  and the zombie is coming towards them.

Overall, I am very pleased with my two purchases, I would have bought more but I spent £30 on Romero's autograph and £30 on the picture with him, so all in all a massive £60 just for that experience, and £21 for entry, leaving me with very little spending money!! I can't say it wasn't worth it though, because it entirely was.

I Met George A. Romero! ... Twice!! LFCC #2

As previously posted I attended London Film and Comicon 2014, I love conventions as it is but this one was very special indeed... I met George A. Romero! Not once, but twice and the experience for me will go down in my little personal history of great events in my life.

On the Friday after getting all the tickets for entry and for the photo with him, we had a wander around as usual, looking at all the cool art work and stalls full of figures, DVDs, all sorts of merchandise, you name it they had it.

Luckily for me, Romero was due to attended Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Which gave me many opportunities to meet him. On the Friday I had a look by all of the celebrities autograph tables to see if I could spot a glimpse of him. Sadly I did not and so I went on about my business. Friday preview ended at 9pm and around 8:30pm I gave it one last shot. I walked around to where his stall was and low and behold, there he was!! There was no queue so I nipped in there quick to get his autograph, I picked a print of him and Simon Pegg, purely because it was white and you would clearly be able to see his autograph on it. He was such a lovely man, I had my favourite 'ZOMBIES' t-shirt on to which he pointed and said 'zombies!' and laughed. I must admit I grinned like an idiot, I thought being star struck was a made up thing but I couldn't muster a word to say to him. He then said to me 'you'll have to get Simon to sign this next, does he ever come to these things?' I said 'I don't think he does!' And was laughing stupidly because I was so happy.

Funnily enough, I went to see Monty Python Live the Wednesday after, and who was a special guest? Only Simon Pegg himself, and there I was thinking I would never ever see him in my life. What a coincidence, but no, I did not get his autograph.

I then said bye and went home.

The next day I arrived bright and early to get my picture taken with him, I was waiting in the queue, checking myself in the mirror, as you do. But I was shaking, I was nervous and excited - it made me feel so weird with emotion. I got to the front and he shook my hand and said hi. I think he recognised me because of the way he looked at me and smiled, I would like to think that he recognised me anyway! He even asked me how I was! He then put his arm round me and I him and they took the picture. He then shook my hand again and said goodbye.

What a couple of days! I never thought I would ever meet my favourite director, especially due to his age and because he lives in Canada, and obviously I'm from London. He lived up to and beyond my expectations, he was the nicest man you would ever meet and I am so glad that he wasn't up himself at all. I don't think I will ever get this opportunity ever again so I'm so pleased that I did it when I could.

Night Of The Living Dead - Graphic Novels (Incomplete set)

After getting into Zombie books and graphic novels, I decided to broaden my horizons a bit and buy another zombie graphic novel which didn't involve TWD. An obvious option was Night Of The Living Dead, written by John Russo and Mike Wolfer, being a huge Romero fan they did stick out to me so I chose to buy the first one. They are quite dear but I found them cheaper online, there are three volumes and a few 'Aftermath' volumes. The thing I LOVE about the first volume is the cover work, it is my favourite zombie art work of all time.

The first book in the picture I got for £2.50 in Forbidden Planet. It basically has extracts from and summarises all three books, so if you aren't sure whether to buy them or not, or if you will like them, this is very handy to get, and for £2.50 you can't go wrong really.

Volume one and two are indeed, cracking. The thing I enjoy about these graphic novels is the art work, I love how colourful they are (unlike TWD which is black and white). I don't prefer black or white, or just colour, I appreciate both of them but colour was really refreshing from constantly reading a black and white graphic novel. The art work was a huge plus in this case, the story was good, it was easy to follow and was generally a good story line but I did not feel the connection to the characters as I did with Rick Grimes and the rest.

There are three volumes before the Aftermath series. I ordered the third one a while a go but they did not have it in stock, ultimately leading to a refund. I have not gotten around to getting it yet but it is on my list to buy as I would love to finish reading them and would love to finish that mini collection within my huge zombie collection. When I purchase it there will definitely be an update that the mini collection is complete!