Monday, January 27, 2014

Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic



A helpful guide from the Center for Disease Control on dealing with the impending zombie apocalypse. Seriously.

NOTE: Only AFTER I've completed the episode do I realize that this episode really should have been a "PSA Hell" segment. ‎

86 comments:

LucasChad said...

I should ask my Dad how we would survive a zombie apocalypse since he's a nut for those monsters especially since he watches a lot of The Walking Dead. I like zombies myself but I don't watch the show myself even though I come to appreciate some of the Romero zombie films like NOTLD, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead. Plus, I've been playing a lot of Office Zombie on my iPad. Nothing like flinging objects at a zombified Rob Walker for fun!

If they ever do come up with a guide for surviving a vampire apocalypse, the best advice I can come up with is make sure you have enough sharp sticks (like wooden stakes and arrows) and large ultraviolet light bulbs to fend yourself against the creatures of the night.

Anonymous said...

The highlight of this one was you being amazed with the lack of many of the usual zombie cliches.

AmazedSatsuma said...

So is the are you finally tired beating that George Takei sounding "poor literacy is kewl" joke to death?

Anonymous said...

Isn’t it common fact that if you’re low on fuel, you should drive slower, so you don’t burn your fuel so quickly?
You can travel further than if you do just speeding up and using it all at once.

Also, Why would the Army carry Guns, if they don’t ever intend to use them!?

I assume this Comic was mainly made as a Joke and not meant to be taken too seriously and I did kind of guess it was a dream from the get go, especially when the dog goes; “Huh?”
Although, it’s pretty sad when characters in a dream sequence are smarter and more realistic than 99.9% of all the characters in Modern Zombie Films.

Nice Review though, Linkara.
Looking forward to seeing more from you.

DMaster said...

1.) Vampires AND zombies? Read the New Deadwardians, from Vertigo. ...maybe the Last Blood webcomic, can't vouch for it myself.

2.) Cats and zombies? Consider the Pick-a-Plot book, "You're a Cat in the Zombie Apocalypse".

Jenbrait said...

Great vid, of course my own plan for a zombie apocalypse is to just move to Switzerland and let their barrier of "permanent neutrality" protect me from the zombies but the wal-mart plan would probably be better. Also my sympathy for the lost of Justin. We will miss him dearly.

Locuas said...

Well. First of all, i would try to find a group of survivors and, after obtaining enough supplies, we would go to find an empty space filled with grass were to build a wall and try to start growing food and, if possible, find a source of drinkable water. We would try to avoid having too much fire weapons since it could increase the risk of one of us accidentally shooting the other, but we would have plenty of meelee weapons. Once we have built a safe fortress with food and found plenty of water, we would start to try and find survivors.
If we can, we would try to find Police officers, firefighter or doctors between the survivors. Policemen would be very helpful with fighting the zombies while the doctors could help the injured and try to find ways to fight the infection. Once we have enough men we would try to expand our territory and recover the city step by step.
To try to keep the now born town together, i would make the people chose three persons as their leader to discuss what to do without some group resenting that they should be the ones in charge.
Kids would be asked to help grow food and take care of any healthy animal we find while the adults deal with exploring and fighting.
I would ask people to not pray or preach religion in public to calm down people who feel "this is all gods fault", but still allow it in private.
when going to town to obtain supplies the priorities would be: water and food, fuel and batteries, energy generators, tools, working cellphone with signal and/or any communication device that is in working conditions, medications, electric devices clothes and diverse means of recreation in that order.
If we are sure animals are not infected, we would try to find dogs to help to watch at night.

-WD said...

So, I don't have any Zombie Plan. My thoughts are to play it by ear. Any plan I might have could lead me to a dead end, showing up at the looting parties late, or so. Sure, there are a few steps that I have planned, such as the call circle, get rations, limber up, get armed and hunt to help stem the outbreak...

Jesse said...

My favorite part was with the military. Them acting like real human beings was a refreshing change of pace. Linkara, your reaction at that shows how we're so not used to it that when it happens we don't know what to do.

KKDW said...

I can think of a few reasons not to hit the zombies with your car, it could slow you down and damage the car (particularly the windscreen/shield).

Also, one problem with 'all just a dream' endings (which I saw coming), since dreams generally make no sense in real life you can use that as an excuse to right off any plot holes or general weirdness.

(also, the 'confirm you're not a robot' thing you have to type in before leaving a comment I got for this said 'self-harm', what the hell?)

Gabriel Godinho said...

I believe that after the Cold War ended the government decided to turn those old PSA and guides on how to act in case of a communist invasion into zombie infestation and alien attack survial manuals.

Unknown said...

Minor thing that you got wrong here linkara.
your idea of heading towards extreme north or south does work, but you should've mention that the outcomes are the reverse once you go south of the equator, north becomes heat and south becomes cold. Maybe reword to say, either head in the direction of the equator or the poles.

Toby'c said...

Could have done without the Star Trek: Insurrecion bit, especially since you seem to be implying that Picard would more likely side with a Starfleet plan to invade an occupied plant, kidnap and subjugate the entire population and steal resources from them on behalf of people who'd been openly collaborating with the Dominion.

As such, my IMDb score for the episode is only going to be 8/10.

LordTerminal said...

I don't even know why these books are even necessary anymore.

If Space Dandy has taught me anything recently, it's that the zombie apocalypse is the key to universal peace.

SpectralTime said...

I'mma make a few brief comments about the items on the list you complained about:

Having stuff for kids to do is part of keeping them safe, since it ensures they won't need to be 100% supervised all the time to keep them from wandering off and getting into trouble. Doesn't need to be bulky either, since a deck of cards counts. A bored senseless kid is more likely to be trouble than a kid playing solitare while the adults go zombie-hunting/deal with the long-term results of some other disaster.

Personal hygiene items are more important than you think. Getting a toothache may not be a big deal when you can just go to a dentist, but having one when you're displaced and infrastructure isn't there is much more difficult. Hygiene keep you healthy and fit, and getting sick is pretty awful when you're far from a doctor and need to "work" all day in the middle of a disaster.

Xalazi said...

Linkara, you are a madman if you think that going to Walmart is a good idea during a Zombie outbreak. Have you never seen WTFIWWY? Or talked to Nash and Tara in general? or seen the news right after Black Friday?

Shanethefilmmaker said...

There is only one way to survive a Z A is one simple formula. "Don't be stupid." The original Dawn of The Dead guys were able to keep themselves out of Danger, because before they lost their minds, they knew how to outwit the ghouls. The only reason why half the team didn't make it was because two were prone to doing stupid decisions. Roger slipping into a blood rage and getting bit 3 times focusing on killing the population rather than locking the mall and Stephen. If there was a Zombie dictionary based around how stupid you could be his picture would be on the definition of that: He's a terrible shot, he's greedy and makes bad decisions. His only shining time was to find alternate exits and teach Francine to fly the chopper. Alas, since I'm from Canada we have no guns in our Walmarts, but we got plenty of Archery and Melee weapons in the form of our hockey sticks. Ironically that was the Dawn crew's plan evacuate to Canada.
Also Linkara your plan is the most clever but you overlook one minor detail. While it's unlikely to happen like in the movies, but one of the recurring themes of all Zombie movies is the reluctant team work. Because all hell is breaking loose every adult in the world would be more preoccupied in who's gonna rule their world than working together. As proven with Ben and Cooper. Though it's a hell of a lot better than my idea: Burn down every Bathsalt place rob the liquor and gun shops and pick off zombies from a rooftop.

That said I thought of a funny idea for a tagline from this. "When there's no more room in the unwanted shelf, bad comics shall go to Linkara's."

There are legit reasons why you shouldn't run them down, Their parts could get caught in the wheel ala Uzumaki.

That said great review like always.

Anonymous said...

To explain the addition of the scenes at the CDC I think I'll paraphrase a quote from the Simpsons episode Bart to the Future, "Maybe the spirits thought the plot was a little light." After all who cares about two...teenagers?...surviving be surrounded by zombies when we can learn how the flu might end up turning you into a zombie.

Great episode, especially all the references to past episodes.

Megan said...

So I take it you're not a big fan of The Walking Dead?

..Yeah, me neither.

I'm just very glad that the comic didn't have the phrase 'Hunker down' anywhere in it. I heard that phrase so many times back in 2004 when Florida was hit by four hurricanes in a row that I came to hate it.

Anonymous said...

Ironically, the most realistic zombie apocalypse is 'Shaun of the Dead'. At the end of the day, the army just shows up and simply mows the zombies down, without people needing to do much--which makes perfect sense. After all, in so many of these scenarios, random survivors and rednecks with guns are able to keep the zombies at bay, but the army, with professional equipment and training, somehow just evaporates? Hell, Night of the Living Dead also got this right, where the undead just become fodder for militia and cops.

Of course most zombie apocalypses are just 'what would I do' fantasies, or some sort of social commentary, so I guess that's not really the point. Honestly, zombies are old hat. It's when the aliens arrive that'll get me worried. They release all these survival guides we don't really need for dumb zombies, but nothing for when the greys arrive to harvest our brains? It's all a conspiracy to make us unprepared!!!

Had to chuckle at the news report in the comic. Though then again, you get things IRL like NSA scandals being considered 'other news' next to Justin Bieber being arrested, so I guess the imminent demise of civilization would be one of the third items down from Kim Kardashian stubbing her toe or something.

Regarding the list, games are useful for keeping your sanity, and you still need hygiene products not to have bacteria festering all over you...

And yeah, the army guys here were exceptionally dumb.

Now, despite everything I've said, I'm surprised people keep sticking to the Romero 'shoot 'em in the head and they're down' zombies, and not the 'chopping them up just makes more' Return of the Living dead ones. Surely the latter would be more scary and be a more realistic threat...

SpectralTime said...

Also, weapons? Eeeeeeh...

See, the thing is, there are almost no weapons that don't make you a danger to yourself and others if you aren't trained in their use. I fired a gun once, and it bruised my eye and almost knocked me over. And I missed anyway! And who hasn't accidentally whacked themself with a blunt instrument while pretending it's a sword?

Telling huge masses of terrified people to stock up on weaponry is probably a terrible idea. It'll only lead to tons of "friendly-fire" and self-inflicted injuries. Relocating to a secure area and letting the trained fighters do the fighting was probably the better move, for the same reason that peasants in old-tyme medieval movies don't fight as much as evacuate and let the soldiers do it for them.

As to the soldiers refusing to fire on zombies... I dunno. On the one hand, they're clearly not undead abominations as much as ordinary people with a (potentially recoverable) illness. On the other hand, a lot more people die if you don't, and, unlike human enemies, zombies aren't smart enough to disperse under fire. Tough call.

Maxima Mea Culpa said...

"In the unlikely event that there is no more room in Hell..."

Oh, Lewis, Lewis, Lewis. You poor, optimistic fool.

I did hear about the original blog post this was based off of, but I hadn't realized they'd made a comic book based off of it.

Though I will say, as much as I love zombies, maybe we should stop writing about them for a while. It feels like we've squeezed every last bit of potential out of the idea as it is, and we could probably just shelve the idea for ten years or so and come back to it with a fresh new perspective.

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna quote South Park on this one, Linkara...DON'T just start killing zombies left and right! Since they've created a cure, you're murdering innocent people!

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"I'm gonna quote South Park on this one, Linkara...DON'T just start killing zombies left and right! Since they've created a cure, you're murdering innocent people!"

They didn't have a CURE, they had a VACCINE. A vaccine just prevents new infections, it doesn't cure the old ones.

Karfsma778 said...

Funnily enough, I actually had a dream about the zombie apocalypse last night.

Unknown said...

If I wanted my Zombie Apocalypse to be like Dawn of the Dead, but on drugs, I would go right over to the Mall of America.

Anonymous said...

don't forget to NEVER USE GUNS. Guns attract sound,sound attracts more zombies. second, gt swords,maces, and other sharp weaponry. get a pimped out bus in protective gear and go to costco locked up in there safe and train for hunting zombies.
Afterwards my group would take tanks of fuel to use with food and split into two groups. Group A: Northern Express and Group B: the Southern Express. NE team goes north and SE Team which his south with a working boat and some mattress.




on an off topic: My condolences go out to Justin's family and to you and his friends, its always tough to loose someone who you love, and a good friend and co worker.

Anonymous said...

Another issue for the CDC about weapons is that, quite frankly, lots of armed, scared, untrained people wandering around fighting over food is among the LAST of things you want to happen when you're organizing disaster relief and quarantines. Sadly, that's where the flood/plague = zombies idea starts to come apart.

On the zombies, the comic does treat them as people suffering from a disease and not necessarily dead people walking around. Of course the U.S. military would open fire on a group of hostile people trying to overrun a position and kill everyone inside.

Anonymous said...

Well DUH

This comic was put out by the government.

Of course they don't want you to know how much the military and the rich pigs will rape you the first second they have the chance.

If a zombie apocalypse does happen, it will most likely be a government scheme in the first place!

Adam said...

Actually, Linkara, the board games aren't just for the kids. Having some form of entertainment/distraction will keep your mind busy without having it constantly worrying about the zombies. Otherwise, you start to become paranoid and, eventually, a danger to yourself and those within your group. Also, hygiene is important as well in any situation. You might be able to slack off for a day or two to conserve water, but you'll have to deal with infections far worse that the zombie virus.

Also, I hope you have a back-up plan other than heading to Wal-Mart since a lot of people will have the same idea. I recommend a Costco; the employees there are much nicer. Or, better still, find the Mythbusters. I'm willing to bet my money that, with their creativity and ability to create gadgets for any occasion, they'll be the ones that will overcome the zombie apocalypse.

Awesome job on this review, Linkara. As for those wanting more on zombie preparation and defense, I recommend The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks and The Zombie Combat Manual by Roger Ma. Roger Ma has also published The Vampire Combat Manual just in case the situation changes from one horror threat to another. Still no word if he'll make a combat manual against werewolves or robots but we'll see.

Michael Morrison said...

First of all I loved the review, but I sent you some digital comics through an e-mail and I was wondering if you got them?

Anonymous said...

"Funnily enough, I actually had a dream about the zombie apocalypse last night."

I have them all the time

Also, my plan is barricades.
Several levels of them.

I live in a 12 story apartment complex, so the plan is to barricade each floor, and each section of the building separately.
Also, prepare bird-traps on the roof.
The city is overrun with pigeons and crows anyway

Going into the streets fighting zombies is pointless, because they'll just overwhelm you with sheer numbers, and all you achieve is either feeding them, or increasing their ranks

Assuming that zombies only eat meat, and are too dumb to hunt for small animals, they should all die of starvation within a month
(unless some morons keep feeding them by trying to fight)

Sure, you could argue that the zombies would hunt larger game in the forests around the city.
There are after all deer, boars, and great bustards living nearby.
However, most of those woods are either located in the steep mountain area which would put the zombies at a disadvantage against their pray, or the swamps, which would be a death-trap for the dumb zombies.

Seriously, my home city is perfect for defensive strategies
Especially against an opponent who doesn't know the land (or is too dumb to navigate through it).

Michael Morrison said...

Three things.
1. Loved the review
2. I think you forgot to add ads to this episode
3. I sent you some comic books through e-mail and was wondering if you got them

Anonymous said...

I have a plan that for some reason no character in any zombie fiction EVER even considers despite being a good one.
Get on a boat. Zombies can't swim so you're safe. Only dock when you need to get supplies or on a deserted island.
Why has NO author ever done this kind of story? I get that most zombie stories are set in urban areas, but surely either they can change the setting or have the characters destination be the sea or one of the Great Lakes instead of just randomly driving around.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"First of all I loved the review, but I sent you some digital comics through an e-mail and I was wondering if you got them?"

I'm pretty sure I got the e-mail but kept getting busy before I had a chance to download it. If you wanted to send it again, I'd make sure to get it. ^_^

AmuroNT1 said...

My father actually works for CDC, tho he works with Hepatitis rather than the Zombie Plague. And they do actually do weird stuff like this more often than you'd think; he once told me that they looked into World of Warcraft's Corrupted Blood Incident to see if it could be used as a realistic model for the spread of infection (it couldn't). Then I introduced him to the browser game Pandemic 2 and he had a good laugh.

And yeah, it's obvious they were going for the optimistic "We can help these poor people!" outlook, which is why they weren't killing zombies left and right. Whether that idealism is heroic or misplaced seems to be up to the individual reader.

Luimnigh said...

Oh Linkara, don't go to Walmart. Most supermarkets have giant plate glass windows, an obvious weakness.

Anonymous said...

you know, now I want to see the zombie apocalypse happen, only to have Nash forced to hide in a Wal-Mart, and potentially get stuck with people who decide they should "repopulate the earth"

I'd like to see him say "There's nothing sexy in the Wal-Mart" after that!


Also, my plan includes setting my self on fire.
Zombies can't eat me if they can't touch me.

JFinley91 said...

Uh, Linkara, why does the slant of your couch keep changing? I actually had to go back and look at screenshots to make sure I wasn't imagining the whole thing.

Also, condolences to your friend and his family. Last weekend seemed ultra depressing.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Uh, Linkara, why does the slant of your couch keep changing? I actually had to go back and look at screenshots to make sure I wasn't imagining the whole thing."

Because the futon mattress kept shifting down and I kept pulling it back up. It's not attached to anything - it just slips down over time. It's been a while since I last flipped the mattress and I have now done so after this video, so here's hoping it won't be an issue again for a while.

GoufCustom said...

Actually, as it happens, that man is NOT a rear admiral. At least not as drawn. This can be determined by the sleeve stripes. Similar to the rank pips of TNG, three stripes of that size indicate a commander. A rear admiral would have a two inch band, possibly with a half inch stripe depending on if he was rear admiral upper or lower half.

The more you knooooooooow!

Anonymous said...

North-East Europe b*tches!

The winters are long ad deadly cold, and during the summer the land turns into a swamp.

The zombies either drown, or freeze.

Geographical jackpot!

Anonymous said...

You know, I once read a webcomic that mocked the hell out of zombie survival guides.

I was trying to find it again and link you to it, but I wasn't lucky in re-discovering it.
(It was 2 years ago)

Basically it followed a group of survivors doing everything in the book to survive, yet it all ultimately being useless, and all of them dying horribly.
Despite all expectations, the zombies were nothing like anyone expected them to be.
All of the zombies got flight, heat vision, fire breath, vulnerability, shape-shifting, and mind control powers, and thus humanity was utterly helpless to do anything to save itself.

The moral was (as the creator put in in a comment), that since no-one has ever seen a real zombie, we have no ideas what they'd be like, and so it is pointless to make any preparations against them to begin with.

Anonymous said...

You know, I once read a webcomic that mocked the hell out of zombie survival guides.

I was trying to find it again and link you to it, but I wasn't lucky in re-discovering it.
(It was 2 years ago)

Basically it followed a group of survivors doing everything in the book to survive, yet it all ultimately being useless, and all of them dying horribly.
Despite all expectations, the zombies were nothing like anyone expected them to be.
All of the zombies got flight, heat vision, fire breath, vulnerability, shape-shifting, and mind control powers, and thus humanity was utterly helpless to do anything to save itself.

The moral was (as the creator put in in a comment), that since no-one has ever seen a real zombie, we have no ideas what they'd be like, and so it is pointless to make any preparations against them to begin with.

Leor said...

Lewis, first I'd like to express my condolences to you and your friends on the death of Justin Carmichael. I was very shocked and saddened to learn of his death.

Regarding the CDC's "Zombie" comic, I honestly think this is one of the best PSA comics I've ever seen. It isn't overly preachy, it discusses a genuinely important issue (disaster preparedness) and while the art is sub-par, it has very good story telling. I'm even willing to overlook the "it was all just a dream!" ending, since the story immediately segues into a real disaster (losing power during a thunderstorm).

In terms of not advising anyone to take up arms against Zombies, I think the CDC does not want to be legally liable if anyone attacks someone else during a hurricane, blizzard or pandemic, because they read a CDC PSA comic using "Zombies" as a metaphor. That's probably why the soldiers don't fire either.

Lewis, I noted that at the beginning of your video you mentioned Zombies being affected by extreme cold or humidity. While that seems likely with the Z6n1 Zombies in the CDC PSA (who honestly looked more like deranged humans affected by a disease than walking corpses) what about Zombies created by magic? Why would they be affected by extreme temperatures anymore than the "30 Days of Night" Vampires?

Finally, this video feels like it could have used a cameo by Moarte.

Unknown said...

I would head to a camping/ sporting goods store first in a zombie event. Than a pharmacy, than a gas station and than a Walmart type store.
I do like the name l33t name of the zombie vaccine.I would also use a tv in a back bedroom till it goes on the fritz. I also wouldn't use my stereo or listen with my headphones. I would hunkered down at home for a short period and than go search for family members. I would go out during the day for supplies and hunting zombies along the trip. I would get melee stuff and guns for weapons. I would mostly go for bludgeon type weapons or a crowbar for easy to learn and I would team up with a sharpshooter in my posse.I would also contemplate surviving in the long run and when a vaccine is going to be created. Weapon safety and knowledge is a must in a zombie apocalypse. You don't have to be Juliet Starling to be a zombie hunter. There are other ways to contribute to a zombie posse. Like maintaining gear,vehicles, weapons, and technology, as well as finding supplies and scouting.
As for the comic, It surprisingly alright. People acting like people
instead of assholes and No drama for the sake of drama .It makes me want to see the Zombie Survival guide by Max Brooks to be made into a professional comic book.

Anonymous said...

having people actually planning things out rationally was refreshing to see

stephen kings the cell did a update on zombies that was more hive mind orientated which id recommend checking out

as for my zombie plan I live on a small island that rains almost every day with a small population that's surrounded by much smaller islands many of which still have habitable dry stone bee hive huts that monks used called clochans that despite being hundreds of years old are kinda roomy and dry and warm once inside,the one i tried at least
also the islands have plenty of land animals fish vegetables and houses that were just abandoned because there were too few people loving there to take care of each other

so that's my plan to swim to an island grow a long beard and live off the land whilst i contemplate read and draw and paint whilst everyone else has amazing adventures trying to destroy the zombies and restart civilization

Unknown said...

@Jenbrait I see what you did there! XD

In regards to the review:

Great review as always, Linkara. It is true that people in zombie movies and tv shows tend to do idiotic things during a zombie apocalypse. But while the massive zombie hordes are something to fear, those shows never really say what do do in regards to the survival-of-the-strongest jerks who use the opportunity to cause more havoc.

PopCultureOtaku said...

I have had strange zombie dreams. They ended up sometimes time take place over several dreams. Day is compressed maybe but never time frame given in the comic. I had one time I was boarded up in hotel with my family and the guy who played the Devil in that WB series where the parents sell the soul of their son.
I'm glad the comic took more realistic approach to it. Nice way to bring all back that zombies might not happen but always ready for any kind emergency.

lazydayz said...

Out of curiosity why wasn't this a psa hell

Anonymous said...

Hygiene, while on the move is actually very important. The only things you really need are a tooth brush, tooth paste, and baby wipes as these items prevent infections in a persons body that could hinder it with pain. I would also highly suggest foot powder and extra socks as foot care is vital and the powder can also sooth inner thigh chafing.

Sijo said...

Finally, a zombie story where the characters are SMART! :) And I actually guessed that in the ending it would be a dream. Why? Because it might be a bit irresponsible of the CDC to suggest something like zombies might actually happen. On the other hand, I DO agree with Linkara that guns should have been part of a pandemic- kit... and not because of zombies. When things get THAT bad, looters might show up, and you may have to fight for your life; just see what has happened in (for example) places like Africa.

Cecil said...

Like KKD said, I think the reason you don't want to hit walking corpses with your car is that the gunk will clog up the wheels or get in the windshield or under the hood, or the trauma of hitting something human sized, especially driving as fast as possible, would seriously slow you down or damage the car, and all of that exacerbated when you're running on empty.

I've just realized that my immediate family is actually well situated for a zombie outbreak: my sister and her husband are way up north so the zombies would immediately freeze; my parents are in a city in a plateau in the mountains, so provided the virus doesn't get in and supplies hold out/get airdropped they've got a natural defense; and I'm on an island, albeit one of the larger ones, so I've got that going for me. And it's on a fault line so I already have/need to make an emergency kit.

Then again, if a zombie outbreak were to occur, I think I'd go stir crazy less than two days in.

Unknown said...

Two things:

First others have said this, but you are wrong about the list having non-essential items, but other people have covered that

Second, how did you not realize it was a PSA?

Anonymous said...

Thing of it is, I agree with the whole "No weapons" thing.

If you think about it, it kind of makes sense for people NOT to arm themselves willy nilly in the event of a disaster. Any disaster, zombie or otherwise. Sure, we'd all like to think that we'd be able to pull off perfect headshots to take down zombies when they come for us. But in real life, it takes a lot of time and training to be able to fire weapons effectively, and even trained professionals like soldiers and cops are trained to aim for the body mass rather than the head since it's the best method to disable someone. Just because someone has a gun does not make them Rambo, even in a zombie apocalypse. Sure, having a gun might save stop some Zombies, but it could also mean arming a bunch of people who are paranoid and untrained, which would make the situation worse. Much like how in the aftermath of a Hurricane, you probably don't want a lot of scared and paranoid people running around armed to the teeth. Realistically, it makes more sense to leave the fighting to those trained to fight.

As to the "We can't shoot them" thing, again, the comic seems to treat this more like a viral epidemic, and it even implies the infected CAN be cured. In addition, there is no safe place to shoot someone on the body that will just disable them. People will bleed out from ANY wound, regardless of where it is. As stated before, people are trained to shoot for the torso because it's the largest target. But someone can bleed out from any tyoe of bullet wound.

N. said...

The first thing to note is that our alleged government is wildly incapable handling such a grace concern. Only private enterprise could ever hope to save the world, and government serves only as a salve for the leaches of the world. The CDC must be privatized if medical science can ever hope to advance. A private CDC would be a leaner organization, driven by competition and profit to develop better cures faster, and to defend its cures from immoral treatment copyright infringement like that conducted in the global South.

Second. Louis, please acknowledge the negative stereotypes propagated by "zombies." Consider that zombies are an apt metaphor for any social change. They could be anti-segregationists, LGBTQIAMF and their ally's, or any social justice. Note how Zombies almost always attack urban areas and the protagonists and survivors are traditionalists living traditional lives. Zombie stories are inherently ones about the evils of assimilation and how new ideas must be violently rejected. And this, like so many others is clearly another crypto-socialist trans-phobic homo-nationalist play by bigots for a cheap laugh.

Unknown said...

The day I saw what i believe to be the instructional guide inside booksamillion. I just said no way.until I started reading lol.

Well Linkara at least they were sort of smart until the end.

Been me I would have said nope.
Told my 2nd oldest nephew some time ado, don't you dare go zombie on me. lol

FugueforFrog said...

Yeah it really should have been a PSA Hell.

Sort of sick of zombies in pop culture but did like the comic and the competence of people in the comic even if they are rather anti-weapon against...you know, zombie apocalypse. At least it doesn't turn people into Hydes, though...they're at least smart, cunning and deadly, so be happy pop culture hasn't taken the next step!

CMWaters said...

Why is it when you were talking time compression dreams compared to the one in this comic, the first thing I thought of was the series "Newhart"?

Now THAT isa crazy time compression if you think about it too long.

cwjian90 said...

"Z5N1"? I wonder if these people know why all flu viruses are called "H(number)N(number)"...

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Out of curiosity why wasn't this a psa hell"

...

*Points at note below video.*

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"
Second. Louis, please acknowledge the negative stereotypes propagated by "zombies." Consider that zombies are an apt metaphor for any social change. They could be anti-segregationists, LGBTQIAMF and their ally's, or any social justice. Note how Zombies almost always attack urban areas and the protagonists and survivors are traditionalists living traditional lives. Zombie stories are inherently ones about the evils of assimilation and how new ideas must be violently rejected. And this, like so many others is clearly another crypto-socialist trans-phobic homo-nationalist play by bigots for a cheap laugh."

...

Really?
Really.
REALLY?

I sincerely hope this is a joke. I can't tell because of your previous comments you've made here.

Also: there is no reason to spell my name wrong when it's on the friggin' blog post, in the theme song, and in the end credits.

Ming said...

Good review. This is actually informative, aside from the artwork and that stupid dream ending taken straight from that horrible film, North. I wish you could have actually added a PSA Hell intro . . .

Anyway, what is your opinion on World War Z?

Unknown said...

Wonder how many viewed the vid today and went over to download the PDF.

I'd heard about the blog post but somehow hadn't heard about the comic until today. (When you posted the schedule didn't know it was from the CDC).

This was weird.

The vid was funny and certainly a nice break after ASBaR.

I agree that the cop out of the 'it was a dream' was really lame.

How's moving the futon worked with the additional shelf? At one point the futon looked slanted but I'm guessing that's just from how it being moved made it look against teh bookcases. And I'll be the first to admit I have a real problem with perspective (and have 0 depth perception). Other than that didn't think it distracted from anything.

And I'm going to feel really dumb if you'd not moved the futon yet before this vid.

Something I find funny, I was getting tempted to ask where your Bat'leth was since don't think we've seen it used since HoloKara fought Pyramid Head after the last Silent Hill review. And BAM there it is.

@dragons_dusk

Unknown said...

Love the review overall, big fan of zombie stuff.

But can I ask a stupid question? In the event of a zombie outbreak, why wouldn't Linkara (the character) go up to his SPACESHIP and DIRECT THE RESISTANCE/CURE DEVELOPMENT/MILITARY OPERATIONS/REPOPULATION from there, a safe, secure environment where the zombies can't reach him?

Doresh said...

Dunno how clever going to Wal-Mart would be. The place should be crowded by other survivors who might be a bit too paniced to act rational.

Siege tactics are generally stupid if you have no means to replenish your supplies and you're besieged by creatures who never sleep and are too mindless to give up.

Those fast rage zombies, more than any other zombie type, will ultimately suffer from their rotten corpses not being able to heal all those tiny muscle injuries such exhaustive tasks tend to produce. That stuff can add up.

That being said, the wisest course of action would be to get as far away from cities as possible. These are the places guaranteed to be swarming with zombies. Forests should be generally safe. Wildlife isn't really too numerous (and way too fast) to become a primary zombie target.
Then again, if you know nothing about wilderness survival, said wilderness might be a problem as well.

Though I doubt a possible zombie pandemic will be as apocalyptic as movies make them out to be. Bites are pretty much the most ineffectual way to spread a virus. And even if there are other ways to spread the disease, the infected are still a tad bit too suspicious-looking, to say the least.
I guess that's why zombie movies generally start with the Earth (or at least the area the story takes place in) already being overrun by zombies. Telling how things got to that point in the first place would probably require a little bit too much suspension of disbelief.

(Wow. Those are way too many paragraphs for the first 5 minutes or so of this video o_O )

"Going for the legs" is not exactly a good idea if you want your target to survive. There's A LOT of blood flowing through the legs.

I'm also shocked by the amount of logic in this zombie story.

Bill said...

What I want to see is the CDC get together with the writers/producers of "Zombieland" and Marvel Comics to create one hell of a Hostess Twinkies ad.

DaveWire said...

I was going to ask if you thought this should be a PSA Hell but I just caught your note on that. But what if PSA Hell is full? What if the PSAs are coming back as the Undead?! PSAs that literally eat your brains, oh my!

Anonymous said...

While it does function as a PSA, I don't think it's necessarily a PSA Hell comic. I think it has to be utterly incompetent in its execution and/or utterly stupid in its message. And aside from the flaws you pointed out, this is not that bad especially when you compare it to something like Captain Tax Time or the Tandy Computer Whiz Kids or the infamous Future Five.

As far as the dream scenario, it's not entirely far out of line *if* the basis of that dream was from a film. After all, you have something that lasts for an hour and a half to two hours that's compressed time, including several days. This could also explain the CDC subplot thing also. But yes, that's stretching it and it's a big film school no-no (along with starting out your film with an alarm clock).

Unknown said...

"Second. Louis, please acknowledge the negative stereotypes propagated by "zombies." Consider that zombies are an apt metaphor for any social change. They could be anti-segregationists, LGBTQIAMF and their ally's, or any social justice. Note how Zombies almost always attack urban areas and the protagonists and survivors are traditionalists living traditional lives. Zombie stories are inherently ones about the evils of assimilation and how new ideas must be violently rejected. And this, like so many others is clearly another crypto-socialist trans-phobic homo-nationalist play by bigots for a cheap laugh."

Thank you, Mr. Lovhaug, for getting to this one before I did. In my humble opinion, this one might be a troll (there's a line between reaching and then there's just... that).

DMaster said...

Missed Opportunities: if the PSA Hell thing isn't enough, rope it together with Spider-Man, Storm & Cage and Future Five for just a "missed segment label" slot.

Megan said...

"Second. Louis, please acknowledge the negative stereotypes propagated by "zombies." Consider that zombies are an apt metaphor for any social change. They could be anti-segregationists, LGBTQIAMF and their ally's, or any social justice. Note how Zombies almost always attack urban areas and the protagonists and survivors are traditionalists living traditional lives. Zombie stories are inherently ones about the evils of assimilation and how new ideas must be violently rejected. And this, like so many others is clearly another crypto-socialist trans-phobic homo-nationalist play by bigots for a cheap laugh."

What are you smoking, and can I have some?

You do know that "shuffling corpses that eat braaiins" type of zombies only became popular due to "Night of the Living Dead", right? Before that, zombies were people controlled by voodoo into being mindless slaves. Look up "White Zombie" some time.

Doresh said...

@Megan:

Voodoo slave zombies make at least a bit more sense, in that they can be controlled by an evil mastermind.

The modern zombie is this weird contradiction of a creature that needs to wound humans to turn them into its own kind, but is to mindless to care about anything other than eating humans.

Chad said...

My friend Austin showed me your reviews and I do like them, I guess that this comic was made as a joke like some people had just said to each other you know what lets just not take it seriously and just through something together. Still nice review and i'm glad Chad had showed me atop the fourth wall

N. said...

I wish to offer two corrections.

I apologize. I don't know how I misspelled Lewis. This was an error.

I did not intend to exclude or in any ways diminish Otherkin. I should have used the more inclusice acronym LGBTQIAMFO.

I applaud the site for agreeing that the CDC should be privitized and medical care offered only to the deserving individuals as determined by the free market.

Volvagia said...

Since you mentioned "a stupid pharmaceutical company that also makes crap like Nemesis", would I be wrong in thinking that, after you finish with the adaptations of John Carpenter's The Thing this year, Resident Evil might be your next horror franchise that you'll cover the comics of?

Unknown said...

Great review once Linkara.

You've got a very great smart sounding Survival plan and plus the fact that you have spaceship to hide up on probably helps (Surprised you didn't mention this).

In Two weeks we'll be getting back to our old pal Rob Liefeld with Youngblood #6...ugh.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"I applaud the site for agreeing that the CDC should be privitized and medical care offered only to the deserving individuals as determined by the free market."

Erm, no, I don't agree with that.

It's just the other thing that you said was so ridiculous that I wanted to verify whether or not you were joking.

If you're not, I'm done joking. And I would encourage you to actually look into the things you think you are promoting.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Zombie comics, you may want to check the ongoing series "Afterlife with Archie"

Yes, you heard right.
It's a zombie apocalypse story featuring the cast of Archie, and it's pretty damn good too!

Somehow they manage to keep everyone in character, while at the same time make their reactions to the situation seem completely believable, and even realistic (as in, even by real world standards)

It's an awesome example of how to take something light-hearted and innocent, turning it all grim and gritty, and making you love every second of it

seriously!
check it out!
at the very least as an entry for the Longbox

Anonymous said...

Hey Lewis, I sent you an e-mail a few days ago, not sure if you got it. it's titled "HOPR the Movie" (it could be in spam, or your inbox] [which is just kinda a bad title since i couldn't think of anything, so My bad.]

Anyways, Amazing job. This is the most realistic take on the zombie Apocalypse I have seen and wonderful review.

Anonymous said...

Hey Linkara, just an idea about the lack of weapon use. The mode of zombification here is a virus so it seems to me that the zombies aren't dead. Once the vaccine is administered they are hoping to create a cure for those turned into zombies. This doesn't excuse the comic for not including weapons for self defence. It also sort of justifies the guards response, but not much.

Anonymous said...

The "Zombie Squad" website is worth a look - they also use zombies as a metaphor. ("If you're prepared for a situation where the living corpses of your neighbours are trying to eat you, you're prepared for anything!") So, you have people talking about generators, food storage, etc. E.g. I have 3 x 5L bottles of water in my kitchen; at 2L per day, that would last me a week, so I can use that if the water supply gets cut off for some reason.

I'd also agree with other people that heading for Walmart is a bad idea. Certainly in the UK, the supermarket shelves are pretty much stripped bare before Christmas, and I'd expect the same thing to happen in a zombie apocalypse. It would be marginally better to go to one of the storage depots that supplies multiple stores, but you still have the problem that it belongs to someone else and other people will have the same idea. The best option is to have your own plan in place so that you don't need to compete against other people for resources.

Sage Saria said...

I'm gonna disagree with you about the dream thing. I distinctly remember thinking weeks passed in some of my dreams. And as for the numerical name in the dream...well I had a vivid nightmare last year about a bomb about to hit in the US and distinctly remember seeing prediction charts and the exact words of a blog post on my usual social networking site giving a countdown and where to find shelter.

Felix Brunschede said...

My plan is actually accumulating supplies that are meant to be eatable for ages(Mostly dried fruit, rusk and beef jerky) and several bottles of water, the 5L variety.
That and a knife and an axe from the hardware store. The knife for practicality purposes of all kinds, a survival tool above all else, and the axe for Zombie hunting. Yes, heavy melee weapons are the better variety against slow zombies, even chimpanzee-smart ones.

In case of chimpanzee-smart fast zombies and dumb but still fast zombies we civilians are royally screwed anyway.

Anonymous said...

Wait... The zombies were a metaphor for natural disasters like tornadoes? You know what that means don't you? ... ZOMBIENADO!! >:D

Anonymous said...

"Personal hygiene" not being important? Listen, obviously they meant FEMININE hygiene.