The debut issue of Everything Dead and Dying put its own twist on the zombie genre by showcasing what would happen if someone chose to continue living among the dead instead of fighting them. It was a choice that led to moments both horrifying and heartwarming, and that continues in Everything Dead and Dying #2. Jack Chandler’s relatively peaceful life is shattered by a group of people who’ve been hunting down zombies, which puts his undead husband Luke and daughter Daisy in danger. How far is Jack willing to go to protect his loved ones, even if they aren’t living anymore?
For this issue, Tate Brombal and Jacob Phillips break down the core elements of Jack and Luke’s relationship into four key moments: their first meeting, a major fight that nearly tore them apart, their life on their farm, and the day Luke succumbed to the zombie virus. These moments are first broken up into four panels on the opening pages, but throughout Everything Dead and Dying #2, we return to those moments, where they’re further fleshed out.
It’s here that Brombal’s approach to this series takes focus: this is first and foremost a love story. The previous issue explored what led Jack to live in relative solitude with Luke and Daisy before the rise of the dead; now readers see what led Jack and Luke to fall in love. Once again, Brombal doesn’t pull any punches when going for the emotional moments, especially during Jack and Luke’s fight. It’s heart-wrenching, it’s messy, and it taps into a primal fear that transcends the living dead: the idea that you might lose the person you love. It explains, in some part, why he’s so hellbent on keeping Luke and Daisy around.
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Phillips continues to pack Everything Dead and Dying #2 with striking imagery, both in the past and the present. The present is full of gore, from a headless zombie body that’s a mash of rotting flesh and blood, to Luke’s torn and decaying face as he snaps at the camera. It’s a far cry from the past sections, which feature him whole and exhibiting a different range of emotions, from rage and sadness during his argument with Jack to a sense of contentment on their farm. Phillips’ art works in tandem with Brombal’s dialogue, fleshing out these characters in more ways than one.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how Pip Martin’s colors bring beauty and horror in equal measure to the world of Everything Dead and Dying. The flashbacks feature warmer colors, from hazy pinks and purples to golden sunlight. In the present, those colors are interrupted by the cold blue of Luke’s former house and the bright red of zombies’ scarred flesh. Even Aditya Bidikar’s lettering takes on different hues: word balloons are more of a yellowish hue, where Jack’s captions take on a rosier hue that’s fitting for the more romantic element of this comic.
Everything Dead and Dying #2 scrapes away at the zombie layer underneath to reveal a tragic love story, and the lengths someone will go to for the love of their life, even if they’re the living dead. If you pick up this comic, you’re going to be horrified, emotionally wrung out, or both – and it’s a rare zombie tale that can do that.
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