Graphic Novel Review: IDW's "Land of the Dead"!

The comic book publisher has made a name for itself in the comic book industry thanks to the break out success of Steve Niles’ first “30 Days of Night” series (and subsequent and endless sequels). It has now become one of the leaders in horror comics along side Dark Horse and even Marvel (especially with their ever growing Marvel Zombie titles). With there adaptation of George A. Romero’s LAND OF THE DEAD this is no exception. Now compiled into a graphic novel readers can see the full film in four color glory from artist Gabriel Rodriguez and writer Chris Ryall, with colors by Jay Fotos, and amazing covers by Chris Bolton.

If you’ve seen the film this book doesn’t stray much and in fact is the “Director’s Cut” of the film restoring scenes that were cut from the theatrical version of the film (but subsequently inserted back into the DVD version). Ryall does a capable job with the material but then again you can’t really improve on Romero’s writing; he does make the transition from film to comic book less noticeable like many other adaptations that I have read. It is Rodriguez’ artwork that makes the book stand out as it is a great companion to the material and both Romero and Ryall’s writing style. Although he does take some liberties with the representations of the actors, Rodriguez still manages to capture the feeling of each character regardless of what “actor” is playing the character. This is the greatest asset to the comic as if there had never been a film this book would still be a very good way to spend and afternoon reading.

The book, like the movie itself, is very fast paced and a quick read which is why it is better reading it in graphic novel form rather then as individual issues. Also with the graphic novel you get all of the covers by Bolton which are gorgeous and a work of art unto themselves. My only complaint is that there aren’t enough extras like character sketches or sample script pages or a forward or anything else that makes buying the graphic novel worth the extra bucks if you’ve already got the individual issues. Sadly none of the extras are present so this would be a redundant buy for those who already have the entire five issue series.

This is a small price to pay for one of the better graphic novel adaptations currently out there.