There's a lot to like about this comic, which is standard sized and includes three short vignettes. While it is clear that the creators are still learning their craft, you can see their hard work coming through.

The artwork varies in style from sketchy to amateurish to polished, but all three do a good job of basic storytelling. The differing art styles helped me enjoy this book more.

All three stories are written with clever dialogue, and each has a "twist" away from what you are expecting. In that way, this is a fun read would be a nice diversion if you need a break from your reading list.

If you haven;t had a chance yet to check out the Dead Future series, I have to ask what your waiting for? First of all your here looking at this review, so your off to a good start. These books are packed full of horror goodness!

I really enjoyed this issue. I think that as each issue comes out the team behind them get a better grasp on horror anthologies. Nice artwork and good stories lend to the overall here so easily worth me saying give it a chance.

Grim Crew is back with another installment of their zombie anthology, Dead Future Issue 2. The first issue is a surprisingly fresh set of stories given that zombies are becoming an extremely limiting literary resource these days. While issue 2 doesn’t attain the same standards of originality, it’s a fun read and, more importantly, its existence is justified merely by virtue of those aforementioned zombies.

The first story, With a Whimper is written by Sebastian Piccione and illustrated by Martinho Abreu who also contributed artwork to Dead Future Issue 1. Piccione’s protagonist is the last living man on earth, at least as far as he can tell, and he’s no longer concerned with trying to fight the zombie horde nor is he concerned with survival. His only concern is that he doesn’t die by their hands and become one of them.

The only negative aspect of With a Whimper is its lack of originality which is apparent immediately. Whimper’s problem starts with the genesis of the modern zombie archetype. George Romero has stated that Night of the Living Dead’s basic concept is a rip off of Richard Matheson’s book I Am Legend. Foregoing vampires, Romero’s ghouls became zombies almost by accident as a minimal-effort attempt at differentiating his story. Piccione’s story brings this relationship full circle, being much more similar to I am Legend than Night of the Living Dead and again foregoing vampires for zombies.

Abreu’s understated artwork clears the way for narrative momentum and clearly articulates the action when words cannot. Well-paced and adhering to a Twilight Zone inspired structure which sets up an emphatic twist, With a Whimper works well, it just feels a bit stale.

Kindergarten Zombies, written by Candy Hart and Illustrated by Julio Falkenhagen, is a tonal anomaly compared to the rest of the stories in the Dead Future series. It’s composed in the style of a comic strip in which a class of 5-year-olds battle zombies comprised of teachers and other various school officials. Culminating in a gory and implausible slaughter in the middle of suburbia, Kindergarten Zombies finally justifies itself with a last ditch twist.

Hart’s story is essentially a long set up for the last panel – a panel that does barely enough to quell our mounting frustration toward the inexplicable events that precede it. There is very little dialogue leaving much of what’s happening in the hands of Falkenhagen whose style is the only one appropriate for a story about 5-year-old zombie hunters. Think Calvin and Hobbes, add blood and viscera and there you have it – Kindergarten Zombies.

Dead Future Issue 2 closes with The Rest of the Story written by Daniel Palmer and illustrated by Juha Veltti. Palmer’s story begins with a zombie making his way through small-town Georgia and eventually arriving at a house already besieged by the living dead. As ghouls overtake the house the remaining survivors fall prey until only a mother and her young daughter remain. As they’re attacked by the new arrival, Palmer’s twist reveals the ghoul’s former identity.

Veltti’s artwork is clear and dramatic using contrast and shadows to create a dynamic and oppressive environment. The Rest of the Story contains very little dialogue and narration, once again relying on simple and well-composed imagery to tell the story. Veltti’s artwork is the perfect utility.

Palmer’s story is very minimalist and it uses extremely well-worn zombie conceits in ways they’ve always been used. Given the tight small-scale nature of the story, the twist (yes, The Rest of the Story is yet another large plot convention the purpose of which is to set up a twist) needs a serious wow-factor for its payoff to be gratifying. Unfortunately, there’s only an anticlimactic lack of wow……and more zombies of course.

Grim Crew’s maiden voyage with Dead Future set the bar extremely high. Its value lies in its impressive ingenuity in a genre that has been bled of fresh ideas a long time ago. Dead Future Issue 2 is more along the lines of what one should expect from such a project. It has the unfortunate distinction of arriving on the heels of a set of stories that blow expectations sky high. However, despite its relative lack of freshness Dead Future Issue 2 is an undeniably well made and entertaining read and I look forward to more zombie mayhem from Grim Crew.

In an era when comic books have the same relationship with zombies as ESPN has with football, it’s difficult to find something fresh about the living dead, no pun intended. However, Grim Crew’s Dead Future Issue 1 is an anthology comprised of three zombie apocalypse stories all of which offer an element of originality in this otherwise predictable comic book niche.

The first story, Real Monsters, written by Martin Brandt II and Illustrated by Paul Petyo is a tale of day-to-day urban survival in a world overrun by zombies. This segment has all the trappings of the archetypal zombie paradigm as well as a few unique wrinkles. One of these is that the living can go about their business among the living dead provided they don’t upset the zombies’ routines and that these excursions take place during the day time. The most interesting and original aspect of Real Monsters is Paul Petyo’s approach to the illustrations. The panels are essentially photographs in which actors play the characters on various sets. These photographs have been digitally manipulated both to achieve a consistent aesthetic and to realize the details of the world in which Real Monsters takes place. The result is a creepy and realistic post apocalyptic cityscape come to life.

The second story, Major Tom, written by Martin Brandt II and illustrated by Martinho Abreu is a conventionally composed comic book narrative the strength of which is its concept. Major Tom and his crew are aboard a space station awaiting word from mission control regarding the launch of a resupply ship. With only 10 days of supplies remaining on the station, time is ticking when the launch mission gets canceled with no reasonable explanation. As the days count down, the dire situation reveals itself to Major Tom. A zombie plague has spread quickly across the globe and mankind is doomed to extinction. Tom and his crew are the only hope for the human race as they orbit the world awaiting the arrival of one last unmanned supply ship. This story drips out exposition and fills in the blanks at a nice pace, with a couple twists to boot. Abreu’s artwork is solid and utilitarian. The pages feature conventionally shaped panels of uniform size containing relatively basic grayscale pencil drawings that clearly convey Brandt’s story.

The last story, Non Mortuus, written and illustrated by Roberto Macedo Alves takes place in old world Europe during the 16th century. In an original take on the zombie plague mythos, Alves introduces us to Pope Innocent VIII who becomes power mad and a good deal crazy in general. When years of debauchery take its toll on the pope’s health he turns to witchcraft to stave off his impending death. His quest for immortality goes horribly wrong killing everyone involved with the spell, save for the witch. When the pope and his spell’s two sacrificial victims all return from the grave a zombie apocalypse burns across Europe. After the story’s peripheral narrator waxes optimistic regarding his own future it becomes clear that Pope Innocent’s inadvertent apocalypse will have huge implications on the way the history of the world unfolds, history books be damned!

Dead Future Issue 1 offers everything a comic book of the highest quality should offer. It features superior writing, impressive and various artwork, and most importantly it offers unique and compelling zombie stories proving there’s still some fight left in that old carcass. Aside from a few careless typos there are no glaring negatives to be found. How long the Dead Future series can deliver this level of storytelling is anybody’s guess, but issue 1 is a monster….no pun intended.