Zombies Calling

Last updated
Zombies Calling
ZombiesCalling.jpg
The cover of Zombies Calling.
DateNovember 7, 2007
Publisher Slave Labor Graphics
Creative team
Writers Faith Erin Hicks
ArtistsFaith Erin Hicks
ISBN 1593620799

Zombies Calling is a 2007 graphic novel written and illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks and published by Slave Labor Graphics. [1] [2]

Contents

It concerns the adventures of a young college girl named Joss, who has an obsession with England and zombie movies. She and her two dorm-mates are the only three survivors of a campus-wide zombie plague, but Joss has a strong understanding of the "Rules" of zombie movies. Using the rules, they will survive. Zombies Calling is a more humorous take on zombie stories, similar to the zombie film Shaun of the Dead .

Plot

Joss, Sonnet and Robyn are all dorm-mates at London University, a university in southern Ontario. Joss is studying for exams, but while on a snack run, she's nearly overrun by zombies. Initially afraid, the "First Rule of Zombie Movies" kicks in for Joss: confronted with zombies, ordinary people will transform into tough, adept and ruthless fighters. Joss survives the attack and runs back to her dorm in a panic, but Sonnet and Robyn don't believe her. The zombies have since dispersed, and are nowhere to be seen.

Later, during the exam, the zombies return. Joss gets Sonnet and Robyn, and they barricade themselves in their dorm, since the nearest mall is too far away (another Zombie Rule: "Never leave the mall"). The phones are out, according to another Rule, so they remain in the dorm room. Meanwhile, the Canadian Army are figuring out what to do about the zombies. A high-ranking officer mentions that his son, Robyn, can "turn the tide of a Zombie invasion".

The next morning, the zombie epidemic is just as bad. Joss wants to stay in the dorm and await rescue, but Sonnet and Robyn know another Rule: no one ever rescues the survivors. They make a break for it, armed only with a spork. Soon, however, they're surrounded. As the Zombies close in, Joss' English professor emerges, and explains that he created the zombie epidemic by poisoning the coffee at the campus coffeehouse as a statement about the cheapening of higher education: few university students care any more about education, and would rather just pay for a degree. They are figurative zombies, so the professor has turned them into literal zombies.

Just then, the Army launches air strikes to purge the zombies. Joss, Sonnet and Robyn still need to get away, however, so Joss follows another Zombie Rule: sacrifice yourself to lead the zombies away. The zombies corner her in the university library, which is then bombed.

Joss survives the collapse, and wakes up a few weeks later in the hospital. The university is in ruins after a large portion of its student and faculty population became zombies and were purged. Mortified to hear this, Joss decides to vacation in England.

The Canadian government has paid for Joss' trip to England. There she meets a boy wearing a Canada T-shirt, and they go walking along the Thames together.

Characters

Joss - Short for Jocelyn, she is the story's protagonist. She's energetic and bizarre, and also courageous and quick-witted. She's constantly worried about her student loan and has a perpetual obsession with England, always wearing a Union Jack tank top, and peppering her vocabulary with British slang. She has strong knowledge about zombie movies, which proves invaluable to their survival. She also has a strong emotional side later in the story.

Sonnet - Joss' friend. She's mildly Goth, having black-dyed hair and an interest in writing macabre poetry, but is very sly and chipper. She's the most confused and horrified by the zombie plague.

Robyn - Joss' roommate. He's a slacker, overly excitable, and is blissfully unaware of the danger around him. He's also somewhat of a pervert; Joss suspects that Robyn likes to root through her underwear drawer, and he has a dream of making love to Belinda Stronach. His parents have a mysterious position of authority in the Canadian Army, and they organize an offensive against the zombies.

The Professor - Although never named, the Professor is Joss' teacher, and he's the one that has created the zombie plague. He is also able to control the zombies, since they view him as their leader. He's very smarmy, and usually refers to his students as "children". The other characters think he's completely insane for having created a zombie infestation to "make a point".

The Rules

"The Rules" are a list of zombie movie clichés that play an important role in Zombies Calling. These are the ones mentioned in the story:

The remaining Rules are not numbered:

Background references

A number of background items reference real-life films and other things. They include:

Much of the referenced material originates from England, probably reflecting Joss' (and the author's) obsession with England.

Critical reception

Zombies Calling was well received by critics. [3] [4] [5] Faith Erin Hicks was nominated for the 2008 Joe Shuster Award for "Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)" and won the award for "Favourite Creator: English Language Publication". [6]

Related Research Articles

Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction Genre of fiction

Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of science fiction, science fantasy, dystopia or horror in which the Earth's technological civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronomical, such as an impact event; destructive, such as nuclear holocaust or resource depletion; medical, such as a pandemic, whether natural or human-caused; end time, such as the Last Judgment, Second Coming or Ragnarök; or more imaginative, such as a zombie apocalypse, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics or alien invasion.

<i>Dawn of the Dead</i> (1978 film) 1978 horror film directed by George A. Romero

Dawn of the Dead is a 1978 horror film written, directed, and edited by George A. Romero. An international co-production between the United States and Italy, it was written by Romero in collaboration with Italian filmmaker Dario Argento, and produced by Richard P. Rubinstein in association with Claudio Argento and Alfredo Cuomo. It is the second film in Romero's Night of the Living Dead series of zombie films, and though it contains no characters or settings from the preceding film Night of the Living Dead (1968), it shows in a larger scale the effects of a zombie apocalypse on society. In the film, a phenomenon of unidentified origin has caused the reanimation of the dead, who prey on human flesh. David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Gaylen Ross star as survivors of the outbreak who barricade themselves inside a suburban shopping mall amid mass hysteria.

<i>Dawn of the Dead</i> (2004 film) 2004 film by Zack Snyder

Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 American action horror film directed by Zack Snyder and written by James Gunn. It is the remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film, and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, and Mekhi Phifer. A handful of human survivors taking refuge in a suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin shopping mall are surrounded by swarms of zombies. Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Kevin Zegers, and Lindy Booth play supporting roles; the original's cast members Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Tom Savini appear in cameos. Dawn of the Dead is Snyder's film directorial debut. The film was released by Universal Pictures on March 19, 2004, and grossed $102 million worldwide against a budget of $26 million.

Living Dead is a blanket term for the loosely connected horror franchise that originated from the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. The film, written by George A. Romero and John A. Russo, primarily focuses on a group of people gathering at a farmhouse to survive from an onslaught of zombies in rural Pennsylvania. It is known to have inspired the modern interpretation of zombies as reanimated human corpses that feast on the flesh and/or brains of the living.

<i>Resident Evil: Extinction</i>

Resident Evil: Extinction is a 2007 action horror film directed by Russell Mulcahy and written by Paul W. S. Anderson. A direct sequel to Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), it is the third installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is loosely based on the Capcom survival horror video game series of the same name. The film follows the heroine Alice, along with a group of survivors from Raccoon City, as they attempt to travel across the Mojave desert wilderness to Alaska and escape a zombie apocalypse.

<i>Night of the Comet</i> 1984 American science fiction horror comedy film directed by Thom Eberhardt

Night of the Comet is a 1984 American science fiction comedy horror film written and directed by Thom Eberhardt. It stars Catherine Mary Stewart, Robert Beltran, and Kelli Maroney as survivors of a comet that has turned most people into either dust or zombies. Night of the Comet grossed $14.4 million in the US on a $700,000 budget. It has a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 79% and has since become a cult film, influencing the creation of Buffy Summers.

<i>Cell</i> (novel)

Cell is a 2006 apocalyptic horror novel by American author Stephen King. The story follows a New England artist struggling to reunite with his young son after a mysterious signal broadcast over the global cell phone network turns the majority of his fellow humans into mindless vicious animals.

Erin Hunter is a collective pseudonym used by the authors Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Inbali Iserles, Tui T. Sutherland, Kasey Widhalm and Rosie Best, in the writing of several juvenile fantasy novel series, which focus on animals and their adventures. Notable works include the Warriors, Seekers, Survivors, and Bravelands book series. It was also previously used by Gillian Philip. Each of the authors play a different role: while Holmes creates the storyline of each book, Cary, Baldry, and Sutherland take turns writing the books. In addition, another person who isn't an Erin Hunter writes the manga: Dan Jolley.

Faith Erin Hicks

Faith Erin Hicks is a Canadian cartoonist and animator living in Vancouver, British Columbia.

<i>Planet Terror</i> 2007 film by Robert Rodriguez

Planet Terror is a 2007 American horror comedy film written, directed, photographed and co-edited by Robert Rodriguez. It stars Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Josh Brolin, Marley Shelton, Naveen Andrews, Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, Stacy Ferguson, and Bruce Willis. The plot follows a group of people attempting to survive an onslaught of zombie-like creatures as they feud with a military unit. The film was released theatrically in North America alongside Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof as part of the double feature Grindhouse.

Zombie Fictional undead creature

A zombie is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in which a zombie is a dead body reanimated through various methods, most commonly magic. Modern depictions of the reanimation of the dead do not necessarily involve magic but often invoke science fictional methods such as carriers, radiation, mental diseases, vectors, pathogens, parasites, scientific accidents, etc.

Zombie apocalypse is a genre of fiction in which civilization collapses due to swarms of zombies overwhelming social, law-enforcement, and military structures. Typically, only a few individuals or small bands of survivors are left of the living.

<i>Cell</i> (film)

Cell is a 2016 American science fiction horror film based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Stephen King. The film is directed by Tod Williams, produced by John Cusack, with a screenplay by King and Adam Alleca. The film stars John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, and Isabelle Fuhrman. The film was released on June 10, 2016 to video on demand, prior to a limited release scheduled for July 8, 2016. Cell is the second film adaptation of a King story to co-star Cusack and Jackson, after the 2007 film 1408.

<i>World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2</i>

World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 is a 2011 British horror film written by Kevin Gates, directed by Michael Bartlett and Gates and produced by Rob Weston. The film stars Alix Wilton Regan, Philip Brodie and Vicky Aracio. The film is a sequel to The Zombie Diaries.

<i>Warm Bodies</i> 2010 novel by Isaac Marion

Warm Bodies is a novel by author Isaac Marion. The book was described as a "zombie romance" by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and makes allusions to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The author, based in Seattle, originally wrote a short story titled "I Am a Zombie Filled with Love". Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, acquired the publishing rights to the full novel in early 2010.

<i>Zombie Apocalypse</i> (film)

Zombie Apocalypse is a 2011 American zombie horror film by Syfy and The Asylum starring Ving Rhames, Gary Weeks, Johnny Pacar, Robert Blanche, Anya Monzikova, Lesley-Ann Brandt and Taryn Manning. Directed by Nick Lyon, it was released on the Syfy channel on October 29, 2011. It was released on DVD on December 27, 2011.

<i>The Last of Us: American Dreams</i>

The Last of Us: American Dreams is a four-issue comic book series based on the video game The Last of Us. It was written by Last of Us creative director Neil Druckmann and cartoonist Faith Erin Hicks, with illustrations by Hicks and coloring by Rachelle Rosenberg. The series was published by Dark Horse Comics between April and July 2013, and a collected edition was published in October 2013.

<i>Pride and Prejudice and Zombies</i> (film)

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a 2016 action comedy horror film based on Seth Grahame-Smith's 2009 novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which parodies the 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The film is directed by Burr Steers, who wrote the adapted screenplay, and stars Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance, and Lena Headey. The film follows the general plot of Austen's original novel, with elements of zombie, horror and post-apocalyptic fiction incorporated.

<i>Redcon-1</i>

Redcon-1 is a 2018 British action horror film, starring Katarina Waters, Mark Strange, and Carlos Gallardo. The film was produced by Gallardo and Kevin Eastman. Working titles for the film included Zombie Apocalypse and Zombie City. It is Gallardo's second zombie movie. The film was released in the UK on 28 September, 2018.

<i>Blood Quantum</i> (film) 2019 Canadian horror film

Blood Quantum is a 2019 Canadian horror film written and directed by Jeff Barnaby and starring Michael Greyeyes, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Forrest Goodluck, Kiowa Gordon, Brandon Oakes, Olivia Scriven, Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs, and Gary Farmer. The film depicts the effects of a zombie uprising on a First Nations reserve whose residents are immune to contracting the plague because of their indigenous heritage, but must still cope with the consequences of its effects on the world around them, including white refugees seeking shelter on the reserve.

References

  1. Zombies Calling first graphic novel for Hicks, Milton Canadian Champion, December 21, 2007
  2. Faith Erin Hicks on Zombies Calling [ permanent dead link ], Newsarama, May 1, 2008
  3. Noel Murray; Keith Phipps; Tasha Robinson (January 18, 2008). "Comics Panel: January 18, 2008". The Onion A.V. Club. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  4. Jason Green (December 31, 2007). "Jason Green - Comics". PLAYBACK.stl. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  5. Tonya Crawford (January 2, 2008). "What To Do When there Are Zombies Callings". Broken Frontier. Archived from the original on July 9, 2007. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  6. Nominees and winners of the 2008 Joe Shuster Awards