The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade: The Graphic Novel Review: Apocalypse Never Looked This Fun

WEPAAAA! The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade: The Graphic Novel is the kind of adaptation I can rock with because it actually wants to be a comic, not a prose novel wearing speech balloons. Andy Rogers adapts Max Brallier’s second Last Kids on Earth adventure with Brian Churilla on art, Gonzalo Duarte on colors and Pete Friedrich handling lettering, and the whole thing comes out swinging with monsters, zombies, ridiculous weapons and four kids who somehow turned the apocalypse into the world’s most dangerous summer vacation. The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade… The hook is simple: zombies are disappearing from Wakefield, and when Jack, June, Quint and Dirk discover the undead are being drawn somewhere by a mysterious shrieking sound, you already know sitting safely in the treehouse ain’t an option.

What makes it work is Jack Sullivan. My guy thinks he’s Snake Plissken, Indiana Jones and the greatest monster hunter alive rolled into one skinny kid, while everybody around him knows he’s also kind of a pain in the ass. Rogers keeps that swagger funny without making Jack obnoxious because underneath all the nonsense is a kid who genuinely loves his crew. That’s where the book gets some heart. Jack’s obsession with being the hero slowly bumps against the realization that protecting June, Quint and Dirk doesn’t mean doing everything himself. Sometimes you gotta trust your people, papo. Simple lesson, but it fits Jack instead of feeling stapled onto the story because somebody remembered this is technically a kids’ book.

The monster bestiary is probably my favorite storytelling gimmick here. Jack and the crew are documenting the creatures around Wakefield, learning their behaviors and collecting information while the larger zombie mystery keeps cooking. It gives Churilla an excuse to unleash one weird-ass creature after another, but it also establishes that “monster” doesn’t automatically mean villain. One of the nastiest-looking creatures in the book winds up protecting Jack’s friends from the Wormungulous, and the story makes its point through action instead of stopping everything for a morality speech. The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade… The only drawback is that the bestiary quests get slightly repetitive through the middle. I would’ve trimmed a little of that business and kept the disappearing-zombie mystery burning hotter.

Brian Churilla is having a damn good time visually, and you can feel it. His characters stretch, panic, yell, fight and react with that big animated energy this world needs, but the storytelling never becomes sloppy. Jack, June, Quint and Dirk each move differently and have distinct expressions, while the monsters can be disgusting, hilarious and genuinely intimidating without suddenly turning this into The Walking Dead Junior. The zombie parade is where Churilla really sells the scale. Seeing this mass of undead bodies moving through the woods makes the kids look tiny, and suddenly the goofy “zombie parade” idea feels a whole lot more ominous. The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade… That’s comics doing what comics are supposed to do. Don’t just tell me the situation got bigger. Show me.

Gonzalo Duarte’s colors keep all that madness from turning into visual arroz con mierda. There are zombies, monsters, kids, gadgets, supernatural effects and busy environments constantly fighting for attention, yet the characters remain readable and the action stays clean. Pete Friedrich has an equally tricky job with Jack’s narration, dialogue, monster noises and some gigantic SHRIEEEEEEEEK! effects bouncing around these pages, but I never had to stop and figure out where my eye was supposed to go next. The Shrieking especially becomes part of the atmosphere rather than just another sound effect pasted over the artwork.

Let’s the whole crew their flowers because that’s how we do it around here. Irene Yeom, Madelyn Sackett and Sally Scott handle background art, Pete Friedrich and Jim Hoover are credited with art direction and design, John Roshell at Comicraft provides typographic assistance, Dana Leydig handles editorial, Vanessa Robles is on production, Gaby Corzo and Ginny Dominguez handle managing editorial, Abigail Powers is credited with copyediting, and Pageturner Graphic Novels handles book production. The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade… That’s a lot of people keeping this monster circus moving, and the finished book feels cohesive instead of assembled by committee.

By the time the real threat reveals itself, the book has done enough character work that the danger means more than “big monster appears, everybody fight.” Jack’s choices have consequences, his need to play hero gets tested, and his friends remind him that this apocalypse thing is a team sport. That’s ultimately why Zombie Parade lands for me. Yeah, the monsters are cool. The zombies are funny. The action moves. But Brallier’s world works because Jack, June, Quint and Dirk actually feel like a little family trying to survive some absolutely bananas circumstances together. Younger readers should eat this joint up, longtime Last Kids fans get a proper comic adaptation, and grown folks reading alongside their kids won’t be staring at the clock waiting for it to end. That’s a win, fam. WEPAAAA!

CRUSADERS SCORE:
4/5

Original Story: Max Brallier
Adapted By: Andy Rogers
Art: Brian Churilla
Colors: Gonzalo Duarte
Background Artists: Irene Yeom, Madelyn Sackett, Sally Scott
Lettering: Pete Friedrich
Art Direction & Design: Pete Friedrich, Jim Hoover
Typographic Assistance: John Roshell at Comicraft
Editorial: Dana Leydig
Original Illustration Style: Based on original art by Douglas Holgate
Publisher: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House

On Sale 11/3