Dead Eyes Open

The dead are returning to lives they never left behind. Far from being shambling zombies, they have all their memories and emotions intact. Dr. John Requin becomes the unwilling eye of a cultural hurricane as society wrestles with how to deal with Returners. The risen dead face internment, violence and terror -- and losing all they hold dear.

From Publishers Weekly

Shepherd (Man-Man) and Boney (Plug-In Boy) give zombies civil rights in this imaginative but limited graphic novel. Not the average brain-eaters (a phrase used as a slur in the comic), these zombies are still human-alive and conscious, even-except that they're dead. John Requin is an undead psychologist with a private practice who keeps his office one degree above frigid in order to keep his body from decomposing and prevent the stench from driving his clients away. When he's discovered by a renegade group of "Returners" or undead, he discovers that he's not alone and is folded into a larger government operation. Both writer and artist explore sociopolitical and religious issues surrounding members of society who don't die. Unfortunately, the themes of zombie rights and government manipulation come across as heavy-handed and act as an obstacle for character development and story growth. Dead Eyes Open is very plot oriented, starting at point A and never wavering in its course to point B. The pacing and Boney's textured illustration and painterly line are flawlessly matched, but the story is too frenzied. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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