Nerds That Geek Comic Book Series Review – ‘Night of the Living Dead: London’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​One of the great wonders of the comic book universe, is the sheer fact that it is the only medium out there where it is okay for writers and artists to plunge characters we know and love into alternate universes and unique and unprecedented situations. And this exclusive venture into the world of ‘What if?’ has produced some incredible stories throughout the years since it allows for iconic characters such as Superman to become the villain, without any of the consequences that would come about from him turning on Metropolis.
 
Yet, what’s truly magical about this particular wrinkle to the comic book world is that it extends far beyond the mainstream books that we often enjoy, it’s also been extended to horror. And back in 1993, FantaCo Enterprises decided to explore an alternate sequel to Night of the Living Dead, one that took some incredible liberties with George Romero’s universe in chilling and outright breathtaking fashion by way of a zombie story set across the pond and well, Night of the Living Dead: London remains to this day, one of my favorite ‘elseworlds’ stories because of the incredibly bold story that it bothered to tell.
 
Set immediately after Night of the Living Dead: Aftermath, we come to learn that the woman who hopped a plane with a bite on her shoulder turned an entire plane into a cargo hold of the dead and unleashed them upon jolly old England. Which of course led to disaster and the end of the civilization in the U.K. and twenty five-years after the plague we are thrown into the thick of things at Buckingham Palace, wherein the royal family and everyone living there has in essence lost their minds and we simply sit back and watch the madness unfold as people work toward their own twisted and ugly agendas, unaware of the threat that walks amongst them.
 
Now, what makes this comic series so incredibly unique, is the sheer fact that it goes to some dark places as it tells its tale. Because there are some shocking moments to be found in this one, the kind that definitely drop your jaw. But what really surprised me about this story, was its exploration on the darkness that resides in humanity, specifically, how we can be totally fine with abandoning what makes us better without giving it a second thought when the rules are no longer in place and how some are able to simply ignore their disturbing actions while in that mindset and carry on about their day as though nothing bad just happened.
 
Much of that comes courtesy of the fact that horror legend Clive Barker and comic legend Steve Niles worked on the script for this book and the writing definitely draws you in, but the art is equally as haunting in this story. For the same nightmarish look and aesthetic that was present in the NOTLD adaptation continues here, and it’s enhanced by the decaying look of a Kingdom long gone and the hideous corpses that are still shambling about twenty-five years after the world came to an end and sadly, like its predecessor, this one is hard to come by. But if you find a copy of this one, get your hands on it immediately, because it really is a quality read, one that will definitely unsettle and disturb you. 

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