Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Knights Of The Living Dead TPKnights of the Living Dead TPB
SLG Comics
Wolfe & Higgins

Originally published in 2011, I happened across this title a little while ago and finally got around to reading it. I was pleasantly surprised as to what I found. Assuming this book would be basically zombies against King Arthur, I found that this book, while horror in nature, is anything but simply zombies against the round table. The book is actually two stories in one and reminded me of a longer version of the old Creepy magazines published some forty years ago. I enjoyed the book and definitely recommend this to those that like their horror a bit more subtle and character driven. This was a good read.

The first half of the book is very succinct in its scope. Arthur is watching over the burning at the stake of his wife, Guinivere. While waiting to give the signal to light her up, Arthur debates with Merlin and Mordred about his actions. Really, he's stalling hoping that Lancelot will rescue her. However, when Lancelot arrives he is an angry zombie. What ensues in the courtyard is very bloody but it really provides a means for the descent of one character while another rises to the occasion and has a coming of age story by the book's end. The story is really great.

The second story is much more creepy. It's about a boy (later a man) and how he has this unique relationship with a lady in a lake. While the boy has dreams of growing and becoming something greater from this interaction, all he really gets out of it is the gift of song. Being a horror story, there is an element in here that allows for this to be a very different story by the time everything ties together at the end. I won't spoil the story any further.

The book is a good read. I would have preferred the two stories to tie together more, but the connection is present enough that it fits. However, that didn't stop me from waiting for some Arthur character to show up to interface with the lady in the lake. The first story felt much more realistic. Perhaps this is because the characters and their legend are so familiar or it could be that I couldn't really tell what was a dream and what was reality in the second story.

The second story is also much slower. There is a build up to the terror and its reminiscent of Ed Brubaker's Fatale series. The payoff is good, it just took a little longer to reach it. Whereas the first story has a ton of "wow!!!" moments early on and more often.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsVisually the book is tremendous. I loved both ends of the book's artwork. The designs and composition of Arthur and company is tremendous even if it does take some liberties. The second story has that haunting feeling throughout that is just terrific. There is some excellent usage of facial expressions in the second story that really sells the horror aspect of the book. The tone of the entire book is set perfectly by the artwork.

Overall the comic is 150 pages of story and it includes extras, which is a nice touch. The size of the book is more digest than comic book size but none of the details are lost in the smaller package. The book is a fast read, but it also has that "can't put it down" feeling to it. I think any fan of horror, suspense or King Arthur is going to love the comic. I definitely recommend heading over to SLG's website and testing this book out.

4 out of 5 Geek Goggles