It seems that no matter the year, there's always a zombie story buried somewhere in that era of comics. From the very early horror and monster pulp days all the way to the modern age, from original works to parody spin-offs involving your favorite characters from childhood, zombies have infected every inch of pop culture and continue to do so no matter how saturated the market gets. Readers just can't get enough of the flesh-eating hordes of the undead.
The spectrum of zombie comics has expanded widely over the decades. For any subject imaginable, there's a zombie comic to follow it.
10 Classic Series The Walking Dead Has A Dark And Subtle Outbreak
A pop culture sensation created by renowned writer Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead is often considered to be the pinnacle of zombie fiction. Probably the most widely-known series of the last ten years, The Walking Dead franchise has expanded to TV series and video games.
The most fascinating part of Kirkman's zombie work is that there was no large-scale outbreak where the armies of the undead spread across the world. Instead, everyone is already infected with the virus. Every human in the series is currently infected by some form of a pathogen of unknown origin and once they die, they are turned into zombies.
9 Wanna Watch Your Childhood Heroes Die? Read Marvel Zombies!
What would happen if the classic characters of Marvel comics became infected with a zombie virus? The Marvel Zombies series focuses on a virus called the Hunger that first infects the Sentry, who quickly spreads it to the Avengers. Not long after, Marvel heavy-hitters such as The Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and the X-Men are infected, plummeting New York into an apocalyptic nightmare.
Before Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. can respond, Quicksilver is turned and uses his speed to circle the globe, rapidly increasing the rate of infection. What follows is the speedy collapse of human society, and soon after, the universe.
8 Scooby-Doo? Zombies? Sure, Why Not!
Want to watch your favorite childhood figures fight hordes of the undead in a gory and gruesome comic? Scooby Apocalypse has you covered.
Taking place in a timeline different from the one fans know, in this story none of the mystery gang know one another. Daphne hosts a mystery show with Fred as her cameraman, Velma is a scientist for a government organization, and Shaggy is a trainer for the Smart Dog program, with Scooby as his subject. Velma reveals the work of a group known as the Four who have developed nanites capable of controlling human minds. When the nanites are released to the populace, the gang must work together to survive.
7 Sweet Home Is A Webtoon Featuring Unique Zombies
Set in a Korean apartment building, Sweet Home is a comic series that follows the surviving residents as a strange virus rapidly mutates their infected neighbors to take a variety of grotesque forms.
The sickness begins with people talking about voices that push them to give in to their most demented desires. Then come the nosebleeds. Finally, those who are too weak to fight off the voices in their heads are transformed into monsters that reflect their desires, such as a voyeur who grows a massive extendable eyestalk, or a starving resident who becomes a cannibal.
6 DCeased Is DC's Perfect Storm Of Terror
Following a lengthy battle with Darkseid, the Justice League emerges victorious and demands his surrender. As Darkseid tries to escape, the League discovers that he has kidnapped Cyborg. After learning about the sought-after piece of the Anti-Life Equation residing within Cyborg's body, Darkseid accidentally corrupts the data and creates a new virus that attaches itself to Cyborg.
When Cyborg returns to Earth, the virus spreads from him to every piece of technology with an internet connection. Anyone who views the data is instantly driven mad — and forced to consume flesh. What happens next is a complete red-alert situation as the League attempts to contain the virus.
5 A Brilliantly Original Zombie Apocalypse Can Be Found In Deadworld
Deadworld is considered by many to be the king of zombie stories. Originally published by Arrow Comics and subsequently bouncing between Caliber, Image, Desperado, and IDW, Deadworld chronicles the apocalyptic scenario of a zombie army taking over the world, led by an overlord known only as King Zombie.
Beloved by fans for its supernatural direction, already setting it apart from the science fiction themes that many zombie stories follow with zombie-equivalent antagonists, the long-running series also catalogs the rise of the King Zombie through numerous one-shots that flesh out every last detail of the world.
4 In Vampire State Building, The Undead Take Control Of The Empire State Building
Though they are named vampires by the comic, they still act very much like zombies: the monsters in Vampire State Building are undead creatures that consume human flesh. In this story, an American soldier and his friends are trapped on the roof of the Empire State Building after a horde of the undead rush in, killing everyone on every floor below and leaving the protagonists to fight their way down to safety. With rumors of some form of "Vampire God" looming on the horizon, the stakes only get higher with every page.
3 The I Am A Hero Manga Presents A Realistic Outbreak
The I Am A Hero manga series follows the outbreak of a zombie plague across Japan. As I Am A Hero follows the emergence of creatures called ZQN, it creates a very realistic setting for an outbreak as the protagonist Hideo Suzuki, armed with only his shotgun, attempts to survive. Further installments in the series take place in Osaka, Ibaraki, and Nagasaki, focusing on various other characters throughout the same outbreak from its very beginning.
2 Zombies Calling Is A Fun And Casual Apocalypse
Zombies Calling is a more comedy-focused zombie story, playing off the massive presence of zombie fiction in media by centering the action around a character who's well-versed in all forms of zombie trivia. Set in Canada, the infection is situated within a university as student Joss uses her knowledge of classic zombie films to lead her friends, Sonnet and Robyn, to safety. Poking fun at the many tropes of zombie and overall horror films, Joss makes no hesitation in battling the horde.
1 Night of the Living Dead: The Beginning Is The Origin Of A Classic
For many, Night of the Living Dead is the center point of the modern zombie canon, and for good reason. It's credited as the zombie film that both created and solidified many of the tropes still seen today. Years after its release and many spin-offs and sequels later, George Romero’s classic film was given a prequel comic to lay out the story of how the infection began. Detailing the rise of the undead horde, this comic is beloved by fans as an accentuation of the original film.
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