Grave Concerns
Zombie comic book series wants
Eugene’s braaaains
BY A ARON R AGAN - FORE
E
ugene can be a contradictory place. Some fi nd
numerous opportunities here, seeing Eugene
as a community full of music, culture, good food
and outdoor adventure. Others characterize the
city more prosaically, as a nice place to live, but
maybe a little … lacking in diversions.
Count cartoonist Michael Allred in the former category. “Growing
up in Roseburg, Eugene was always the exciting place to go,” he
says. Allred, creator of the independent critical-darling comic book
Madman, moved on to college in Utah (where he met his wife, comic-
book colorist Laura Allred) and eventually lived for a time in Eugene.
He later relocated to various points all around the country, and even
to Europe. But Eugene always held a special place in his heart.
Now Allred is the artist of a comic book series that is not only
set in Eugene, but also embraces the line our city walks between
the everyday and the extraordinary.
Published by DC Comics’ imprint for adults, Vertigo, iZombie
follows the adventures of Gwen Dylan, a UO dropout who hangs
out in a diner, makes her living digging graves in an eco-friendly
cemetery and who just happens to be an undead zombie.
Gwen, helped along by her friends Ellie the ghost and Scott
the were-terrier (yes, you read that right), solves supernatural
mysteries, eats the occasional brain and dodges an ancient order
of monster hunters … all punctuated by routine trips to the diner
for chocolate and coff ee.
Comparing his work to a cross between Archie comics and
Scooby-Doo, iZombie series writer and New York Times best-
selling author Chris Roberson, who lives in Austin, Texas, says
that balancing the mundane and the fantastic sides of Eugene is
one of his goals. Roberson’s stories cleverly subvert the standard
monster-movie formula by showing how the undead spend their
down time.
ON THIS PAGE: On the cover to iZombie #5, Gwen the zombie’s troubles hit her like a ton of dirt.
OPPOSITE: In the world of iZombie, Eugeneans are unaware they’re rubbing elbows with zombies,
vampires, ghosts and were-beasts in locations like the Downtown Lounge and the UO campus.
Art by Michael Allred, colors by Laura Allred.
10 FEBRUARY 16, 2012
EUGENE WEEKLY
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