Crossed: Darker Than Any Zombie Apocolypse

Crossed is a graphic novel series brought to you by the amazing character developement and story telling skills of Garth Ennis, and the gritty artwork of Jacen burrows.

You might know of Garth Ennis from other works of his like Preacher and The Punisher. He has a gift of making anti-heroes that you reluctantly root for, plot twists, amazing story arcs, and flawless character developement and background. Jacen Burrows artwork is well shaded with delicate inking, where one page will have a lush forest, and the next will have the infected chasing down the protagonists in that very same enviroment.

The one thing that really caught my eye about this series when browsing the shelves of my local comic shop, was the cover. At first, it didn't seem all that different from all those other zombie holocaust stories, but closer inspection and reading proved me wrong. Not only is the disease itself different than anything i'd ever read about, but the way it was presented was harrowing in itself. I never thought I'd read about something far worse than the undead. What if what makes us human was what died? What if the one thing in our lives, in our minds that kept us sane, safe, and harmless, was suddenly shut off? Your family turns on you, hiding doesn't always work, and everyone has plans of raping you, cutting you up, playing with your insides, and possibly consuming your still steaming corpse. And that's the best alternative! The other is you cross and become one of them; hellbent on spreading disease, pain, and suffering all over the world. What I found to be most frightening; was how the crossed evolve their tactics and methods, making them sicker and more sadistic, all for the sheer joy of the kill.

But it's not just blood or bites that "cross" you, but pretty much all bodily fluids like spit, urine, fecal matter, and semen can cause the infection. Unlike zombie-type fiction, this series genuinely scared me. The crossed are capable of talking in a profane and disgusting dialogue, operate machinery, use firearms, and are completely competent of what they are doing. The scary thing about it; is that they sadistically enjoy torturing, beating, executing, raping, terrorizing, and destroying everything in their path. How can you outrun something that doesn't ever tire, will cannibalize each other when hungry or bored, shows no fear, and knows how to get to you both physically and mentally.

I found myself feeling deeply for tragic moments, which are plenty. Dark and even disturbing and controversial subjects come up, some points had me having to look away or re-read certain dialogue and segments because at times it was just that unbelievable! The story is well written, fast paced, and will have you turning the pages with sweaty shaky hands from all the violence and chaos that spreads across the glossy pages.

If you love zombie fiction, this series is definetly for you. Forget 28 Days Later, forget George Romero canon, these infected would chew those zombies up and spit them out. Just a minor warning, this series is very graphic and can be very disturbing. Read with caution.

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