Superheros and zombies go together well as the comic series Marvel Zombies has proved. A new addition to this specialised genre is due out next year.

Newsarama reports that Super Zombies, written by Marc Guggenheim & Vince Gonzales and drawn by Mel Rubi, will be launched by Dynamite in March 2009. The story features a world torn apart by two plagues. The first gives a small number of people super powers, the second turns some of them into zombies. The remaining heros and some of the villains join together to fight the super-powered zombies.

Guggenheim is aware that people will immediately think of the successful Marvel comic series. He says:

“The whole story hinges upon plot turns and mysteries that are extremely universe-specific — and that universe just isn’t the Marvel one.”

and:

“There are going to be obvious comparisons to Marvel Zombies and I think one of the things Vince and I were most concerned with was crafting a story that could not — in any way — be mistaken for MZ. Not that MZ isn’t a kickass comic, but we wanted to make sure we weren’t copying it. The truth is, the whole project’s a bit subversive because I don’t think it’s what you’re expecting from the title — and I mean that in a good way.”

Sounds interesting!

George A Romero has been discussing his latest zombie movie with USA Today. This time round the social message is going to be “tribalism”. Romero is quoted as saying:

“There are two factions. It’s the idea that even when faced with a crisis, tribal concerns about power control people’s motives.”

The title of the new film – which is currently shooting in Toronto – is still unconfirmed, my money’s on Isle of the Dead. To keep us in suspense the production company making the film is actually named “Blank of the Dead”!

Trouble might be brewing in the usually peaceful world of the undead: today’s press includes two different reports claiming a new world record for the most zombies assembled together.

In the UK, the Telegraph claims the record for Nottingham’s GameCity Zombiefest. 1,227 people dressed as zombies gathered in the Old Market Square and danced or shuffled to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’.

But over the other side of the pond WoodTV reports that some 2000 people attended a charity Zombie Walk in Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids.

Although the Rosa Park Circle figure is higher, the Nottingham event was formally counted by officials from Guinness World Records so is likely to become the official record.

One thing everyone agrees on is that the previous record was set last year when over 1000 zombies gathered in Monroeville Mall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. If they’re traditional Romero zombies then many of them are probably still there…

Photo Credit: nickstone333 (Creative Commons)

I’ll write a full review after the whole series has been shown, for now I just want to say: brilliant. The concept is genius, the execution superb and the action appropriately frenetic. Even “Queen D” gets the thumbs up, a first for me.

The frequent ad breaks do rather ruin the atmosphere, so it’s a programme best recorded and watched later. That’s likely to be even more true of the rest of the episodes that are only half an hour long.

Well done Charlie Brooker!

I don’t know about you but I’m really looking forward to Dead Set, the new mini-series where the inhabitants of the Big Brother house face a horde of zombies. E4 have organised eight preview showings at towns across the UK (mainly England) and are running a competition to win free tickets:

Win Dead Set premiere tickets

The final preview showing is in London on Sunday 26th October so I’m guessing that the show will air on TV the week after that.