DEADWORLD F.A.Q.

When did Deadworld first start?
Deadworld was originally published by Arrow Comics in the mid-1980’s. They went out of business in 1988 and when Caliber started in 1989, they picked up Deadworld with issue 9. After the first volume went 26 issues, volume two went an additional 15. Deadworld had a few mini-series and Caliber stopped publishing in 2001.

There’s a lot of Deadworld material out there. Where does one being to start?
When Deadworld started up again in 2006, the rebooted series was published by Image Comics. Everything since ties in with the reboot, so essentially, you have the “classic” which is the original Deadworld and then the “reboot” which is everything since 2006. The first set of Deadworld includes volumes one and two, the Dead Killer saga, Realm of the Dead, , Tattoo, King Zombie, and the one shot Deadworld Chronicles….pretty much in that order. The reboot set consists of the Image series which is Requiem for a World, Frozen Over, Slaughterhouse, and now War of the Dead…exactly in that order as the reboot is much more linear and building from the beginning more than the original series. Original graphic novels such as The Last Siesta and Deadworld Chronicles are not part of the continuity and are self standing stories.

What are the Deadworld Classics?
These are the very first Deadworld stories featuring artwork from Vincent Locke, the original artist. Vince later went to work on A History of Violence, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, American Freaks, and a lot of other titles, mainly from DC/Vertigo. Classics #1 contains the very first (and unfinished) Deadworld story which had never seen print until IDW released it. Classics #2 continues the original series which was primarily the first issues from Caliber and in addition to Vince, contains pages drawn by The Crow’s James O’Barr under the name of Johnny Zero.

What is the Deadworld Omnibus?
The Omnibus, also from IDW, collects the Image series of Requiem for the World, the Frozen over mini-series, and then Slaughterhouse. The Image series ran 6 issues, Frozen Over was 4, and Slaughterhouse was only released as a hardcover graphic novel This is the entirety of the reboot sequence and in order.

How does War of the Dead fit in and what’s the basic storyline?
In a way, it’s a continuation and direct follow-up of Requiem, Frozen Over, and Slaughterhouse, but it’s also been designed to be an entry for new readers. With War of the Dead being in color for the first time ever, it will likely generate some interest from new readers so it was important to make it reader friendly.

The remnants of a community college are trying to survive against the zombies and soon find out that the King Zombie, the intelligent leader of the dead, wants them taken alive because he has a much more sinister plan in mind. He doesn’t want them as just zombie chow, he wants them to breed more humans…enough to supply a world full of zombies. The main opposition here are the Lepers, victims of a mad doctor’s testing which left them with decayed skin. However, the zombies aren’t attracted to them so the lepers have an advantage but of course, they’re dying from the disease as well.

Why is Deadworld so different from other zombie tales?
Of course, it does have zombies in it and there is also considerable amount of human interplay with each other as they adjust to dealing with this supernatural holocaust. The key difference are the intelligent zombies, especially King Zombie. He has a mission and when he attacks humans, he usually does it with a plan. So, it’s not just mindless zombies milling around but rather an organized force in some areas. Pockets of civilization have popped up in order to contend with the zombies and some are doing okay but others have fallen to the King’s army. There’s an incredible amount of dynamic situations that occur throughout the series.

What’s the status of the movie?
The option was renewed just recently which means they’re pending money to continue. There are still some financing agreements to be finalized and the script is undergoing revisions but hope to announce something more concrete soon. We don’t announce any kind of speculation, only when things are actually happening so it may seem like its dead (no pun intended) but don’t let the quietness lead you to think that nothing is happening.

What’s the status of the action figures?
We don’t know. Shocker Toys signed this up years ago but no King zombie figure yet. We are exploring some other options at the moment.

What’s the status of the role playing game?
Again, signed up and then little to no activity. Again, we are researching other opportunities.

What’s the status of the trading card set?
This will come out from Breygent in August or September. They are doing a fantastic job on it and hitting the conventions and non-sport card events with specialized promo cards.