From George Romero, through 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead and up to Pride & Prejudice and Zombies, Zombies have been somewhat embraced by popular culture therefore it was only fitting that one of the mainstays of popular culture; the comic book would have one of it’s mainstays; The Fantastic Four get mixed up with alternate Zombie versions of themselves.
The ‘Ultimates’ line is a reinvented version of old Marvel favourites. The Film Iron Man with Robert Downey Junior is probably the closest to capturing the flavour of this new Marvel Comic world.
Here’s the story
The Frightful Four, Hailing from the Marvel Zombies universe, the undead version of the Fantastic Four transported themselves into the Ultimate universe by tricking Ultimate Reed Richards into opening a dimensional portal. The Zombie Earth had run out of people to eat, and the zombified Fantastic Four were desperate for more. However, they were captured upon their arrival by their Ultimate counterparts The Thing, Human Torch, and Invisible Woman. The zombies' only goal is to spread the infection of the "super-virus" they carry onto the heroes of the Ultimate universe, the only obstacle being their confinement within a reinforced holding cell in the Baxter Building.
They eventually escaped, but were swiftly quarantined within the top forty levels of the building. They used a lab to reconfigure a portal to the Zombie universe in order to receive the assistance they needed to break through the shields around the Baxter Building. However, Ultimate Reed, in Doctor Doom's body, attacked them all. The zombie Human Torch was covered in Doom's concrete-like vomit, the Thing's arms were ripped off, and the Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic were both defeated with one spell apiece. The Four were thrown through the portal back into the Zombie Universe
Created by the wonderfully creative Scottish Writer Mark Millar and featuring the dramatically detailed artwork of Greg Land these comic books are an insight into how much the comic world has developed over the years. Action, horror invention and dark humour come together in these stories and spawned the Marvel Zombies universe.
No Pulitzer Prize winners here or Smithsonian museum exhibits just good old fashioned comic book fun.It's Superheroes v Zombies, what price a movie?Visual:
Ultimate Fantastic Four #21
Ultimate Fantastic Four #32
Volume 5: Crossover Ultimate Fantastic Four #21-26 ISBN 0-7851-1802-0
Volume 6: Frightful Ultimate Fantastic Four #27-32 ISBN 0-7851-2017-3
Ok, back to the Real world tomorrow.