George "Father of Zombies" Romero never defined the origins of the zombie outbreak. (Yes, it was vaguely hinted as having something to do with a downed space probe in Night of the Living Dead, but it was abandoned in later works.) He himself has said many times that the whys and wherefores don't matter, and aren't important.

And his rules were pretty simple:

1) Die from any cause, become a zombie
2) Get bitten by a zombie, get infected, become a zombie
3) Trauma to the cranium = "dead"

What more needs be known?

Day dealt a little with the "scientific" angles (biology, intelligence), but, again...nothing was definite.

And everything that happened in Land didn't exist to this viewer. That movie took a big dump on the canon, imho.

I thought that Land was the natural progression of the series, actually.

In Night, we got the zombies. In Dawn, we got the mass infection. In Day (which is getting re-made and re-released this year), we got that the zombies were capable of retaining some level of intelligence. And, in Land, we saw that the zombies -- at least some of them -- were still capable of 'learning,' which makes them an even greater threat.

That doesn't really deviate from what we already knew about them. It expands on it, fleshes out ideas that were previously introduced, and continues the story.

I had few gripes with the zombies proper in the film, aside from a) their bite now seemed to transform one within an hour, and b) "Big Daddy" didn't seem to need--or care to--eat people.

It was everything else that ruined the movie for this viewer.

You mean characters that you didn't really care if they lived or died?

The stupid storyline about everyone trying to get back an over-armored RV, with no apparent explanation for where they'd gotten guns big enough to not only launch commercial-grade fireworks, but also lob missiles over a mile to blow up an office building ... ?

The first zombie movie ever to be entirely without suspense, because -- outside of the first scene where they were gathering supplies in the town -- it was predictable enough that you knew when and where a zombie was going to show up to eat someone?

Re: this week's issue ... There are some things you just can't un-see.

I may have to go and see what it is that cannot be unseen!!! (And pick up Walking Dead TPB 4 while I'm at it...)

Don't read it until you've read the rest of the Governor story.

I love it. While I am a fan of Invincible as well, I think The Walking Dead tops it by a mile.

I'm not a fan of MZ though. I haven't read it all, but what I have read just seems too silly to me. And I guess my desire to see my favorite super-heroes turned into zombies is pretty much...well, nil.

Believe it or not, I felt the same way about MZ. It was only after I read the hardcover that I changed my mind and went looking for more Kirkman zombie books. I am digging Kirkman's writing and Adlar's artwork very much. Hope you give MZ a try sometime, in spite of the fact that it seems to be a "trendy" thing at the moment.

I love the series. Though I was kind of disappointed that the whole current issue was just a torture scene

I'm confused by your comments.Do you or do you NOT like Land?It seems as if you are equally panning and defending it to me.I thought it was a waste of my life,which may have very well been Romero's intent.Also I think the new DAY is more of a sequel to the latest DAWN with recurring survivors.Although I can't remember where I saw that-oh it must've been on the Net.

As for TWD I tend to love Kirkman's adolesent love for the source material and genres he writes.I do however find he tends to fade out as he goes.I'll use the bottlerocket analogy-he starts of screaming and tearing through the air,but once he's way up there he either explodes or fizzles out.It seems to me once his youthful enthusiasm has run its course he coasts.
His big hero is Eric Larsen so that explains tons right there.When I read MZ I misunderstood when he said something to the effect that Millar had given him the idea.I didn't realize Mark Millar invented the situation in Ultimate FF.I personally prefer Millar's work on the zombies.Kirkman how do you do a last man on earth scenrio and not have it be DOOM?!?

I liked most of Land, I just wish they'd worked a little harder on the plot.

Uh, I thought Doom was the last man on that earth ... ?

I may at that...eventually. I have a gift card for B&N that I haven't used. Just wish it was a TPB, not a hardcover. I don't really feel like paying hardcover prices for MZ... :P

I think that the TPB will come out soon. I usually don't buy hardcovers, but: 1) I really wanted to read the story and 2) the HC was $20 and I had a $10 gift certificate from Borders. The fact that the HC is already in 2nd print says a lot about the series' popularity. Personally, I liked the fact that they included all of the Arthur Suydam covers in the book. Those were the main reason that I actually picked up a Marvel Zombies comic when they were on the comic store shelf. I regret not having bought the individual issues, but only because I didn't figure they'd be so hot and I could have them on evilBay at the moment.