Sort of figured something like this would happen once we saw the puking carousel horses. Sort of like a Twilight Zone episode, but a little more predictable. Still an improvement over the last two stories, though.
That is an understatement Dotcom. Yes, the sick horses were kind of a foreshadowing. But the drawings were well rendered, the back and forth between black and white and color gave it a new dimension, and I could see this being a kind of short story.
Let’s hope the next story keeps up the high standards set by this one. Although the story with the zombie saying, ” Life am good” was great.
It was all a terrible nightmare the little boy was having. Apparently his father had died somehow, I don’t think the story explained that part. What I dont understand is how the little boy is dying. He has no apparent wounds. Something happened there at the carnival. We read the mother earlier on calling for help. The story is vague in details in some regards.
I haven’t quite got it all myself, but here’s what I think happened:
On the next-to-last page, the mother says, “Mummy told you it wasn’t your fault he’s gone.”
Sounds like Dad left. From there, the rest sort of makes sense.
The black-and-white segments are the boy’s fantasy of being with his father again.
When Travis opens his eyes and sees zombie-world, he father is nowhere to be found. His daddy is gone, and he’s frightened. Travis is bouncing between two fantasy worlds - the idyllic one with his father, and the zombie world where Dad is gone (or killed).
My guess is that his mother brought Travis to the carnival to relive a happy time, but the reason that time was happy was because his daddy was still there. The carnival triggers a mental breakdown where Travis has to reconcile his memory of his father with the reality that he has gone. The result is the final frame, where we see Travis having collapsed under the stress.
Hold on. I agree solid artwork and layout. The story really keeps up the bizzare suspense, but where did the butcher knife come from and what is he stabbing in the last few panels. Himself? I don’t see any trauma to his body or the mother.
Neh, I have to be honest, this (and all the comics they posted) really went downhill around the time of the story about Ned. This one ended pretty well, though. But Hero Squared, 2 Guns, Shmobots, and this started to really start to suck as far as writing was concerned. Zombie Tales had a number of redeeming moments, though.
The story here was very confusing, have to admit. What I dont’ get at all is what happened to the little boy. I mean, did he have a breakdown or something?
Crimson, it’s appears that the child took a game of Zombie with this father too serious and eviscerated his father. since this seriously effected the poor, violent, and cannabilistic child he melted down into a world of his own creation.
Late to the game here, but just wanted to comment.
Lot of good theories here, but if I had to guess as a whole, I think it’s a mix of a lot of them. It’s obvious that the boy is traumatized because of the absence of his father. Whether the father is dead or simply ‘gone’ is, certainly, left vague.
I think what the comic does well is to use the nightmarish carnival, and the overlay of memories and images of the parents to convey the confusion that this sort of thing can have a young child.
As is common, a lot of his confusion turns to personal guilt, and he obvious believes his mother to be “guilty” for the father’s absence as well, as shown by her malevolent role in his vision/nightmare.
Ultimately, it seems very clear that this last page is about a mental breakdown of some kind and NOT a physical injury, as the knife itself is carried over from the villainized mother image from the previous page. In a way, the knife can be seen as the culmination of the combined guilt that he believes he and his mother carry for the father being gone, as we see the knife shift from the mother’s hands (above him) to his own, and ultimately, this brings him to the breaking point.
Just my two cents. Ultimately, while I enjoyed it and think it is extremely well done, I can’t say that I think it’s my favorite. I thought that the Dead Meat series as well as the Canadian researchers in the cold, were a bit more interesting for taking a different perspective on the process of becoming a zombie above and beyond simply being bitten and then rising as a zombie.
In the end, the entire book was a good, fun read. Thank you for offering it up for us to enjoy. You’ve earned a new Boom! fan.
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February 24th, 2009 at 2:46 am
That’s it? This is how it ends? …………um…………..
February 24th, 2009 at 3:06 am
I just have to say…Brilliant. Totally orginal Spin on the whole zombie thing. Excellent Work
February 24th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Sort of figured something like this would happen once we saw the puking carousel horses. Sort of like a Twilight Zone episode, but a little more predictable. Still an improvement over the last two stories, though.
February 24th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
That is an understatement Dotcom. Yes, the sick horses were kind of a foreshadowing. But the drawings were well rendered, the back and forth between black and white and color gave it a new dimension, and I could see this being a kind of short story.
Let’s hope the next story keeps up the high standards set by this one. Although the story with the zombie saying, ” Life am good” was great.
February 25th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Um… anoyone mind explaining what happened, because I’m frigging lost…
February 26th, 2009 at 5:27 am
eh!? what was that was the kids dad killed by zombies and now hes truamatized? or did the kid kill his dad or something?
February 26th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
It was all a terrible nightmare the little boy was having. Apparently his father had died somehow, I don’t think the story explained that part. What I dont understand is how the little boy is dying. He has no apparent wounds. Something happened there at the carnival. We read the mother earlier on calling for help. The story is vague in details in some regards.
March 2nd, 2009 at 6:39 pm
I haven’t quite got it all myself, but here’s what I think happened:
On the next-to-last page, the mother says, “Mummy told you it wasn’t your fault he’s gone.”
Sounds like Dad left. From there, the rest sort of makes sense.
The black-and-white segments are the boy’s fantasy of being with his father again.
When Travis opens his eyes and sees zombie-world, he father is nowhere to be found. His daddy is gone, and he’s frightened. Travis is bouncing between two fantasy worlds - the idyllic one with his father, and the zombie world where Dad is gone (or killed).
My guess is that his mother brought Travis to the carnival to relive a happy time, but the reason that time was happy was because his daddy was still there. The carnival triggers a mental breakdown where Travis has to reconcile his memory of his father with the reality that he has gone. The result is the final frame, where we see Travis having collapsed under the stress.
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Not a bad explanation at all Steve. But I wonder, are they having anymore Tales or not?
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I wouldn’t know, Crimson. I’m guessing that’s the end of the book. At least, of volume 1.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Well, they ended it with a very good story with wonderful graphics. All in all, most of the stories on here have been pretty good.
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:43 am
Hold on. I agree solid artwork and layout. The story really keeps up the bizzare suspense, but where did the butcher knife come from and what is he stabbing in the last few panels. Himself? I don’t see any trauma to his body or the mother.
April 15th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Neh, I have to be honest, this (and all the comics they posted) really went downhill around the time of the story about Ned. This one ended pretty well, though. But Hero Squared, 2 Guns, Shmobots, and this started to really start to suck as far as writing was concerned. Zombie Tales had a number of redeeming moments, though.
April 17th, 2009 at 12:19 am
The story here was very confusing, have to admit. What I dont’ get at all is what happened to the little boy. I mean, did he have a breakdown or something?
May 2nd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Crimson, it’s appears that the child took a game of Zombie with this father too serious and eviscerated his father. since this seriously effected the poor, violent, and cannabilistic child he melted down into a world of his own creation.
August 29th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Late to the game here, but just wanted to comment.
Lot of good theories here, but if I had to guess as a whole, I think it’s a mix of a lot of them. It’s obvious that the boy is traumatized because of the absence of his father. Whether the father is dead or simply ‘gone’ is, certainly, left vague.
I think what the comic does well is to use the nightmarish carnival, and the overlay of memories and images of the parents to convey the confusion that this sort of thing can have a young child.
As is common, a lot of his confusion turns to personal guilt, and he obvious believes his mother to be “guilty” for the father’s absence as well, as shown by her malevolent role in his vision/nightmare.
Ultimately, it seems very clear that this last page is about a mental breakdown of some kind and NOT a physical injury, as the knife itself is carried over from the villainized mother image from the previous page. In a way, the knife can be seen as the culmination of the combined guilt that he believes he and his mother carry for the father being gone, as we see the knife shift from the mother’s hands (above him) to his own, and ultimately, this brings him to the breaking point.
Just my two cents. Ultimately, while I enjoyed it and think it is extremely well done, I can’t say that I think it’s my favorite. I thought that the Dead Meat series as well as the Canadian researchers in the cold, were a bit more interesting for taking a different perspective on the process of becoming a zombie above and beyond simply being bitten and then rising as a zombie.
In the end, the entire book was a good, fun read. Thank you for offering it up for us to enjoy. You’ve earned a new Boom! fan.