iZombie #4

Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Michael Allred

This new series keeps getting stronger and stronger.  Four issues in, Roberson decides it's time to explain what's going on with all the zombies, vampires, ghosts, wereterriers (seriously), and guys in white suits that have been running around since the book started.  All of this exposition comes from Amon, the guy that Gwen has been hunting down ever since she ate the brains of his murder victim.

As it turns out, Amon is a form of zombie as well, and all of these phenomena are linked to the Egyptian belief that each person has multiple souls.  The concepts of an oversoul and undersoul are put to very effective use here, in a way that makes perfect sense (in a comic book spirituality sort of way), and lays the groundwork for the future of the book.

I like that there is a strong sense of internal logic to structure this comic, and believe that a lot can be done with it.  Gwen proves herself to be increasingly likable (I like the undersold line), as do many of the other supporting characters.  Allred's doing some excellent work, with a few pages here showing his trademarked way of having characters walk through large panels.  Great stuff.