iZombie #24

Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Jim Rugg

The news out of last week's Emerald City Comics Convention was that iZombie is not long for this world, with four issues remaining after this one.  I always treat news like this with two minds - I've been enjoying iZombie since it began, and am going to miss many of the characters, but at the same time, I buy way too many comics every month, and my wallet is usually okay with one or two of them disappearing.

I've been wondering for a while if the book was getting closer to finishing, as the long-promised Apocalypse has been getting started, and the end of the world always feels like the right place to finish a series (it's safe to presume that the Apocalypse will be stopped by Gwen and her friends).

Knowing all of this going into this week's newest issue of the series, I was a little surprised to find that regular artist Michael Allred didn't draw this comic, and even more surprised to find that it is another flashback issue, this time focusing on Kennedy, the zombie Dead President, and introducing a new character/concept to the series.

When the book opens, Kennedy is putting down an incursion of other-dimensional beings that have taken over the bodies of employees at a burger joint.  She is aided by Horatio, Gwen's monster-hunting boyfriend, who has either been possessed by, or is cosplaying as Strider, the fictional hero of a series of novels by writer Adam Morlock.

This all brings Kennedy back to the seventies, when she investigated a fantasy-rock band called Ghost Dance, who had connections to Morlock.  Clearly, Morlock is meant to evoke British writer Michael Moorcok, whose Elric novels hold some similarities to what we are shown here, and who was somewhat wrapped up in the psychedelia movements of his day.  It seems that this band was able to call forth Xitulu, the same entity currently threatening Eugene with Apocalypse.

This issue is drawn by Jim Rugg, of Street Angel and Afrodisiac fame, which was a nice treat. I don't see nearly enough of Rugg's artwork.

I'm very curious to see how Roberson is going to wrap up the numerous plotlines of this series in just four issues.  This book has a very large cast, many of whom have been working through their own character arcs, so giving each a complete story, while still dealing with all this Apocalypse stuff, is going to be difficult.  Personally, I'm most interested in learning what the story is with Dixie, the diner owner.