28 Days Later 3: Hot Zone

Comic Info

28 Days Later #9

Reprints 28 Days Later #9-12 (April 2010-June 2010).  Derrick is blind, and Selena and Clint are joined by a young man named Doug.  Travelling the woods and forests, the group soon finds out that there is more than the Infected in England.  Someone is hunting Selena and when the group is captured, Selena, Derrick, Clint, and Doug might learn what stake the C.I.A. has in England and why the Infected could be the key.

Written by Michael Alan Nelson, 28 Days Later 3:  Hot Zone follows 28 Days Later 2:  Bend in the Road.  The comic features art by Leonardo Manco (28 Days Later #9) and Declan Shalvey (28 Days Later #10-12).  The comic were also collected in the 28 Days Later Omnibus.

28 Days Later was a great movie that was a fun, surprising jolt to the zombie genre.  One of the best things to come out of the movie was Selena (played by Naomie Harris).  In the 28 Days Later comic book, the Selena character is fleshed out…and that is a good thing.

The basic story for the book is good, but Boom! Entertainment doesn’t help it.  Boom! is smart in that it wants to get their comics out quickly and affordably.  If a comic is hot and making ground the quick four issue turn around helps people catch up with the comic and in theory get on board if it is ongoing…but 28 Days Later is very loosely written as a serialized story.  The comic kind of has story arcs, but it is better read as a whole.

28 Days Later #12

This does feel a bit more like a story arc than some of the other collections.  I think if anything, it sped the story up too much.  The last issue (featuring the group’s escape from the lab) feels too much like the escape at the end of the movie and it is too rapid.  It doesn’t feel like it builds to it (I did like the sacrifice of the kid).

The art for the comic is pretty strong.  Declan Shalvey was an up and coming artist at the time of the series’ release and has gone on to bigger things.  Often independent comics feature artists that aren’t necessarily up to the bigger publishers, but Declan was rightfully tapped to move “up to the big leagues”.

28 Days Later 3:  Hot Zone continues a fun comic that feels like a true expansion of the film (more so than the film sequel 28 Weeks Later).  The series continue to truck on and is relatively unpredictable in nature which is a good thing.  28 Days Later 3:  Hot Zone is followed by 28 Days Later 4:  Gangwar.

Related Links:

28 Days Later 1:  London Calling

28 Days Later 2:  Bend in the Road

28 Days Later 4:  Gangwar

28 Days Later 5:  Ghost Town

28 Days Later 6:  Homecoming

28 Days Later:  The Aftermath

28 Days Later (2002)

28 Weeks Later (2007)