28 Days Later 4: Gangwar

Comic Info

28 Days Later #13

Reprints 28 Days Later #13-#16 (July 2010-October 2010).  Selena, Derrick, and Clint are on the run from the military and the Infected as they try to make it out of Scotland.  A rash decision leads to a deadly decision that could cost the group one of its members.  Within the outbreaks, the group finds survivors in Edinburgh and learns that an old war has continued despite the fight for survival.

Written by Michael Alan Nelson, 28 Days Later Volume 4:  Gangwar is a follow-up to 28 Days Later Volume 3:  Hot Zone.  The series features art by Alejandro Aragon, and the issues were also collected as part of the 28 Days Later Omnibus.

28 Days Later was a jolt to the horror genre and the zombie genre.  Zombies were once again “scary”…and they could run.  Despite changing up the horror of the zombies, it was largely like a normal zombie movie where the real horror comes from humanity instead of the zombies.  The themes of 28 Days Later are continued in this volume and the story in general…in fact, the Infected are often rather incidental.

28 Days Later #13

The volume kicks off with the rather expected loss of Derrick.  He was a blind liability, and Nelson had to find a way to send him out on top.  While it would have been more interesting if he had been the survivor, it wasn’t very practical and therefore it wasn’t entirely surprising that he was killed off.

The second half of the story has the group captured in Edinburgh.  This is a bit unfortunate because as with the last volume, the series is falling into a pattern.  The group arrives at a strange city, is captured, and then escapes during a riot…which pretty much was the end of the film.  It reads alright, but it is quite repetitive if you think of it.

The story is illustrated by Alejandro Aragon.  Previous volumes often split up artwork duties among multiple artists, but it feels nice to have some consistency here (though I prefer Declan Shalvey’s art).

28 Days Later is a book starring a fun character but with some limited story idea.  It isn’t bad, but I wish the story was slightly better.  I also don’t love Boom! Entertainment’s four issue storylines which feel truncated and overly fast.  28 Days Later 4:  Gangwar is followed by 28 Days Later 5:  Ghost Town.

Related Links:

28 Days Later 1:  London Calling

28 Days Later 2:  Bend in the Road

28 Days Later 5:  Ghost Town

28 Days Later 6:  Homecoming

28 Days Later:  The Aftermath

28 Days Later (2002)

28 Weeks Later (2007)