THE NEW DEADWARDIANS REVIEWED

So it’s 1910 in Edwardian London. And the only way to protect yourself from the zombie plague which has taken hold of the country is to take "The Cure". Sounds pretty simple until you realize that “The Cure” transforms you into a vampire. 

Welcome to THE NEW DEADWARDIANS: a eight issue Vertigo mini-series by Dan Abnett and I.N. J. Culbard.

The first issue starts with a bang as we meet Chief Inspector George Suttle: a member of London’s Murder Squad and also one of “The Young”(this is what the vampires call themselves. The zombies are known as "The Restless". Humans that are still alive are known as “The Bright”). A member of The Restless breaks into his home, kills his housekeeper and infects his maid, who will now need the cure. 

Suttle is the last of his kind because there aren’t many murders any more. But, miraculously, a murder occurs. A member of The Young is found dead, but not in the moral way that you would kill a vampire. So someone has managed to kill the undead. And thus begins the journey. The victim is Lord Hinchcliffe: Senior Advisor to the Crown. To further unravel the mystery, Suttle has to journey to Zone B(the B is for The Brights. This is where the humans still live and work). And he does, spending most of issue #3 in a conversation with a prostitute,  before being cornered by Brights looking to take his life. With help from Bowes, his Bright driver, Suttle continues on his journey.  Along the way, he explains how the curse took over the entire world and that he took The Cure to be able to continue fighting. Today, the Restless are mostly relegated to Zone D: The Dead Zone.

The pair eventually end up at Cadley House, where Suttle is quizzing members of Lord Hinchcliffe’s family, all of whom are The Young. Especially interesting is Lord Hinchcliffe’s daughter Celia who not only hates her father and is a prime force in the women’s movement to allow young women to stop being The Brights and be able to take The Cure. At an evening dinner, it becomes obvious to Suttle that people are trying to direct him away from the person/s we all start to thing was responsible.

I love Dan Abnett’s writing and that is pretty obvious if you ahev ever read any of my reviews of his work, especially GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and RESURRECTION MAN. His vampires are very much like those in I, VAMPIRE in that they are intelligent and not the stereotypical ones we find on some television shows and movies. The constant battle Suttle has between being alive and wishing he wasn't immortal is played out brilliantly. When it’s all said and done, it’s not a battle between The Young and The Restless(get it?) but between The Young and death. The art from I.N.J. Culbard, is clean and crisp and makes me feel like I’m in Edwardian London. 

How will it all end? I don’t know but if I DO KNOW Abnett’s style, I can assure you that it won’t be boring. Seek the first 5 issues and dive in. This is so much more of a morality play than a horror story. If you like THE WALKING DEAD’s characterization without the over the top gore, this is the title for you.