Wake the Dead

(IDW, 2003-2004)
™ and © Idea + Design Works LLC

All right, it’s official. When it comes to the undead, Niles is this generation’s Stephen King. Readers have been creeped out by vampires in his 30 Days of Night, outsmarted by his Cal McDonald stories, and can now be grossed out by his latest horror comic book, a sort of macabre version of Flatliners.

Three college students have developed a scientific means to reanimate the dead, but conflict arises when one of them suggests moving beyond mere laboratory animals and testing their methods on a human cadaver. One car accident later, this suggestion is a step closer to reality.

The introductory sequence in which a bloody, half-disemboweled, resurrected pig runs amok in the lab is downright creepy. The remainder of the issue, though, is little more than a mildly contrived setup for the remainder of the series, complete with the lowlifes who mock the experiment but later look as if they’re about to become its subject.

Anyone who’s a Niles fan will already have boarded this train for the whole trip by this point, and the early breather is forgivable in anticipation of what lies ahead. And perfectly complementing Niles’ thriller are the disgustingly beautiful illustrations by Milx, who revels in drawing creepiness right down to every last dangling blood vessel. Those who haven’t boarded yet? Get on now.

— Jim Johnson

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