Kidz #1 Advance Review
On Sale Jan 18th 2020
Ablaze Comics 2020
Written by Aurélien Ducoudray
Illustrated by Jocelyn Joret
Lettered by Carlos M. Mangual
These KIDZ are foul mouthed, raising hell and doing battle with the living dead! It's been three months since a terrible epidemic turned the population into zombies hungry for fresh meat. Only after devouring almost all of humanity, the undead themselves begin to wither and fall from famine... Somewhere in a suburban town, Ben, 10 years old and still traumatized by the death of his parents, forms with his friends the last bastion of humanity. And between hunting zombie survivors, expeditions to amass food, toys and comics--all filmed by the aptly named Spielberg--life flows rather peacefully in their world. Until something worse than a nuclear disaster or the 4 flashing red rings of death on an Xbox 360 hits their small community: two girls! Accustomed to chilling by the pool, eating chocolate bars and playing video games...how will the boys react to Polly's bizarre new customs and little sister Sue?
Aurélien Ducoudray and Jocelyn Joret bring you the zombie apocalypse from a kid's point-of-view in this pop culture mash up brimming with an 80's vibe. KIDZ is Stranger Things meets Welcome to Zombieland on a Gorillaz soundtrack!
European comics repackaged for American audiences is the wave of the future from the looks of things and Ablaze is more than happy, proud, to be a focal point for this. While this may look like an all-ages title but the reality is far from that, though if you know kids today then really this is pretty much spot on -point for how they are. Here's what I like about what I see, this is months after the world turned into a chaotic mess. There's no hint of a flashback to what happened, the kids don't really know so why hypothesise over it. Instead we get to meet the group like a program already in progress and I couldn't be happier with this decision. This is what it is and what it is is the kids taking of business the only way they know how.
I love the way that this is being written. I mean these are kids and they are resourceful, intelligent and capable of anything they set their minds to and this is sensational to see. The story & plot development here as seen through the unfolding of the sequence of events as well as how the reader learns information is extremely well done. Learning through experience generally tends to be the best way to learn by the way. The characterisation here is phenomenal to see. The kids all have their own distinct personalities and I adore that plus well whether they mean to or not their humour also tends to be bullying which again is what kids do. The pacing is pretty damn amazing here and as it weaves through the pages of the story we see the twists and turns come about. All of which work together to create a superb ebb & flow to the book.
The interiors are interesting to say the least. I really do like how we see the backgrounds being utilised here and how they add another dimension to the story. The composition inside the panels do a great job in bringing us a sense of size and scope, scale and depth perception. The linework is gorgeous and I like how the varying weights are utilised to bring us attention to detail. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is gorgeous as well. The telly in the house with lights works thanks to a generator is great. I like how we see the hues and tones within the colours and how this creates the shading, highlights and shadows.
I think that the way that Ablaze is going about their release of books is being smart. The fact that this is the third of their books I have read and I have enjoyed them all immensely means they've picked the right ones to bring to us. This is some incredibly solid storytelling happening here and it is definitely something you'll want your local shop to order!
