CORPSE CRUSADERS: "In the popular imagination, zombies are scary, decomposing corpses hunting down the living. But since the 1930s, there have also been other zombies shambling across the panels of comic books—zombies that aren’t quite what most people think zombies should be. There have been zombie slaves, zombie henchmen, talking zombies, beautiful zombies, and even zombie heroes.
Using archival research into Golden Age comics and extended analyses of comics from the 1940s to today, Corpse Crusaders explores the profound influence early action/adventure and superheroic generic conventions had on shaping comic book zombies. It takes the reader from the 1940s superhero, the Purple Zombie, through 1950s revenge-from-the-grave zombies, to the 1970s anti-hero, Simon Garth (“The Zombie”) and the gruesome heroes-turned-zombies of Marvel Zombies. In becoming immersed in superheroic logics early on, the zombie in comics became a figure that, unlike the traditional narrative uses of other monsters, actually served to defend the status quo. This continuing trend not only provides insight into the overwhelming influence superheroes have had on the comic book medium, but it also provides a unique opportunity to explore the ways in which zombiism and superheroism parallel each other. Corpse Crusaders explores the ways that truth, justice, and the American way have influenced the undead in comics and turned what is often a rebellious figure into one that works to save the day.
Chera Kee is Associate Professor of Film & Media Studies in the English Department at Wayne State University."
To purchase and for more information, visit: https://press.umich.edu/Books/C/Corpse-Crusaders2
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Watch the Trailer for BLACK EYED SUSAN: "Legendary underground filmmaker Scooter McCrae (SHATTER DEAD, SIXTEEN TONGUES) returns after a 21-year absence from feature filmmaking with the bold, vulgar, and deeply thought-provoking BLACK EYED SUSAN. Simultaneously brutally challenging and deeply vulnerable, the latest from the New York-based provocateur appropriates bleeding-edge science fiction concepts to address the seemingly-endless lengths that men will go to satisfy their darkest impulses without questioning the consequences of their actions.
In the film, down-on-his-luck Derek (Damien Maffei, THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT) is hired by a shady tech industrialist to "test" Susan (Yvonne Emilie Thälker, in a striking feature debut), a lifelike robot built for the purpose of receiving and "enjoying" sexual abuse. Initially hesitant to take part, Derek accepts, but quickly finds himself drawn to Susan's developing personality and inquisitive nature. As the robot's expanding humanity chips away at him and he learns more about his own secret desires, he questions if what he's been tasked to do - even to a robot - should ever be condoned."
Black Eyed Susan Makes Its World Premieres at Fantasia on Friday, August 2nd
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A Haunting on Mars #1-#3 Kickstarter: "Earth's most dangerous hacker is captured and forced on a suicide mission into a haunted house on Mars.
A Haunting on Mars is a comic book series that blends horror, science fiction, and social commentary. The series is about a corpo team sent to a dead colony on Mars to uncover secrets that cause their sanity to unravel.
In November of 2023 A Haunting on Mars #1 came out, published by <REDACTED>. It received great reviews! But we ended up parting ways with <REDACTED>. Now, for the first time issues #1-3 are available via this Kickstarter campaign. We're also giving out the entire issue #1 as a digital preview."
To read issue #1 in its entirety, for a preview of issue #2, and for details on how you can support their campaign, visit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/houseofblood/a-haunting-on-mars-1-3
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