Halloween certainly was a busy time for Class Comics. They released 2 books that went well with the holiday. I want to talk a bit about my feeling towards the
Beautiful Dead tonight. I've been DYING (yuk, yuk) to do this review, but personal health issues have prevented me from doing much of anything this week. I was suffering from a bacterial infection that caused, headaches, dizziness, confusion, fatigue and horrible dripping sores to name a few things. I guess you could say I got a bit of zombie experience, cause I was wandering around at times, mumbling and groaning incoherently and almost fully unaware of it! LOL okay I was aware...but it sounds cooler to say I wasn't!! Anyway, enough about me...
no one cares anyway!
A little history on the title. It's a comic with a lot of mystery behind it, both story wise and in production! The book was written by Robert Fraser, who as many of you know, does the super hot
Initiation series as well as contributing to many of Class Comics other titles. His zombie book has finally risen to life after half a decade of it going through the creative process. From what I have read about it, the book is a labor of love that took some time to plan out. Once things were ready and rolling, it hit a snag when the the original artist discarded the project. Class wished him well, but many fans were frustrated, because they had fallen in love with the few images he had produced. Some time after the fact people said they saw it coming, as his output in the gay scene had begun to sharply dip. His art, sad to say, all but dried up in less then a year after leaving the project. As someone that has been left hanging myself with projects for long periods, I commend the artist Silencio for coming forward and admitting he couldn't work on it, rather then leaving the good guys at Class to wonder and watch as many of us have been left to do, with less professional people. And so the project, once full on it's way, was back to square one. (art wise anyway.) SIGH! BUT there was a shining light at the end of the tunnel. A light named Butch McLogic. (A fellow Canadian regular at Class, who is well know for his imaginative, sexy hit series
Tug Harder.)
With Butch, the book took on a whole new look. The characters were completely redesigned. I don't know the full story behind this. I have no idea if Silencios designs were not what Fraser was looking for in the first place, or if Butch and Fraser had just decided to wipe the slate clean and go in an all new direction. Either way I am glad they did. I personally like Butches characters much better. They characters felt like they fit into the theme more. They were more rough around the edges, sexier and a little more real. They have unkempt body hair. Their cheeks are flushed red from fear, adrenalin and the cold autumn air. They are hot guys, with little imperfections. I like that.
Gage is the first one in the story we are introduced too. He's a well built blond, with a deep circumcision scar and remnants of his Frenulum. (Hey I like dick details, you knew that when you came to this site!) I personally wasn't a big fan of Silencios Hayden. Hayden, from what I can tell went from having a medium build, to becoming a
bara giant with a big red nose all in the span of his first preview images to his second. Butch and Fraser reeled the design back to the medium build and made him a blond instead of a ginger. I wonder if that the innocent giant was retired due to further evolution of the story involving Gages character? Hayden is a sexual deviant and a lure for Gage. Maybe the roles were reversed at one point. On a personal level I thought that going back to this was a great choice for the character.
Gage, the bartender tough guy as drawn by Butch McLogic.
This is Silencios first take on Hayden and really like it. He soon after changed the design to the character you see below on the left. (Though it is said that this image was never meant for the comic. Maybe the change would never have happened???)
Gage is actually the main character of the book. He took took on a whole new look
and from what I can only guess a whole new personality as well. (See his original design above.) Gone are his his plethora of tattoos, body piercings and (a little sadly) dark complexion. He went from bad boy, to awkward closet case. Something that adds a little more tension and fun to the story line, then would have otherwise. I have no idea if he was a closet case before hand, but having to admit you are gay in the middle of a city wide zombie infestation, in hopes of getting laid for the first and possibly last time, lead to one of the more intense and comical sections of the book.
 |
| Gage is an awesome teddy bear. (Or what ever it is you call a twink bear!) He's got sprinkles of body hair on his chest, a light beard along his jaw line and really hairy legs. Yum! He's a rock hard geek, with a sweet uncut cock to boot. Couldn't ask for much more..Are those broken nerd specs? My heart just melted... |
Alright, enough on the history and character designs. What about the story you ask? Well I have something to admit here. I am sick of the Walking Dead. I know, I know, it's soooo good right? Yeah...I am soooo bored of it! Sorry folks! I'll probably go back to it, but for now I was looking for something to fill my zombie fix. Something with a story...a plot that has somewhere to go...and Beautiful Dead has that in spades. Yes this book has both an explanation and a possible resolution to this problem at hand! WOW! A well thought out piece of zombie media! ^__^ Who'da thunk it? Although it is only briefly explained in book one, the reason for the zombies is in the title. People wanting a quick fix to look their best have been experimenting and getting very fast results. Men are bulking up and becoming uncontrollably horny. They are able to cum multiple times in a row, with out hardly being touched! But as you guessed it's come with a price. We all know what happens when people take the easy route!
Now you are probably wondering what sexual atrocities are they committing after they reanimate right? I mean I had worries that we were going to see things like the
Dance of Dead Zombie Love Scene. (
Click that if you dare! I warn you, it is very disturbing. Though not as disturbing as Chilleramas sex loving undead segment.) Thankfully, the zombies act like regular flesh eaters, except that look good while doing what they do. (Isn't that similar to Darkwing Ducks motto?)
Don't complain honey. Now I can watch you when you fuck me in the ass!
The story thus far is very well written. Every Zombie story has to have one of those inevitable bad decision moments. You know the ones. As mentioned, Fraser uses his genius to create a tension filled situation that only horror characters finding themselves in the world of Class Comics could be in! The first book goes into the history of Gage, but leaves most of Hyden a mystery. Before the first book is done the men will go through so much together, that their roles will be switched.
The book shows and talks about at least one mutation of the zombies. It will be interesting to see what else comes out of this series. It has a lot of avenues it can go down at this point. I think it would be interesting to watch the events leading to this city wide disaster. Seeing more of the transformation process in flash backs would be great. It's
talked about, but not fully explored. It would be cool to see someone go
from wimp, or fat, to hunk in a matter of days. Watch their egos swell, then deteriorate as they lose control of their urges. See them turn into a sex maniac and then finally,
despite all protests of loved ones keep on what ever it is and go full zombie. What future mutations lie in store for our heroes? Zombies that got bigger cocks that use them as an aggressive weapon? Non Violent sexual zombies? ( A little Warm Bodies type situation?) The end shows that there is a lot more going on in the city then just these mindless munchers. Only time will tell. With Butch and Fraser at the wheel, let's hope the next issue is soon!
Beautiful Dead gets a 9/10 from me.
I love standies!! Class released three sets of them just after Halloween. You can find them here!
lg~~60_58.JPG)
