Palmiotti & Gray Unleash G.I. Zombie on "Star-Spangled War Stories"

[CBR News]

Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray tell CBR about reimagining the Unknown Soldier as G.I. Zombie for a new "Star-Spangled War Stories" series set in the New 52.


Full article here.

[Sharkey]

The sceptic in me reckons this series will only last 8 - 12 issues, but I'm down for it anyway! I bought Threshold monthly!

I'm really enjoying what Palmiotti has done for Harley Quinn so here's hoping G.I.Zombie has the same energy and fun that series has, even though this is billed as more a horror / war genre title.

This better be good!

[Hanson724]

I'd prefer dude wasn't a zombie. I'm so tired of zombies and vampires and werewolves. Having said that I'll still give issue 1 a chance. Hopefully DC learned their lesson with Threshold and Sword of Sorcery and price this thing at $3 not $4. I think those books would of had a much greater chance for success with a $3 price.

[Don C]

According to dccomics.com, the price is $2.99US.

This does sound like the kind of quirky, fun book Palmiotti and Gray excel at. I'll definitely check it out.

[Bruce Wayne]

The sceptic in me reckons this series will only last 8 - 12 issues, but I'm down for it anyway! I bought Threshold monthly!

One of the benefits apparently of being Dan Didio's childhood friend is that his books don't get cancelled. Look at how long Jonah Hex/All-Star Western has gone for even with the terrible numbers it pulls in.

[InformationGeek]

I do hope this is good because I would love to see a book like this succeed and add a bit more variety to DC's output.

Out of curiosity, I haven't read it but how was their work on Unknown Solider? I heard it was better than the main stories in G.I. Combat.

[Sharkey]

One of the benefits apparently of being Dan Didio's childhood friend is that his books don't get cancelled. Look at how long Jonah Hex/All-Star Western has gone for even with the terrible numbers it pulls in.

At least it has that going for the series.

Part of me thinks All-Star Western is still going because the comic market mostly lacks "pure" wild western titles. I know faintly of similar current titles that are westerns from Image and other publishers but they also seem to be mixing wild western concepts with other genres - the recent Boom! limited series Six-Gun Gorilla as an example.

Back to G.I. Zombie, I'm glad to read that it is at the $2.99 mark. Whilst I don't mind back-ups in lower-selling tier books, clearly the reader market don't want to pay extra for them on obscure and newer-concept titles. Threshold is a good example of this, even if you did have the joys of Larfreeze and then Star Hawkins as backups, it seems people just didn't want pay up for the extra content!

[Bruce Wayne]

Threshold just had a terrible story as well as bizarre bordering on terrible reimaginings of several DCU space characters. If it was something along the lines of his Annihilation or DC's Rann Thanagar War it would have undoubtedly done better.

[Flash Gordon]

This looks cool, I'll be in for the first few issues.

[scribbleMind]

I'll try the first few issues. Admittedly, I'm more interested about how this crosses over with the larger DCU than the character himself, and how he hasn't been recruited by S.H.A.D.E. also, that the book is spoken in the same breath as Simon Dark is enough to get me to pick it up. It was my first DC book, so I have a soft spot for it.

[Flash Gordon]

I loved SIMON DARK. I wish we could get Niles to do another run.

[Chimeratengun]

I'm getting this since I'm a fan of horror comic's but I find it strange that DC can't make a Monster "Fit" in a superhero world, they try with I,Vampire(which was excellent) but failed, Frankenstein started strong then the @#%ing crossover with Swamp-Thing ruined it. Maybe they should bring back WETWORKS. Anyway hoping this series last for at least 20 or more.

[RobertoDaCosta]

this book looks so weird...

[friendly-fire-press]

I admit, I'm intrigued. I'll check it out ... hopefully, it's really good

[Brian from Canada]

Out of curiosity, I haven't read it but how was their work on Unknown Solider? I heard it was better than the main stories in G.I. Combat.

And that was the key problem with G.I. Combat: DC promoted the lead — "The War That Time Forgot" — without really understanding that (a) the leads lacked any personality or personal traits to make you want to follow them, (b) the level of threat didn't come through, leaving you no interest in whether they succeeded or not, and (c) there was no overarching plot in it.

"Unknown Soldier," in contrast, opened with the mystery of who he was, and the threat of terrorism approaching. Each issue ended on enough of a cliffhanger to make you want to tune in more.

That "The Haunted Tank" seemed more for comedy didn't help give the one story that deserved to keep going from staying in print.

It's not an uncommon problem at DC either. Our Man At War had a bland Sgt. Rock sleepwalking across a war without strong enemy, and was backed up by small war stories that didn't have regular leads. Sword Of Sorcery crammed too much into its "Amethyst" lead, and then backed it up with a "Beowulf" story that was totally incompatible. Threshold really didn't connect "Larfleeze" to the main story, and "Larfleeze" at least identified its lead.

The only split book DC's really had (moderate) success with is All-Star Western. THAT book launched with a focus on Hex before starting to add backups that were related by genre, period — and in most cases, connected to the lead. All-Star Western may be flatlining in sales, but I have a strong feeling DC sees it as a book worth keeping because (a) the character is one they don't want to lose, (b) it's a universe-widening title, and (c) no critic has said the book is bad.