Marvel Zombies Return
Encyclopedia
Marvel Zombies Return is a weekly five-issue comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....

, published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 in late 2009. It is part of the Marvel Zombies
Marvel Zombies (series)
Marvel Zombies is a comic book metaseries published by Marvel Comics. The series features zombie versions of Marvel Universe superheroes who have been portrayed as both protagonists and antagonists through the different limited series within the metaseries....

 series of comic books.

Publication history

Marvel Zombies Return is a weekly series of five one-shot comic books. Editor Bill Rosemann described how the concept came about:
Unlike the other series, the series consists of a number of one-shots and linked by two bookend issues written by Fred Van Lente. As Van Lente was committed to other writing assignments, Marvel invited three authors who have written books on zombies to contribute the other issues: David Wellington (Monster Island
Monster Island (novel)
"Zombie Island" redirects here. For the Scooby Doo movie, see Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island.Monster Island is a novel of the zombie apocalypse horror sub-genre by David Wellington, published in serial online in August, 2004 and in print in April, 2006....

), Jonathan Maberry
Jonathan Maberry
Jonathan Maberry is the multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Ghost Road Blues, the first of the Pine Deep Trilogy, a series of supernatural horror novels...

 (Patient Zero and Zombie CSU) and Seth Grahame-Smith
Seth Grahame-Smith
Seth Grahame-Smith is an American best-selling author, screenwriter, and producer of film and television. He is best known as the author of The New York Times best-selling novels Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, both of which are being adapted as feature films...

 (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a 2009 parody novel by Seth Grahame-Smith. It is a mashup combining Jane Austen's classic 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice with elements of modern zombie fiction, crediting Austen as co-author...

).

The issues are:
  • Marvel Zombies Return: Spider-Man
    Spider-Man
    Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...

    by writer Fred Van Lente and artist Nick Dragotta
  • Marvel Zombies Return: Iron Man
    Iron Man
    Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...

    by writer David Wellington and artist Andrea Mutti
  • Marvel Zombies Return: Wolverine
    Wolverine (comics)
    Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...

    by writer Jonathan Maberry
    Jonathan Maberry
    Jonathan Maberry is the multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Ghost Road Blues, the first of the Pine Deep Trilogy, a series of supernatural horror novels...

     and artist Jason Shawn Alexander
  • Marvel Zombies Return: Hulk
    Hulk (comics)
    The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....

    by writer Seth Grahame-Smith and artist Richard Elson
    Richard Elson
    Richard Elson is a British comic book artist best known for his work on Sonic the Comic, 2000 AD and Thor.-Biography:Richard Elson is a fine art graduate with over sixteen years experience as a cartoonist and illustrator....

  • Marvel Zombies Return: Avengers
    Avengers (comics)
    The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...

    by writer Fred Van Lente and artist Wellington Alves

Plot

Following Marvel Zombies 2, Earth-2149's surviving mutant and metahuman zombies (Spider-Man, Wolverine, Black Panther, Giant-Man, Wasp, and Luke Cage) have been transported to an alternate universe.

The first issue written by Van Lente revolves around the attempts of Zombie Spider-Man to cure himself of his condition when he lands on an Earth similar to his own, later designated "Earth-Z". Unfortunately, this arrival results in the zombification of Kraven The Hunter
Kraven the Hunter
Kraven the Hunter is a fictional character, a supervillain and enemy of Spider-Man appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Kraven's name is Sergei Kravinoff. He also appears as Xraven, with white-grey skin and red eyes, possessing the powers of X-Men. He is the half-brother of Dmitri...

, Mysterio
Mysterio
Mysterio is the name of three fictional characters, all of which are supervillains and enemies of Spider-Man in the . The original Mysterio was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appears in Amazing Spider-Man #13, although it was later retconned that the aliens seen in Amazing...

, Electro, The Vulture
Vulture (comics)
The Vulture is the name of six comic book supervillains in the Marvel Comics universe. The best known Vulture in the Marvel Universe is Adrian Toomes, an elderly enemy of Spider-Man created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in The Amazing Spider-Man #2 .-Golden Age Vulture:In Young Men #26, a scientist...

, and Doctor Octopus
Doctor Octopus
Doctor Octopus is a fictional character, a supervillain that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics since 1963. A highly intelligent mad scientist, Doctor Octopus is one of Spider-Man's greatest foes...

, and the brutal death of his counterpart of this Earth. The issue also advances the over-arching storyline by having Zombie Giant-man attack and eat an Alternative Watcher.

The second issue follows Earth Z's Tony Stark, who passes on the Iron Man armor to Rhodes when zombie Giant Man arrives in search of Inhuman technology in Stark's possession. Issue three follows Earth 2149's Zombie Wolverine in Japan, while Zombie Spider Man tries to develop a cure from Earth Z's uninfected Wolverine. Issue four follows Earth Z's Hulk who returns to the blue area of the moon only to be infected by the zombified Inhumans, and goes on to infect Earth-Z's Sentry in turn. Issue five ties these threads together, resolving the fates of all of the original Marvel Zombies. At the end, Earth Z's Watcher shunts the last Earth-Z Marvel Zombie, the Sentry, back through time and dimensions to its arrival on Earth 2149 (the original Marvel Zombies universe). In doing so, it closes a time loop
Predestination paradox
A predestination paradox is a paradox of time travel that is often used as a convention in science fiction. It exists when a time traveller is caught in a loop of events that "predestines" or "predates" them to travel back in time...

, which keeps the virus contained on Earths 2149 and Z, both of which it has devastated, since (according to the Watcher himself) no one has the ability to destroy it outright.

Collected editions

The series has been collected into a single volume
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...

:
  • Marvel Zombies Return (120 pages, Marvel Comics, January 2010, hardcover, ISBN 0-7851-4277-0, softcover, ISBN 0-7851-4238-X)

Reception

James Hunt reviewed the first issue for Comic Book Resources
Comic Book Resources
Comic Book Resources, also known as CBR is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book-related news and discussion.-History:Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1996 as a development of the Kingdom Come Message Board, a message forum that Weiland had created to discuss DC...

and expressed concerns that "the zombie fad is winding down, and the joke here seems to be how long a one-joke concept can be kept walking even though it’s dead on its feet." However, he does praise Van Lente's comedic writing and Dragotta's art for evoking the Silver Age feeling but wonders if over-the-top violence does not "sit rather uneasily alongside the tone that the dialog and art are delivered in."
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