Bleeding Hearts #1 is written by Deniz Camp and published by DC Comics. Artwork is by Stipan Morian, colours by Matt Hollingsworth and letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Main cover art (left) is by Stipan Morian.
Bleeding Hearts #1 is available from today, in comic book stores and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet or digitally from Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
The zombies won—and ten years after the fall of humanity, they’re the dominant form of life (or not-life) on Earth. They’ve developed their own cultural practices, their own language, their own society. Mouse-Pokes-Golf-Ball-Through-Hole-In-Head (“Poke” for short) is a beloved member of his community, and with his brother-in-arm Mush, he’s happy to shamble along through the only world he can remember…until the day his heart mysteriously starts beating again. And in a blink, the first humans he sees have stopped looking like food and have started looking like…friends…?
Review
After being discontinued in 2020, DC’s iconic Vertigo imprint is back with a vengeance, hosting an impressive line-up of bold, original titles that offer something for every genre. The first of those original titles is Deniz Camp’s Bleeding Hearts.
Telling a zombie story from the perspective of one of the zombies is a concept that has been toyed with before, but hasn’t been pushed to the limits as much as it is here. Camp uses this premise to its fullest potential, allowing Poke’s unique predicament to effortlessly explore themes of humanity, existence and purpose in a surprisingly earnest manner. Though this is the main conflict of the story, the comic as a whole never loses its morbid sense of humour, which is ingrained into every element on show, whether it be the writing or the artwork.
Poke, despite being a walking corpse, is an endearing character nonetheless. The confusion and constant questioning of his purpose in afterlife, once his heart starts to beat again, plays out almost like the start of a coming-of-age tale with a gruesome twist. His relationship with Mush is what drives this first issue as we see them hang out in abandoned locations and contemplate what the world was like before zombies took over. It feels like two friends being friends, the fact that they’re zombies only really affects the context of the conversations, the actual meat of their chats still comes across as genuine and most of all, human.
Also, the ways in which Bleeding Hearts explores a fully functioning zombie society at first glance seems serious and structured, but actually plays heavily into the comedy in its eventual execution. From a zombie farting a literal fireball for attention to their absurd names, such as Unhinges-Jaw-And-Eats-Crying-Baby and Finds-Whole-Family-In-Basement-And-Eats-Them-Himself-Over-Course-Of-A-Week, this series really leaves no stone unturned. Camp is clearly having a whale of a time fleshing out the inner workings of this undead community, keeping the overall tone as playful as possible to counteract the underlying themes that Poke is dealing with.
Meanwhile, Stipan Morian and Matt Hollingsworth work hand in hand to create a perfectly stylised visual identity for the series, finding a consistent balance between cartoony and grotesque. When they need to lean more towards the graphic side of things, they certainly don’t disappoint by playing around with the shadows and blood of a given moment, dipping into its horror roots. On the other hand, the character designs, both human and zombie, are coloured and drawn in a way that harkens back to the exaggerated art styles of certain 90s/00s comics, very much paying homage to Vertigo’s origins in the process.
Bleeding Hearts kicks off with a very promising start. What is presented here is an honest look at one’s purpose in life through a dark and humorous lens. The characters are instantly likeable, the artwork matches the tone perfectly, and the exploration of a zombie society is handled in such an unabashedly goofy manner that makes it endlessly engrossing from beginning to end.
Verdict
With its darkly comedic tone and instantly memorable characters, Bleeding Hearts is a great sign of things to come for DC Vertigo’s original titles. This series also offers a refreshing take on the tired tropes of zombie stories, bringing new life to this rather saturated subgenre that I can only imagine will get more creative with future issues.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
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