Action Labs Comics is starting up a new Mature Readers line called Action Lab:Danger Zone.
One of the titles coming out under this imprint is Ehmm Theory, a Horror/Comedy written by Brockton McKinney, with art by Larkin Ford and colors by Jason Struz. The story is about Gabriel Ehmm, who is killed by his girlfriend and brought back to life by St. Peter and tasked with finding out why the dead are coming back to life outside a “small carnival town”.
Joining him on his mission is Mr. Whispers, a kitten Gabriel originally got for his girlfriend, who died of starvation after she shot Gabriel. The kitten has also been given the ability to speak (“Little zombie! Get it, man!”).
Let me say that any story that starts with a midget zombie clown crawling up from its grave and getting its head kicked apart definitely gets my attention. Between the zombie carnage and Gabriel’s bloody death scene, there’s enough red stuff to keep Horror fans interested. However, the story seems light on the Comedy half of Horror/Comedy. There are some moments with St. Peter that are amusing, and the idea of a talking kitten who scraps with zombies is bizarre and funny, there weren’t a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. Having said that, there were some interesting plot elements along the way (why does a saint need to use a ‘teleporter’? And why does said ‘teleporter’ gas its occupants?), and mysteries involving Gabriel’s father, as well as the whole zombie/carny/midget deal…definitely enough going on in the story to make me want to see more. Art-wise, Ford’s uncluttered, somewhat cartoony style is a good fit for this type of story. Ehmm Theory seems to be off to a decent start…check it out when it hits the stands.
