Year Zero #1

Overall, Year Zero is a fast paced well written story that balances the horror, action and dramatic elements like a finely orchestrated piece of music. There are crescendos of excitement as well as moments of human drama set against such a variety of backgrounds and environments. Read Full Review

A fantastic creative team combine to make this one a must read. Between Rosanas and Loughbridge’s artwork the final product doesn’t look like a typical horror comic. Percy’s writing doesn’t read like a typical horror comic. The slow build-up of tension without building to a crescendo by the end of the first issue doesn’t read like a typical horror comic. And Year Zero is so much better for all of this. By making it character driven rather than plot it makes for some interesting and exciting reading, which readers are sure to be drawn into. It’s early days for sure, but just like the rest of AWA’s current line-up, this looks to be another exceptional comic and one not to be missed. Read Full Review

Year Zero is such a phenomenal book with a creative team that is top-notch. The simple fact that we get five characters dealing with life in their own way and carrying on and not the same old paint-by-numbers zombie horror book is fabulous. Ben Percy has such a great knack for storytelling and Year Zero is just another example of his talent. Read Full Review

Do yourself a favor if you pick up Year Zero issue #1, take the time to appreciate nuance throughout the issue, and the world-building taking place along with the effort by the creative team to make each character distinct from each other. Read Full Review

Year Zero debuts with a bang, completely changing the lives of five people as the world falls into chaos around them. We have a lot of questions, like what caused the zombie apocalypse and what makes these folks special, but there's more than enough to grab onto. You might think you've seen it all when it comes to zombies, but you'd be wrong. Year Zero is proof of that. Read Full Review

Benjamin Percy has set the stage with his story, while Kaare Andrews lures you into wanting to buy this issue with his cover. Ramon Rosanas tells a descriptive story with his art and Lee Loughridge has the colors popping to produce a book that is worth checking out just to see what the zombies will actually look like next issue (hopefully). Glad to see you back again, AWA. Read Full Review

The issue is a bit of an uneven start. It's a very slow start and there might be too many different characters introduced. Possibly a quicker pacing may have helped but as is, Year Zero #1 is a bit boring. I want to check out the second issue but the first is a bit of a slog. Zombie fans may dig it but "the meat" isn't gotten to and instead the issue is all character setup. That's needed but as done it doesn't quite work. Read Full Review

The five (technically six) vignettes here are full of character and life and while they're engaging, it doesn't quite cohere. Read Full Review

Venom

May 24, 2020

Must read this one was real glued on story.

Rauld

Jul 02, 2020

really really good take on a zombie story. i'm hooked

I Review Comics

Sep 16, 2020

I recently reviewed Decorum #2 and praised it for pushing the medium forward. After reading Year Zero #1 I also have to levy similar praise to AWA Studios. This comic also pushes the art-form forward in regards to what can be done using comics as a visual medium of storytelling. Like all other AWA titles that I've purchased and reviewed, I didn't have much insight going into this. I recognized Benjamin Percy as the writer of Wolverine and X-Force and honestly that was enough for me to give the book a shot. The narrative structure of the comic is totally different from any other comic I've ever read and I'm pretty old. The story I kept thinking about while reading was Cloud Atlas. That story focused on several protagonists across tim e and space. While everything seemed disconnected at first, the story found deeper meaning as the narrative began to fold into itself and establish connections between the leads. I'm not sure if Ben Percy is going as esoteric with Year Zero as was done in Cloud Atlas. What I expect to happen is that the events depicted in the book will overlap and the connections established will be based in the state of the world and how our protagonists react to it. Sara Lemons is a scientist studying core samples in the Arctic. Daniel Martinez is a young man trying to survive on his own after his mother is brutally murdered in front of him. Saga Watanabe is an assassin in the middle of a mission that doesn't go quite as expected. Fatemah Shah's story is set Kabal, she misleads a group of Marines in order to save a group of women from their abusive captors. B.J. Kool is a survivalist and conspiracy theorist. The problem is that the Apocalypse is real. If Year Zero #1 was a video game, the point where the comic ends would be where the player would choose their character and set off on their adventure. Clearly the world is falling apart and we're going along for the ride. Ben describes the story as being at the outset of the apocalypse. After reading the comic I think I can see what he's going for. The layouts and general art direction for Year Zero are amazing. As much as the comics shifts characters and locations I was never lost regarding the events or what was happening on the page. I imagine the intensity will pick up as the story develops but considering how many plot threads are being juggled I'm totally impressed. The concept is unique and it's nice to see genuine experimentation within the genre. I mentioned Decorum earlier and while that series takes graphic design to the next level, Year Zero plays with the basic formatting of comic structure. The narrative may play out totally different than what I'm expecting but it's a cool idea and presents limitless possibilities beyond just this series and I appreciate it as a longtime fan of the medium. Rating: 9.5/10 more

Kalaoui

Jul 14, 2020

Well done narrative to start this story by Percy. Even as they feel apart, the characters are well juxtaposed in the greater picture. Rosanas is great and very well detailed in his art. every panel looks well researched and fits well with the vibe of what's is going on. Loughridge's colors are a great match too and get the tones and hues across well. Great book and I really dislike the whole zombie thing. I hope it doesn't just become a blow stuff up kinda nonsense. We'll see.

Liem Duong

Jun 22, 2020

A really cool outake on a zombie Apocalypse, done by upcoming talent, Ben Percy with pencils by Ramon Rosanas. Year Zero is a comic series from AWA Upshot opens around a zombie apocalypse through the perception by multiple characters across the world. You got a hit-man, and war-time refugee, a researcher, and really weird live-in-the-basement kook, you learn about the Apocalypse and each person's life prior and in relation to this out-break. Still eh about zombie books, but this is a really unique take with a good start. Might like where this story takes us. Really well written by Percy. It captures each survivor with a different style and outlook, that makes the perception of the zombie apocalypse that much more interesting. Lots of int roductions, but a dash of insight at the end reels you in to find out what happens in the next issue. more