Well… this issue is pretty average issue of Zombie Tramp. I hate to start off that way, but it really is. The story seems to be going around and around just placing Janey in trouble. I get that that’s the point of the series and how it continues on, but she’s never at peace and always running into trouble. Any other story that’s done that usually has some major story arc to go along with it. We kind of got that with the last issue, but we’re just given a recap of the same info in this issue. That and the series really could use a break from the monster/occult of the week style of story that it’s telling. We attempt that break with this issue with Janey on roller skates rolling up to a country club that’s supposed to be in Florida, but our landscape says “not Florida.” I’m going to pause and talk about the art. While it’s not bad, it has its share of problems. The problem that a lot of the guest artists and even series regular TMChu have, is that the backgrounds are either bad or bland. Sadly, I would take bland over bad and bad is what we get. There’s plenty of background characters, but they’re all lacking detail and look like set pieces. There’s landscaping throughout the issue that looks sad and out of place with the rest of the art. The characters aren’t bad. I kind of like how Xenia Xiu illustrates Janey and the rest of the cast, but those backgrounds are not cutting it.
The story is pretty straight forward. The country club that Janey is at has something suspicious going on. She discovers this when she’s in the sauna and finds a hidden camera looking at her. She continues on like nothing is wrong and just relaxes and enjoys herself. Until she has a freak-out in the pool and sees all the people she’s killed come back for her. Once she snaps out of it, she finds dark things are afoot.
The thing is… I’m getting kind of tired of seeing sexy Janey all the time. This issue is all about her hotness and there’s not much else to her substance. But there could be. You can do both and that’s what this series is often times missing. If it’s not having her solve all her problems with convenient magic, then it tends to lose sight of Janey’s overall story. Sure it’s mentioned here, but it was all previously established in the last issue. Frankly the story needs to give the other monsters and occult obstacles a break and dig into that story a bit before throwing anything else our way.
I will give the writing team credit for always beginning a new arc in a way that new readers could wholeheartedly jump on to. This issue reads like a first issue rather than the start of the second year. Now that made it a tad boring for me in places, but overall I commend it for making it approachable for new readers. If you’ve missed out, this is at least a decent place for you to jump on the series.
I’ll keep on going with Zombie Tramp because I do enjoy reading it, but I have to admit that I’m getting a little bored. Sex appeal will only keep you interested in a comic for so long and sadly this comic has a lot more than that to offer. I’d just like to see it offered up more often because then people could really see it shine.
Score: 3/5
Zombie Tramp #14 Writers: Jason Martin, Dan Mendoza Artist: Xenia Xiu Publisher: Danger Zone/Action Lab Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/26/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital