Finishing off our storyline of “Bitch Craft”, the nineteenth issue of Zombie Tramp is actually pretty good. Not great and it still relies on Janey to get out her problems using the same old tricks and spells. For once I would love for you to use her brain and have the upper hand, but instead she just smashes her way through shit. There were slightly new tricks in her bag, but the results were the same. We begin with Janey being runoff the road by the cheerleaders that killed the girl she’s pretending to be. She has some attachment to the girl’s sister which is a nice touch of depth. It also is what sets her off. The cheerleaders seem to know everything about her and go to town on beating her ass with spells until Janey beats their actual asses. In the end she doesn’t kill the head cheerleader, but instead puts her fate in the hands of the little sister.
There’s just too many questions unanswered at this point in the series and a few more are stacked on at the end of the issue when a character from the original series is reintroduced. Who made the app? Who else has it? Is it a bad thing that Janey is becoming more and more known to the world? That last one is probably my biggest hang up with the series because currently it keeps its monsters somewhat hidden from the world, but then it loves the internet and social media. It just ends up giving me the feeling that it either needs to have her fully embraced by the world or continue to be hidden. Personally, I vote for hidden because then it’s a bit like Spider-Man revealing his identity in that it’s interesting for a bit, but then the stories really suffer. She needs to be more like Batman and remain a myth.
Victoria Harris has been one of the better artists on the series. I would say that she’s kept it as cartoony as Mendoza, but with her own style. The thing is… when Mendoza’s art appears at the end in the prologue, it’s night and day. Hands down I’ll pick Mendoza’s art for the series any day. The coloring is improved with Marcelo Costa taking the lead. Costa’s has a lot of depth and keeps it from looking too muted and dull like previous issues. I would love for it to be a bit more vibrant like Mendoza’s coloring, but Costa keeps the book looking close to how it’s been previously colored which at least helps with the consistency of the series.
On a total side note, I have loved the 80s movie covers for this series. Mendoza's Weird Science tribute is fantastic and I would kill to have it and the others as posters. Just an idea Action Lab, just a free idea of money I would spend... wink, wink.
This issue injected some heart and personality back into the world. It was a rewarding conclusion, but in the end it felt a bit rushed. Like this was all just a side note and a way to introduce the digital version of Janey’s book. Overall though, it was entertaining and built Janey’s character which is all I ever really want from this series. The next issue is all Mendoza again so I’ll be there with bells on.
Score: 3/5
Zombie Tramp #19 Writers: Dan Mendoza, Jason Martin Artists: Victoria Harris, Dan Mendoza Colorist: Marcelo Costa Publisher: Action Lab/Danger Zone Price: $3.99 Release Date: 2/17/16 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital