Why I Love iZombie
If you’ve been reading my previous entries here on the site, then you have probably heard me say that I will talk about the CW’s iZombie one of these days. Well, hang on to your nerd hats, boys and girls, because this is it! Now, you might think that iZombie is a series more akin to the likes of other shows that are aimed more at pubescent teenage boys and girls who are just a little too into supernatural romance, but you’d be so wrong. iZombie may look like that on the surface, but it is so much more: it’s probably one of the best comic book adaptations on the small screen right now.
There is a possibility that you may think iZombie is an original show by the CW, given that it doesn’t involve any costumed heroes or superhuman abilities, but it is. And the source material is fairly recent, to be honest. Unlike the Flash and Arrow, who have been around for more or less half a century now (depending on how you view either their publication or fictional history, or both), iZombie’s just been around for 7 years. It was published by Vertigo and created by then newcomer Chris Roberson and the legendary Michael Allred and ran for 28 issues until 2012. Now that I think about it, it just seems like yesterday when it was announced. Boy, am I getting old.
All right, to be completely fair, you won’t be remiss when you think that the iZombie TV series doesn’t look like it’s based off a comic. The thing is that both the source material and the show pretty much just share names. Other than that, they’re two very different series, both of which are wonderful in their own right. For one, the CW opted to take a more police procedural approach to the title, which honestly isn’t anything novel in the grand scheme of TV land, but the writing, actors, and overall atmosphere of the program manages to set itself apart from the other titles whose genre it shares with.
As for the comic, it’s more akin to a horror-comedy that follows one plot line from beginning to end. Yes, it’s divided into story arcs, but it has this overarching story to it. Plus, the comic book version of iZombie isn’t all about zombies, really; it’s about a lot of supernatural themes mixed with action and secret organizations. I suggest you read it, it’s very good. Chris Roberson’s writing then already showed how good of a writer he’ll become today, and I am quite sure there’s no need to say anything more about the art other than it’s by Michael Allred (the only people who hate the Allreds are ones who’ve been blinded by the whole 90s tits and ass fad or are literally blind).
Now, I understand why the CW didn’t go for a faithful adaptation of the comic book. After all, it would be very hard to put something like that into production. But it is a fun thought.