Alpha Girl #1
Alpha Girl is a comic book about the zombie apocalypse, but it probably isn’t the zombie apocalypse that you’re familiar with. Created by Jeff Roenning (who also handles the writing) and Jean-Oaul Bonjou and drawn by Robert Love, Alpha Girl tells the tale of the end of the world, at the hands of ravenous zombies, through the eyes of a young, damaged girl named Judith Meyers. Set in the town of Bigglestone, this is the story of how two down-on-their-luck perfumers (people who work for a cosmetic company and develop perfume scents) brought about the End of Times. And, though its not exactly clear how yet, I’m sure Judith Meyers plays a role in this story at some point, too.
Before moving along any further, it’s worth taking a moment to read the official Image Comics description of the series…
“It’s 1984, and Judith is typical 17 year old. She chain smokes, cuts class, sells her tampons to perverts, and she just might be the last sane woman left on the planet. When a third-rate cosmetics company creates a pheromone that turns women into crazed man-eaters, the world dives into chaos. Judith must break her little brother out of juvie, all the while dodging rabid women and the men who hunt them. Already a proven survivor, she picks up some interesting strays along the way and kicks some serious zombie ass! Judith is Alpha Girl!”
In this first issue, the story hasn’t quite caught up with the plot as outlined above. The story begins with Judith walking into a filthy, abandoned diner and telling two, seemingly unrelated stories; one about her life and family, and the other about how that “third-rate cosmetics company” brought about the zombie induced end of the world. And while, as of yet, those two stories haven’t crossed paths, both are interesting enough to keep you hooked throughout the entire issue. Jeff Roenning’s storytelling keeps things moving at a good clip and, especially during the parts that deal with Judith’s life, includes a good amount of dark, twisted details that give good insight into why Judith is so well-prepared to survive in a world gone mad. A bit catoon-y in style, Robert Love’s artwork actually goes along quite well with the story of Alpha Girl. Whether he’s drawing two children walking in to find their mother dead of a heroine overdose or a pile of zombie women tearing some men to shreds, his work doesn’t miss a beat.
As this is only the first issue, and the story hasn’t yet taken off (the bulk of the book is spent getting the reader up to date on who Judith is and on the back story of the zombie plague thing), it’s hard to give a fair assessment of Alpha Girl. That, for the most part, is true of any debut issue. However, I will say that this first issue was interesting enough, and crafted with enough skill, that I will be back for the second issue. I want to learn more about Judith and how she fits into this man-eating zombie outbreak. While we know very little about her at this point, we do know that she has all the ingredients needed (traumatic upbringing, rough-and-tumble good looks, and bad ass attitude) to really make one hell of a lead character in a zombie story. Alpha Girl is a really fun, twisted read and, in my opinion, very much worth your time and hard-earned money.
Alpha Girl is published by Image Comics and the first issue will set you back a modest $2.99.
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