Although there are a lot of zombies on TV, now that we have series like The Walking Dead and Z Nation, The CW's new series, iZombie, promises that it's a little bit different from what we've seen before.
Not only is this a zombie show for a different audience, it's a comic book series that isn't filled with capes, masks and brooding.
The series, based loosely on the Vertigo comic book series of the same name, premieres tomorrow night, so here's what you need to know before watching.
iZombie was a comic book first.
Vertigo Comics (which is one of DC Comics' imprints) first published iZombie in 2010. The comic book series follows a character named Gwen, who is not a normal girl, but a zombie. However, Gwen appears normal as long a she eats a brain once a month. In the comic, she takes on the job of gravedigger, which gives her easy access to brains. Unfortunately (and here's the kicker), once she eats a dead person's brain, she gains that person's thoughts and memories.
The comic book series was created by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred and also features other monsters, such as a ghost from the 1960s and a were-terrier.
The comic received critical acclaim, as well as a nomination in 2011 for the Eisner Award for Best New Series.
But don't expect much from the comic to carry over.
This basically means that the premise of the TV series remains the same as the comic book, but that the writers of the TV show can pretty much take the story wherever they like. On the TV series, the main character is a medical resident named Olivia Moore who gets bitten by a zombie. She also must eat brains to survive, so she gets a job working at the coroner's office.
Like the comic's Gwen, Olivia absorbs the memories of the dead after she eats their brains. She uses this knowledge to help the police solve murder cases.
The TV show will not feature other monsters, as the creators wanted to focus solely on the zombie aspect of the story.
The TV series has the same creator as Veronica Mars.
Rob Thomas is the brains (pun fully intended) behind iZombie and is also the man that gave us the much-heralded Veronica Mars. There are also many similarities, including the trademark voiceovers that Thomas was fond of while working on Veronica Mars. We also know that Thomas has a good track record in creating a likeable strong female character, so the series is in good hands.
iZombie is more Warm Bodies than The Walking Dead.
Don't expect the grim and dark storylines we've come to expect with zombie shows like The Walking Dead. iZombie is a much light-hearted look at life as a monster, and is more about Olivia and her life than anything else. Here, the zombie is the lead character.
"The center of the show is a zombie you can fall in love with," says Thomas. "A zombie you want to date."
iZombie is mostly kid-friendly.
iZombie isn't one of those dark post-apocalyptic zombie series with a lot of gore and disturbing situations. It's much more light-hearted, and definitely more family friendly. This is the zombie show you can watch even if you're squeamish, or watch with the kids.
"There is a bit of gore, but it's several notches below the rotting flesh of The Walking Dead," writes David Wiegand of the San Francisco Gate. "In fact, the iZombie gore is fairly cartoonish."
iZombie premieres on The CW on March 17, right after The Flash.
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