Zuda review Revenge of the Homicidal Pumpkins/ If the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes cartoon had been awesome, it would have been like this

Revenge of the Homicidal Pumpkins is a September Zuda comic done by Shannon Cronin, jo2pa2, tinkfan83. It got a favorite from me, here is the synopsis: After a series of freak accidents occur in the small town of Douglas, Colorado, 13-year-old Robbie Jarvis soon discovers the deaths were anything but accidental. Convinced that homicidal pumpkins are planning to kill everyone in town on Halloween night, Robbie must find a way to save the lives of thousands of people. The thing is, no one believes him! Can Robbie save the people of Douglas? Will the homicidal pumpkins succeed in their massacre? Will I win this contest so we can find out? You decide!

Turn a comedy into a horror comic and get a excellent read

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was a cool comedy spoof of a monster horror film. Revenge of the Homicidal Pumpkins is a cool horror comic that flips the premise and makes pumpkins scary as hell. What got me right away was the use of an overhead establishing scene shot. Backgrounds aren't always a strong point for Zuda comics, so when I see them well done, I notice. The letters are easy to read. The colors fit the story perfectly. The story and art are both excellent. I also really enjoyed the panel layout on screen one, and right off invoking the old horror standard of 'don't go outside to investigate nothing' -yes this is my go-to genre. We don't see much of that poor pumpkin farmer, but the dialogue/character design for him makes a reader want to know hoe he's going to meet his end. "I swear to the good lord 'bove... ya going to be the death of me." is the pumpkin farmers comments about his generator going out. The secret of this comics success is thanks to the writing and art it takes horror cliches and makes them work again. 'Revenge' doesn't give you the evil eye, and wink at you like your in on the joke at the same time. Horror story conventions can still be scary, if you have enough talent to pull it off, these creators do. You also have to set out to make the lighter moments a temporary break in being freaked out wondering whats going to happen next. I already want to know who's going to die so I can prepare myself in advance, that's a horror story success. You know once a character says something that alludes to their demise, they're going to get whacked in some horrible fashion. He sees something he can't believe then slips, falls, and a pumpkin vine presses the on button that leads to him being wood chipped in a awesomely gory full screen shot on screen 4.

So the kids are fair game in this story right?

Screen 5 introduces us to Robbie the 13 year old hero of this story, and horror aficionado. His room is decked out in various skulls/monster imagery, and his mom doesn't want him to be late for school. In screen 6 again we get a nice background shot of Robbie's kitchen which helps to establish the scene. The use of an establishing shot to show this charters surroundings and their not 9 1/2 hands hero tall gives the story more of a sense of reality. Their's not a 'Superman' type character in this story, I could see anybody getting taken down by the pumpkins. Screen 7 includes another establishing shot that shows Robbie's street, and reinforces the fact that this is Autumn. looking at the various carved pumpkins everyone has out on their doorstep in preparation for Halloween makes it look like all the pumpkins are just watching... waiting. It will creep you out, which means this is one horror story that has done it's job. Robbie goes off to school with his friend Corey -who as it turns out has an older brother who is a cop- Corey fills Robbie in on pumpkin farmer Ted, being chipped to death. The various faces Corey makes as he tells his awful tale manage to be both funny, and gruesome. Screen 8 just like every other screen of this comic was very impressive/professional in it's layout The strip ends with some appropriate gallows humor. Daryl (who I figure is Corey's brother), notices a trail of pumpkin seeds leading up to Ted's generator. The sheriff mocks his discovery by stating the obvious (right next to a pumpkin patch), and throwing a bunch of TV detective comparisons his way. It ends with the sheriff saying it was just an accident, and he has a "hankering" for some Sloppy Joes. As the sheriff says this we see whats left of poor Ted being shoveled into a plastic bag. . It's damn sharp writing this comic ended with a punch line. Revenge of the Homicidal Pumpkins didn't get my vote, but if it wins on Zuda I will follow it.