Alpha Girl #1 marks the single most fun take on the zombie apocalypse I’ve ever read. Jeff Roenning and Jean-Paul Bonjour co-created this new vision of the zombie apocalypse, while Roenning handles the writing on the series itself. Judith Meyers is the main character of Alpha Girl, she’s here to give you the basic story of herself, while introducing just what in the world happened to cause the end of the world as we know it. The concept is two people Erick and Sadie, work at a cosmetic company called Moujou and through a cosmetic development jump start the end of everything. As Judith puts it, “A couple of jerks at a cosmetic company,” and with this concept comes equally strong art from Robert Love, who illuminates the cosmetic end of the world in style.
The way Roenning handled Judith’s narration within Alpha Girl ranks among some of the funniest writing I have read in a long time. You get an idea of Judith’s character while getting a strangely hilarious look at the apocalypse. After all these apocalyptic images bombarding you, then you see a Robert Love illustrated double page spread that’s priceless. All these swarming zombies and hilarity ensues from screams to, a Hai Karate line that got me laughing out loud. Roenning’s way of setting this up works on so many levels. Each reaction to the Cosmetic Zombies gets equally funnier as you go through the panels. These first pages are what lead me to realize just how much Alpha Girl worked for me.
After those hilarious pages you learn the back story of Judith who you understand more why she is the way she is in the beginning just from these flashbacks to her life. Love’s way of drawing her child like wide eyed innocence is fun to see. Until you see her surroundings then Roenning decides to break your heart all at the same time. You learn she also has a brother named Buddy, who you only learn so much about in this issue. Judith’s story makes up half the issue and it’s funny yet with a nice twinge of sweetness to the tale. In comparison to the latter half of the issue which is something completely different.
Erick and Sadie’s story of being the couple of jerks at the cosmetic company Moujou is hilarious to say the least. Roenning writes this segment with them truly being people that you want to sympathize with yet, they’re just horrible people. Love’s way of drawing them illustrates them with those faces you just want to hit. That’s a good way of putting this in perspective. Once you see just what happens with the test subjects in the last pages of the issue, they get progressively more hilarious. The Janitor being the best part of each of the scenes. I can only imagine just what next issue is going to hold for Alpha Girl just from the last page.
To close out, Alpha Girl is a book that deserves all the attention it’s getting and more. Image has a winner on their hands. Judith is a likable protagonist, she’s a lot of fun and I look forward to learning more about her. Jeff Roenning’s writing has a nice punch to it, part hilarious comedy, sweetness, and a dash of darkness. Between himself and the co-creator Jean-Paul Bonjour, Alpha Girl is a new concept I can get behind, smart, fun, and I never knew what to expect with each page turn. Robert Love surprised me, definitely someone I’m going to keep an eye out on, with the excellent inks of Dana Shukartsi with Diego Simone’s coloring in this book has every aspect of Alpha Girl swimming with fun. If you can find a copy of Alpha Girl, get it and get it now. This is a Zombie Apocalypse you don’t want to miss out on.
