The New Deadwardians #1

Vertigo's 2012 launch of The New Deadwardians sets an immediately compelling tone: a pale, blood-lipped gentleman in a straw boater stands composed amid a press of rotting, hollow-eyed zombies, iron railings and a "Zone-B" warning banner stretching behind him with the silhouette of Big Ben looming in the distance. The contrast between his Edwardian composure and the shambling dead surrounding him hints at a world where class and the undead have become thoroughly entangled. Writer Dan Abnett and artist I. N. J. Culbard establish their grim, wry vision right from this striking opening cover — this eight-issue series is off to a confident start.