Lansdale and Truman's Dead Folks Book

This is a review of the 3-issue limited comic series from Avatar Press in 2003. It was written by Joe R. Lansdale and Timothy Truman, with the black and white interior art provided by Truman. It was also republished as a trade paperback.

I have a soft spot for the novella "On the Far Side of Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks". Not only did it win the Bram Stoker and British Fantasy awards, but it was my personal introduction to Lansdale's work. In 2008, I came across two short stories on his website-- "The Full Count" and this one. At the end of those stories, I was hooked. This was a new storyteller with an exciting, distinctive voice and an obviously wide range of writing interests.

Now, twelve years and 114 books and graphic novels later, I came across this entertaining comic book adaptation.

While I much prefer the prose version, Truman's artwork is clean, precise and provides a nice visual complement to the action. It is sort of a cross between Mad Max and Night of the Living Dead in terms of its visual aesthetic.

My only complaint about the project is that it is in black and white. This is a wild, no-holds-barred story that would have been so much more effective in color.

Lansdale and Truman also made two strictly visual changes to the story. They were both understandable from a commercial standpoint, but whether these were the "right" decisions is probably a matter of personal taste:

1) The muzzled stripper zombie at Rosalita's ("no maggots and perfumed for your carnal pleasure") is depicted as an adult woman, probably in her early twenties. In the story she was twelve years old.

2) The comic depicts a large statue of Mickey Mouse with an erect phallus. In the short story, it was a statue of Jesus.

(Personally, I'm glad I did not have to see drawings of a naked preteen zombie being molested or a sexualized Christ idol.)

Recommended for fans of Joe R. Lansdale and/or visually disturbing adult-oriented comics.