King Features Syndicate apparently has decided the best way to reinvigorate the 83-year-0ld Betty Boop is to kill her, and then resurrect her as a zombie.

At the Licensing Expo, held this week in Las Vegas, the company signaled it would like a little of that Walking Dead/Warm Bodies money by announcing it willtake the iconic cartoon and comic-strip character into "unexplored territory" with Betty Boop Zombie Love -- which, as Topless Robot notes, does bring to mind necrophilia, which doesn't seem like a recipe for merchandising bonanza.

"With a new style guide and art treatments, the wide-eyed beauty is clearly a victim of the zombie craze currently infecting the world," the King Features press release states. So, yeah, expect the undead flapper to appear on clothing soon.

And while plans for its Popeye brand don't involve zombies, they may be equally as frightening: "The brand, already aligned with high-end beauty and fashion through a partnership with RazorMD, will continue to build its presence in this area. Similarly, King Features will continue to position Olive Oyl in the fashion space as she assumes her place as a fashion-forward style maven for today’s woman."Y'know, because the first words that come to mind when you think about Olive Oyl is "fashion-forward style maven."