As it turned out, the cartooning class at Madison was really intrigued by the idea of doing an occasional guest-review gig here. So I decided, rather than continue to incorporate it into the usual Friday column, I'd make it an irregular short feature.

The latest review copy to arrive was The Savage Brothers, courtesy once again of the tireless Chip Mosher at Boom! Studios. When I offered another review opportunity in class yesterday, the same as Andrew got last week with the Warhammer book, Connor and Matthew's hands shot up.

Connor and Matthew were really fighting over who got to read the book first, and they both enjoyed it a great deal. However, only Connor took the time to write it up.

So here's Connor:

This comic is about two rednecks, Otis and Dale Savage, who fight zombies in the Apocalypse. The plot is solid, the humor is sharp, and the artwork is great. I would recommend this comic for people who like a thriller with some smart humor. B-plus.

Connor D. (age 13)

I pretty much concur with Connor. I thought it was great fun. This is how I like my violence -- seriously tongue-in-cheek. Recommended.

Official press release, including an online preview, below.

Los Angeles, CA. - To celebrate the release of THE SAVAGE BROTHERS Trade Paperback, BOOM! Studios is making the first 22 pages of the collection available to fans for FREE! These pages comprise the original first issue of the series and can be found HERE. Written by the creator of the hit Sci Fi TV show EUREKA, Andrew Cosby, and EUREKA staff writer Johanna Stokes with art by new fan favorite and current BLUE BEETLE artist Rafael Albuquerque, THE SAVAGE BROTHERS tells the post- zombie-lyptic tale of Dale and Otis Savage--who'll hop in their Ford F-150, and bring back, or put down any of your undead relatives... for a price. Things get weird (relatively speaking) when Dale and Otis get hired to retrieve a zombie scientist who may hold the key to the supernatural apocalypse.

As an added bonus, THE SAVAGE BROTHERS Trade Paperback includes the hard-to-find, cult collectible zombie one-shot - FEAR THE DEAD! Best known for his work on the ongoing series FALL OF CTHULHU, FEAR THE DEAD is Michael Alan Nelson's complete guidebook to the wondrous world of the undead, as seen through the eyes of one survivor of the Zombie Apocalypse! Featuring art from tons of today's terror titans including Norm Breyfogle, Guy Davis, Nat Jones, Nick Stakal, Josh Medors, Kody Chamberlain, Chris Moreno and dozens more!

There's so much speculating throughout the industry about "what kids like to read," including my own; and so many of us are guessing wrong. So I'm always interested to see what bookscatch the students'attention, and why.

I asked Matthew, "Why are zombies suddenly so cool these days?" and he looked at mewith such vast astonishment you'd thinkI'd asked him why anyone would possibly enjoy ice cream.

"Are you kidding? Zombies rule! You shoot them and they just get up and keep coming!"

There you have it.

Anyone else interested in having the students look at books, send 'em along. Anything up to a PG-13 or so.