Greatest Crossover of 2011 - Already???

It looks like the Zombie Watch needs to be dusted off and returned to centre stage. This week saw what for me is the most anticipated crossover of them all; IDW’s Infestation.

Now, comic veterans like us are quite used to the Transformers mingling with the G.I. Joes. Yet in a stroke of genius (and marketing of course, but I’ll ignore that for now), Dan Abnett and the folks at IDW have thrown in the original Star Trek crew, and the Ghostbusters!

Bizarre crossovers are the pinnacle of the art of crossovers. If you have never read the Superman and Bugs Bunny mini-series from 2000, then I highly recommend it. The beauty of this is that the whole story actually makes sense, in the context of both sets of characters.

And thus it appears to be the same in Infestation. The story begins in the world of the Covert Vampiric Operations, dealing with an experimental portal to the world of Zombies Vs Robots. I haven’t read C.V.O. before, but I will be sure to dig out the back issues. (So that marketing I wasn’t talking about sure worked!) In an excellent set-up that demonstrates just why and how a multitude of zombies can be acting on an agenda, the end of the issue sends the hungry mob out into the four other universes.

So, it appears we are not going to see Spock baffled by the antics of Slimer, or Optimus Prime dealing with Venkman, Stantz or Spengler, but this makes for a coherent tale. Of course, we have yet to see what the final bookend issue will offer, but I wait with baited breath.

In order not to turn this column into the Dan Abnett fan club, I will state that this motivating force that makes sense is very reminescent of the Hunger Plague of the Marvel Zombies, Then again, hey! If it works…..