The kills are gory and the art is fine, but overall the story is kind of boring. Someone is killing people to get the doctor's attention. One doctor has a traumatic past and may know more about what's happening than he realizes. It also hinges around the elusive "unit 731", a fact that is repeated ad nauseam throughout the volume. None of the characters are really developed and I'm not invested enough to uncover the mystery. Definitely not Cullen Bunn's best writing.

It has a lot of big interesting concepts, but unfortunately the story is rushed too quickly to flesh any of them out. The writing is a bit chaotic and none of the characters feel well developed. The art was fine, but that doesn't save the poor story. This just feels like an outline or a first draft for what should have been a much longer page count or a series.

I was very excited about coming across this because I've enjoyed everything I've read from Aftershock and I recognized some of the writers and artists here. I was also nervous because comic anthologies usually don't work for me.

This offering falls somewhere in the middle for me. Half the stories I liked well enough, a few I loved, and there were a number that fell far from the mark. The art is pretty good throughout, but if the story didn't land then I was still left with a bad taste in my mouth. Some of my favorite stories are mentioned below:

"Pestilence" is a fun little side story in the medieval zombie apocalypse world that writer Frank Tieri and artist Oleg Okunev are creating in their comic series with the same name. Love the art, and it may have worked better since I was already familiar with this world.

"Mardi Gras Madness" is a bizarre throwback to early decades in comics, both in story and art style from . It's about a superhero with a flaming carrot head, a human body, and duck feet...so yeah. It's weird and quirky, and I think it's part of a larger series from the creators as well. I'm kind of curious to see more haha.

"Ultimus" is about a horned demigod who offers his assistance to a medieval village in the fight against their neighbors. The titular character is pretty compelling and I enjoyed the story, but the art from Milan Jovanovic is the standout here. Really enjoyed the colored pencil look, reminiscent of Owen Gieni.

"Lullaby" is a good example of a short story comic done right. Interesting hook, strange conflict, and unsettling ending. Really enjoyed Ray Fawkes's story about spreading spores that bring death to a city, and the art from Phil Hester reminds me of the work Josh Hixon.