FVZA, or Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, is a three part miniseries written by David Hine, with artwork by Roy Allan Martinez. The series is released by Radical Comics, and is being released in their 64-page prestige format, with 46 pages of story, a trade dress, and a $4.99 price point.

FVZA is based on the popular website, FVZA.org, created by Richard S. Dargan. FVZA chronicles a world where a deadly disease, representing a new threat of global terrorism, transforms innocent victims into Zombies and a long dormant government task force is called into action: The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency. Throughout history, from the Civil War to World War II, the FVZA protected humanity from the blood-sucking and flesh-eating hordes — until a cure was discovered that sent the undead to their graves. When a new incurable strain of the virus ravages a small town in America, Agent Landra Pecos must call upon her lethal skills to eradicate the threat. But as Landra delves deeper into her investigation of the undead menace, she uncovers shocking secrets that will forever change her family, her world and her life.

I should preface this review with a note that I have never frequented the FVZA.org website, and so this review of FVZA #1 is written from the respective of someone unfamiliar with the concepts and characters associated with the website, and therefore I will not be able to comment on how faithful an adaptation the comic is, only on how much I enjoyed the story and art.

FVZA #1, like many of the best stories, begins at the end. We open on a scene of a young women named Landra stood in the desert holding a gun to the head of a man we soon learn is her grandfather, Dr. Hugo Pecos. The old man tells her that she does not have to do this, to which she replies, “Yes, it’s what you taught me.”

The story then flips back to when Landra was seven years old, and she and her brother Vidal were being raised by her grandfather, after her parents were killed. When they were young their grandfather used to tell them cautionary fairy tales about the horrors of Vampires, but it soon turns out that Vampires are far from mere fairy tales. Soon Hugo begins homeschooling the children in the history of Vampires and Zombies in U.S. history.

The reader is then treated to an alternate history of the U.S.A. where Vampires and Zombies came across the oceans with the first colonists. We get to see scenes from the days when cowboys were plagued by Vampire and Zombie outbreaks, and learn that the Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency was formed by Ulysses S. Grant after the civil war, in order to eradicate the Vampire and Zombie threat. We then witness an incredibly gruesome scene that takes part at the end of WWII, where Pecos is part of the American force sent into Ganzert concentration camp to liberate it’s prisoners. Before the Nazis left they infected all the inmates with Zombieism and Vampirism, and so the Army has to eradicate everyone… it’s a scene not for the feint of heart!

Since the development of the Zombieism and Vampirism vaccine , there hasn’t been an official sighting since the mid 1970’s, and the government shut down the FVZA in 1975. However, Pecos believes that the world hasn’t seen the last of Vampires and Zombies, and begins preparing the children for when they once again overrun the world. Pretty soon the children begin to think that their grandfather is loosing his mind…

Meanwhile, a Vampire renaissance is going on in the goth/emo community, with kids getting fake fangs implanted, lightening their skin etc. One group of these poser is out living their Gothic romance lives, when an ominous stranger comes up to them, and offers to pay $200 to suck their blood. The kids accept, thinking the stranger is just another wannabe like themselves, but they end up getting much more than they bargained for, as the stranger turns out to be a true Vampire, and introduces them to a world of pain…

Then the water supply of a small town in Tennessee is purposefully infected with the Zombie virus (courtesy of out Vampire friend), and the community soon becomes overrun with the flesh-eating fiends. The event sparks the government to reinstate the FVZA, and Pecos is called out of retirement, bringing his young wards with him.

Before the book closes we learn that our porcelain skinned Vampire from earlier in the plot, called Mandrake, is only a new Vampire initiate himself, and the elder Vampires who are in hiding in Europe are angered at him for drawing attention to the secret existence of their kind, and send an agent across the seas to put an end to his mischief…

As I mentioned in the introduction, I can’t comment on how faithful David Hine’s adaptation work is here, but he seems to have gone to great lengths to introduce readers to this alternate version of American history, where Vampires and Zombies have plagued America since the days of the early settlers. He did a fantastic job of fitting all of the historical background within the context of the narrative, and making it into a history lesson for the children was quite ingenious. I’m a big fan of this type of fantasy world construction, but in the wrong hands it can often feel very wooden, and end up ruining the story. This is not the case in this story though, as the fantasy world felt very organic, and I found it incredibly interesting. I’ll now have to head to the FVZA website to read up more on this world!

While he only had 46 pages to introduce readers to this new world, and the characters that inhabit it, Hine still manged to pack in the beginnings of the plot that will run throughout the next two issues. That’s no mean feat, and Hine does it all with an interesting storyline, perfect pacing, and tight, natural feeling dialogue.

The linework on the book is by Roy Allan Martinez, and is painted with a somewhat muted and dark palette by Kinsun Loh & Jerry Choo. The result is an elegant photorealist style that fits the story perfectly. I often find that painted photorealistic artwork can distract from the story, but that is not the case here, as the artwork is always clear and enhances the realistic feeling of this alternate version of American history. Martinez’s linework is rather breath-taking at points, and his sense of composition is next to none.

FVZA #1 was an incredibly impressive opening issue for this miniseries, and could be one of the greatest things I’ve read from David Hine since Strange Embrace! The world of comics and movies is becoming overrun with Vampire and Zombie stories at the moment, and the signal-to-noise ratio is becoming such that great stories like this might be overlooked. Don’t dismiss this title as another book inspired by the Twilight craze though, there are a few Twilight-like Vampires in the book, but they get what is coming to them when the true, old Vampires turn up! FVZA is this year’s indispensable horror comic, and with Halloween just around the corner, you can’t afford to pass this up!

FVZA #1 will be arriving in comic stores on Wednesday October 18th, priced at $4.99, and will contain an exclusive preview of Rick Remender’s Last Days of American Crime #1.

To see a six-page preview of FVZA #1 click here!

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