Posted online: Jul 19th, 2011

A comic which tells the story of Derry being decimated by an outbreak of zombies has become the talk of the town following unprecedented demand for the first issue.

Zombies Hi! sees hordes of the undead laying waste to the city, with a band of survivors seeking refuge within Derry’s historic walls from the plague, forcing the first closure of the city’s gates in over 300 years.

Created by Danny McLaughlin (writer), Kevin Logue (artist) and John Campbell (inker), the comic was produced through the 2D Comics Collective based at the Verbal Arts Centre.

Keen eyed readers will also see a few familiar faces in the comics, including a well known local radio presenter overcome with zombie virus live on air.

 And it’s the use of local settings and faces that writer Danny McLaughlin cites as a major factor in the comic’s success.

“I think everybody’s had the idea of putting zombies in Derry, given the amount of them already running about at the weekend,” he joked.

“The whole thing started off as a joke, someone saying ‘Zombies Hi!’ and then we took it from there, hitting the library and researching everything we could about Derry.

“The big thing for us was to take something happening on a global scale, and put it in a local setting.

Artist Kevin Logue added: “At the end of the day, the City’s Walls are purpose built for something like this, so it’s strange that no one’s used them in a fictional setting like this before.

“At the minute, we’re hoping that we’ll take it up to twelve issues, and we’re now asking people to hit us with ideas or get contributions from other local artists through our Facebook page.”

John Campbell, inker, added that the parallels between the comic and real life historical events had given added impetus to interest in Zombies Hi!

“We sold the first issues at the 2D comic festival in June, and there were that many people asking for it that we actually had to print more up on site to cope with the demand,” he said.

David Campbell of the Verbal Arts Centre explained that the Zombies Hi! was evident of the wealth of comic talent in the city.

“The 2D Comics Collective gives people the opportunity to hone their skills, give them access to all the resources they need and then print the final product,” he said.

“They can then showcase their work at the 2D Comics Festival, so everything happens here on site at the Verbal Arts Centre.”

Danny added that their plans didn’t stop with Zombies Hi!.

“We’ve also got plans for Vampires Hi! and Werewolves Hi!, but we’re sticking zombies at the minute,” he said.

“The appeal of zombies will never die!”

Groan!

For more go to www.facebook.com/zombieshi or email zombieshi@gmail.com.