Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Pop Culture League: Zombies Triumph
I'll be the first to tell you I jumped on the zombie genre just a few years ago with the Walking Dead. Like many newbie fans...I never liked zombie stories. And Robert Kirkman (creator of Walking Dead) also had a problem with zombie stories, even though he was a fan. The problem was the show always ended with one of two scenarios: 1) everyone is dead or 2) one person gets away on a boat. Kirkman has said over and over again he wanted to create a zombie story that doesn't end. What really happens with the survivors, and more importantly, society as a whole?
So obviously, Walking Dead and zombies have been a huge craze as of late. If you want an idea why, check out this book: Triumph of the Walking Dead: Robert Kirkman's Zombie Epic on Stage and Screen by James Lowder and Joe R. Ransdale. The book is a collection of essays by different people on why they think the zombie genre captivates us so much.
I was going to add a few quotes, but I can't find my copy right now. The biggest things that stuck with me is that people are less interested about the zombies, and more interested about how society collapses. In a typical "horror story" you general fight against one enemy - Dracula, the Mummy, Freddy, or Jason. In a zombie apocalypse, all of humanity is in peril by a large horde of the enemy. And the horde grows. And society crumbles. Another example in the book is that you are trapped in an office building. At first everyone cooperates. Then you start cutting off other floors and people as supplies dwindle. What do you do?
With all the negative press in the media these days, we often feel like the world is ending and society is crumbling. So are you ready with your food and water supplies, hatchets and weapons?
I'm going to have to agree with Toybox's post. The zombie genre may have jumped the shark. In 30+ years of toy collecting, I've never purchased a wrestling figure. Well, then I found these. They were so ridiculous, I had to have them. WWE celebrities as zombies. As they say on Monday Night Footbal..."C'Mon Man!"
More from the League:
http://greenplasticsquirtgun.blogspot.com/2016/10/pop-culture-league-challengezombies.html
http://thetoybox1138.blogspot.com/2016/10/pop-culture-league-challenge-zombies.html
http://toy-break.blogspot.com/2016/10/zombies.html
http://primordialbadgersmediahoard.blogspot.com/2016/10/pop-culture-league-challenge-zombies.html
http://20yearsb42000.blogspot.com/2016/10/pop-culture-challenge-zombies-this-week.html
http://collectorsuniverse.blogspot.com/2016/10/31-days-of-halloween-pop-culture-league.html
http://anotherfblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/pop-culture-league-voltron-mega-post.html
http://www.harveymercheum.com/2016/10/pop-culture-league-ninth-challenge-zombies/
http://coolandcollected.com/mcfarlane-toys-walking-dead-action-figures/
http://cassiewinterslibrary.blogspot.com/2016/10/pop-culture-league-dead-have-arisen-or.html
https://haxbee.com/2016/10/12/zombies-the-dead-have-arisen/
Im wondering if they are going to release the Hul Hogan they showed at the SDCC or if he has been scrapped. I want the Triple H and the Page but not as wrestling figures , I have something completely different in mind for them.
ReplyDeleteNo idea on Hulk. These totally surprised me. Like I said, I don't even look at the wrestling stuff. Discovered by accident, but it is entertaining to see celebrities as zombies.
DeleteI've seen those wrestling figures and considered them even tough I have no interest in wrestling figures. It seems to me that a company could put out a line of generic zombie figures with great success. There would be no licensing costs, and the figures would be great for army builders. hmm.
ReplyDeleteYes! Army builders. People will buy them. I heard Boss Fight Studios - the ones who did the Kickstarter 1:18 scale Greek Mythology series has plans for same scale zombies. Hope it happens.
DeleteNot a Triple H fan, but Inlove that skull-faced zombie version!
ReplyDelete