Review written by Taylor Hoffman, Valkyrie at Black Cat Comics, SLC // @taylorcheckers
“This is what it’s all been leading to. This is what we were made for,” Dickie rallies the rest of the band.The This was the issue we were all waiting for since the launch of the Kickstarter campaign. The final showdown: Zombies vs. The Westboro Baptist Church!
Story By: Matt Miner
Art By: Sean Von Gorman
Colors By:Savanna Ganucheau
Cover By: Tristan Jones and Doug Garbark
Release date: April 15, 2015
Creators Matt Miner and Sean Von Gorman –– insincere pervs according to the WBC –– have delivered in bloody detail the catharsis I’ve craved from the beginning. The last three issues have been set up of how the band was formed, how they became zombies (thanks, One Million Moms), and why they thirst for the intestines of the intolerant. The plot is simple for a good reason – we already know the climax will provide all the simple yet poignant punk rock satisfaction we need. Bad guys lose in comics, and here they are torn apart literally and figuratively.
The issue starts with Toe Tag Riot playing a concert right outside of WBC central, where soon the band viciously attacks Not-Phelps and his family. Von Gorman’s art and Savanna Ganucheau’s colors continue to entrance me with their sheer lack of convention. Colors and shadows highlight the wrong places in distorted faces, and everyone just looks a step away from a semblance of realism. This by no means is criticism. It’s the gross, off-center aesthetic that brings out each character’s true colors. Not-Phelps looks so even more disgusting than our rotting protagonists, and the art and writing are perfectly synchronized to establish purely abhorrent villain. Which is great, because they’re only purpose is to die horribly for our amusement.
I’ve said it before, “Toe Tag Riot” is a satirical Walking Dead except with purpose. Miner and Von Gormon’s collective knowledge of punk and those so-bad-they’re-awesome movies provides plenty of references to delight fans. There are tons of easter eggs hiding throughout the four issues, but put simply it’s Return of The Living Dead, which is my favorite zombie movie (disallowing Re-Animator). The whole zombie trend in comics is well past saturation, and has turned me off from a lot of titles, but combine the passion and sophistication Miner and Gorman bring to these tropes and the fact the WBC accidentally endorsed a comic in which they’re violently murdered is a hook I couldn’t resist.
In case you’re worried that the comic advocates for physical violence against ideological violence, you’re already taking the premise too seriously. When I spoke to Matt Miner about this book before on a podcast for Slug Soundwaves during which we chatted about activism. Unlike the ultra animal activist titles Liberator, Liberator Earth Crisis, and Critical Hit, Toe Tag Riot is a fun satire. There’s no advocacy to literally bring violence to anyone, but to not let intolerance and the brainwashed win, because that’s not punk.
Obviously I urge you to pick up all of Toe Tag Riot but if you need any further convincing, try this on for size: I’m pretty sure the Black Cat crew is in this final issue! Black Cat is the comic book store where I work and continue my education in the medium. Greg, the bald owner who’d rather I didn’t refer to him that way is peppered throughout, and I’d put money down that I’m the purple-haired girl at the wedding. If you don’t want to feed an undead need for acceptance, feed my ego and pick up Toe Tag Riot any way you can.