Zombies vs. Robots: No Man's Land edited by Jeff Connor

Zombies are popular right now.  It’s undeniable.  With Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead being unbelievably successful in multiple media, and the overflowing of zombie-related prose, comics, videogames, tv shows, movies, etc., it’s clear that you can have some success with zombie fiction.  Almost as popular are robots, and the idea of the robot overthrown/robot apocalypse.  So why not just geek out and put it all together?

That is exactly what Chris Ryall and Ashley Wood did in Zombies vs. Robots and its sequel, Zombies vs. Robots vs. Amazons, with both series being collected in Complete Zombies vs. Robots.  It is a story of a devastated world in which a robot society has arisen around the key objective of protecting the last remaining human child.  The story is fun, fast-paced, and doesn’t worry about being serious.

And fans wanted more.  So more comics came out, but in a wonderful move by IDW, they also started releasing prose works, starting with the anthology Zombies vs. Robots: This Means War! And continuing in a string of releases.  The most recent book is another anthology, Zombies vs. Robots: No Man’s Land, edited by Jeff Connor.  This set of stories ranges from the very beginning of the zombie outbreak all the way through the series, including a stop into the realm of Zombies vs. Robots vs. Amazons, this reviewer’s favorite entry in the comic series.

While the anthology is clearly aimed at readers of the original comic series, No Man’s Land is very accessible to new readers, as well, in large part because of the wonderfully simple premise of the entire universe: robots fighting zombies.  It doesn’t need to be any more complicated to be fun.

While some of the stories can be a little tedious, overall this is a fun if not-standout collection that is perfect for readers of the Zombies vs. Robots comic, or any reader who wants to see heavy metal/undead conflict.