To Korean readers, a zombie is a story that seems to come from a far-off land. And at the same time, there would not be material as familiar as a zombie. Although a zombie is a horror material, it’s used in many areas. At least one zombie movie is released every year, and Train to Busan also released in Korea was a great hit. Zombies are regular materials in games as well. Zombie-based games come out every year, including survival, RPG, stealth action, FPS, and simulation games. Webtoons are not an exception for zombie craze. Here is a work about a zombie situation.

 

 

The method of satirizing people, exposed to the media and brainwashed, with zombies is not unfamiliar since it’s been introduced for a long time. Stephen King's novel, Cell shows zombies appear as you use a smartphone to spread into a zombie. In Dead Days, a unique virus is used as a material, making people spread into zombies if they have a certain company’s drink. A mega-corporation gives out drink, Label D, to citizens for free. Since no one has any doubt about this drink, people become zombies. It’s not contagious, but when people drink it, they get infected by it so that many people transform into zombies.

 

 

  At the end of the work, the cartoonist compares ‘Label D’, a medium that makes people transform into zombies, to a groundless rumor. When people absorb groundless rumors going around on the internet without critical thinking, they’re the same as zombies. The cartoon functions as a kind of satire. It is a criticism for the public who does not think critically, and also a high-level of criticism for mega-corporations that manipulate public opinion and use groundless rumors. However, while being established as well as these criticisms, the developing of the cartoon flows in a somewhat inconceivable direction.

In the second half, zombies become quiet with analog music. The protagonist party realizes this and ceases the zombie situation. It is an overly heroic development compared to the criticizing composition of rule by the few. Finding an uncertain solution by chance, a person saves the whole world. This development isn’t appropriate; enlightening the few is used as an ending direction although the cartoon criticizes rule by the few. The cartoonist speaks in the second half that critical thinking is necessary, but it was other few who save media slaves.

 

 

Stunning artworks and direction is the key player in Dead Days, reminding a movie. Liveliness in the scene that zombies are chasing is as good as any movie. However, the cartoon allows a small probability to be sacrificed for this dramatic direction. However, although it’s not necessary to lock the door, a female survivor locks the rooftop door. And Zombies distinguish people by faces, so they don’t attack Bindo with his head down. These scenes must be sacrificed for liveliness, but because the intentions are obviously revealed, these small parts seem regrettable.

  The composition of the cartoon expresses, having a twist in zombies which is great. But, the development doesn’t show as much as ideas of the compositions and expectations. Solving these parts will be cartoonist’s homework.