Percy Carey’s Comic Book Corner: ‘UTF’ Review

[Each Wednesday, Complex columnist Percy Carey a.k.a. MF Grimm dives into the world of comic books with industry interviews, reviews and more.]

UTF (Undead Task Force) is the story of a government group with the sole intent of destroying the things that go bump in the night. They take out, obviously, the undead, in all forms. The team is shown starting with a nest of zombies before being called in to deal with a swarm of vampires. It’s a task force that his been in place for apparently the better part of a century, if not longer, and includes such members as Lee Harvey Oswald (because apparently in the UTF universe, Kennedy didn’t quite have a pulse, unless he wasn’t the target…) and, possibly Poncho Villa. So, enough with the background, on to the comic…

Personally, I think the three-issue series is one of comics’ greatest challenges. 66 pages is not a lot of time to tell background, character, plot, and still save a page or two for the killer action scene out of a movie trailer. Usually, most writers sacrifice some of the less important aspects (i.e. background, some character aspects, and even a little plot) to squeeze in more action, because let’s be honest, comics and movies are there to entertain…and blow stuff up. But the beautiful thing about UTF is that most of that stuff is intricately weaved into the wonderous tapestry of storyline. Too flowery? Sorry, went into professor mode. The UTF writers saw what a great story needs, and made sure that every aspect was touched on to give a more complete feel. We learn about the characters, get a glimpse of the history and background of the task force, and get a great “world domination” plot through the whole thing. You know those villains that somewhere say “First (insert city here), then the world”? Well, that’s what you get with Sandy, the vampire leader.

But what sets this story apart from the clichés is the execution. While some of the dialogue is a tad choppy, some might even say unnatural (and not supernatural, I mean to say that most humans don’t really speak like that), the story itself has all the feelings of a great summer blockbuster. A team sent in to a building, and the situation gets out of hand. Someone break out the popcorn and 5 dollar sodas, how many stories have we seen with a plot like that and have you white knuckled, sucked to the back of your seat, risking bladder infection because you don’t want to go to the bathroom in case you miss the next pulse pounding moment? Every movie that comes out between May and September.

So, leave some of the clunky dialogue at the door, but keep a seriously dynamic and heart thumping storyline. I can say that there are so many opportunities to learn more about the back story, the characters, and the council of vampires, but because of the low page count, they had to be streamlined for another time. All in all, the comic is fantastic, it keeps you turning the pages for more story and action, the characters are great, and the storyline is something that we can all relate to. Imagine (for those of you not in LA) your local jail being overrun by a band of vampires, and infecting the worst of the worst with the ability to live forever. Creepy thought. As for the stuff that had to wait'more back story and character development'that will probably show up in the sequel series. So my only question to the creators is: when is that going to happen?

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