Rotting in Dirtville [Paperback]

James Callahan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2006

Dirtville’s dullsville, according to bored teen Milton Bloom. And how could it be otherwise? There’s no economy, few jobs (Milton chops and sells wood), and the adults all commute to neighboring towns every day. And his parents are no help — they were killed when their house unexpectedly collapsed. But something is happening. When the adults leave, teenage gangs form, terrorizing the town. And what about those stories of giant, seemingly indestructible humanoid Martians invading Earth? Milton, like the rest of the Dirtvillians, thinks he has more pressing things to think about (like increasing his income to subsistence levels), but when he learns that what killed his parents were those Martian monsters landing on their home, he, his girlfriend Betsy, and the rest of dreary Dirtville are forced to react to this strange new war. Rotting in Dirtville is an unforgettable foray into the alien invasion genre.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The bored small-town teens of publisher Gigantic's first book, Rick Spears and Rob G's Teenagers from Mars (2005), meet the zombies of the second, Spears and G's Dead West (2005), in the third. Callahan's teens are abandoned, too. The adults who didn't split after the economy tanked when the Martians invaded leave every day for work, which is nonexistent in Dirtville. Milton Bloom is worse off. His parents died when something stomped the house flat. Now he chops wood for cash while getting harassed by a gang that includes girl-next-door Betsy's brother. She treats Milton well, at least when no one else is around, and depends on him on the day the giant robot zombies come. Callahan wields a sharp line most effectively, here filling a frame with evocative detail, there suppressing everything but the focal figures. His way with action and figuration resembles Bill Plympton's in Hair High (2003), but Callahan is less caricatural and less buffoonish, though not less satirical. For this is, besides a neat sci-fi romp, a jaundiced coming-of-age parable. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Gigantic Graphic Novels (September 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976303825
• ISBN-13: 978-0976303824
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,922,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Undead in the Head book review, August 2, 2010

By 

Lyle L. Perez "Author and zombie book reviewer" (Anza, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rotting in Dirtville (Paperback)

I went to Barnes and Noble with my wife and daughter. We all love going to the book store, especially my two-year-old daughter. My wife and I take turns watching our daughter while the other one goes to look at books. I was roaming around looking at the bargain books when I came across this comic book. When I looked at the cover I thought it was about mummies. I took a closer look and saw that it was about zombies. I quickly snatched the last copy, it was only five bucks. I'm glad I came across this book because I haven't reviewed a zombie comic in a few months.

Milton's parents have just died. Their house collapsed on itself due to a sink hole, or an old well under the house. That's what the official reports said at least. The house is un-salvageable but Milton has nowhere else to go. His parents have left him with bills that he must pay. He spends his days chopping and selling wood to finish paying off his parent's funeral costs.

While Milton is working hard, giant alien robots land on earth. They did not come in peace. News reports say that the aliens are quickly taking over the world.

Betsy, Milton's next door neighbor notices that he is constantly chopping wood. She walks over and invites him to come to town with her. He agrees, and they begin walking toward town. Betsy's nasty older brother is in town with his friends and finds her hanging around Milton. They begin to fight. Betsy get's involved and is struck by her brother. The fight is broken up and everyone goes their own way. That is when the zombie alien robots invade the town. At first Milton thinks everything is fine, but most of the townspeople are already zombies. Milton and Betsy stick together in order to find a way out of the zombie infested town.

I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into with this book. I mean, the cover didn't really look like a zombie story. It most definitely was a zombie story, but it did take a long time for anything zombie related to happen. I did like the beginning set up with Milton and his parents. His character was very strange and distant. It kind of made me uncomfortable when a different character talked to him. That's how odd Milton was.

The illustrations were very good. I really liked the way the zombie robots looked. There were some gruesome moments like, (SPOILER ALERT) when one of the characters get's sliced by a saw or when Milton get's most of his face bitten off.(SPOILER END) Another cool thing I liked was that all the art is in black and white.

Some parts in the book make no sense, and I really hated that about Rotting in Dirtville. There is so much potential here, but it just lacks something. The ending was an absolute let down. I didn't understand it at all. If you decide to pick up a copy you'll know what I mean. It just ends. Almost as if the author was tired of the book and wanted it to end. Or maybe the author is planning to do a sequel, but it's been four years since this book was published. I don't think a sequel will be coming.

Rotting in Dirtville is one of those books at makes me wish I did half ratings. I did enjoy the first half of the book, but toward the end it lost steam. I seriously could have stopped reading half way through the book and it would have made better sense then the ending. I will have to give Rotting in Dirtville, 2 Undead Heads out of 5.