Fubar 2: Empire of the Rising Dead
by Jeffrey W. McComsey and others
Fubar Press, 2011, 272 pages
Zombies attack everywhere in the Pacific theater of WWII in this collection
of short comic stories. The walking dead appear from Pearl Harbor on December 7,
1941, to Enola Gay's dropping over Japan of her deadly ordnance on August 6, 1945. Both
Allies and Japanese suffer equally in this zombie outbreak. This second volume
from the Fubar team of writers and artists follows closely behind the first
volume about the European theater of WWII that was published earlier in 2011.
The comic book's 27 stories have been created by various authors and artists.
The stories are not related, but the living dead make an appearance in each one.
The back cover describes the volume as a "zombie kamikaze smashing epic," but
only a couple of stories deal with kamikaze themes. The stories generally have
thin plots with an emphasis on horror and gore of the dead who have arisen and
walk like the living. The book is intended for mature audiences with some
stories having graphic violence, strong language, or nudity.
Kamikaze pilots rise from the dead in the story entitled "Second Wind," which
is introduced in the following paragraph:
In the latter months of the war, after a series of brutal losses left the
Japanese with little hope, a new strategy for victory at sea was needed.
Kamikaze (literally 'divine wind') pilots would intentionally crash their
aircraft into enemy battleships, killing themselves and as many of the
opposing army as possible. Committing this ultimate sacrifice was seen as
highly honorable and those chosen were seen as akin to samurai of old. But
when the dead began to rise, and with the aid of Japanese scientists, the
kamikaze strategy was modified. Using a mixture of post-hypnotic suggestion,
homing beacons, and magnetized uniforms, a new tactic was born. They
called it ... Second Wind!"
An unnamed dead kamikaze pilot on the sea floor awakes and remembers dying in
his crash into an enemy warship. He must have been successful, since the
wreckage of his aircraft lies next to a sunken warship. He notices weights sewn
into his uniform around his ankles and wrists, but he does not remember how they
got there. The pilot feels a compulsion to walk in a certain direction as he
remembers his lovely Miho, who must be either his wife or girlfriend. He wonders
what Miho will think of him after his kamikaze mission against the enemy. Several other dead kamikaze
pilots join him in walking on the sea floor in the same direction, and he is
overcome with thoughts of the taste of blood and flesh. More than a dozen dead kamikaze
pilots reach a small island with a US military encampment. They walk out of the
water and begin to eat the American servicemen.
A story entitled "Five by Five" depicts five American pilots who crash their
fighter planes into the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. When
they are returning to the ship, they realize that the entire crew has been turned
into zombies as they are all out standing on the flight deck. The five pilots decide to
make suicide attacks on their own carrier, since they have little fuel left to
go elsewhere. They come in strafing the living dead and then crash their planes.
Their attacks, eerily similar to those made by Japanese kamikaze pilots, successfully sink the
aircraft carrier.
Zombie kamikaze pilots walk out of water toward
US servicemen who they will eat (from story "Second Wind")
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