ZOMBIE POWDER.

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
4
RELEASE
February 8, 2000
CHAPTERS
30

DESCRIPTION

Somewhere in the desert lies the world's greatest treasure: the 12 Rings of the Dead, the only source of the mysterious substance Zombie Powder, which can raise the dead and grant eternal life. Into this world stalks Gamma Akutabi, a man with a metal arm and a six-foot chainsaw, cybernetically enhanced master of the legendary martial art . But it takes more than one man to find the ultimate prize. You need a team: super-gunman C.T. Smith, knife-slinging teenager Elwood, and brilliant (and impossibly big-breasted) journalist Wolfgangina. Against an army of crooks and killers, against runaway trains and superpowered madmen, they'll need all their skills... but the most dangerous thing in the west might be the Rings themselves...

(Source: Viz Media)

Note: Includes the epilogue and 3 extra chapters.

CAST

Gamma Akutabi
C.T. Smith
Wolfgangina Lalla Getto
John Elwood Shepherd
Nazna Gemini
Angelle Belle Rose Cooney

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

AnotherBadger
57/100
Zombie Powder. had a few intriguing ideas but was limited by its length and undeveloped premise.
“I’ve killed thousands of bounty hunters in my time. And each time, for every person I killed, I’ve made new enemies among the people left alive.”
- Gamma, Chapter 2
If choosing to read Zombie Powder. then it is important to remember that it was “cancelled” early on in what would have been a supposedly longer run. Kubo has mentioned a couple of reasons as to why this happened and stepping away from this project let him move on to bigger and better things. Due to this, Zombie Powder. doesn’t really have a clear cut ending, but it is easy to see how the main plot would have progressed.

Zombie Powder., in its short run, contained a couple of interesting ideas that while in their current state aren’t too unique could have been adapted into more interesting ideas. The mix of the Western and Sci-Fi genres work well enough, creating an engaging landscape that has a lot of potential to be explored. While fetch quests can be a little bit tiresome to read due to their often predictable plot, Zombie Powder. has a few plot beats that could have been taken in interesting directions had it continued. The mix of action and comedic dialogue also works well enough, not feeling forced and adding to characterisation.

Kubo’s art style is easy to read throughout most of Zombie Powder., however, the reliance on long sweeping lines to represent air movement can sometimes create slightly chaotic panels. This can make the sword-based fights a bit difficult to read. There is also the issue that some of the backgrounds become reliant on horizontal lines to fill the space, especially during character interactions which can make scenes feel very dense.

One of Zombie Powder.’s weakest elements would be its characters. This is mostly a symptom of its short run, but it is evident that a couple of characters were the focus while the others were more of an afterthought. Perhaps the most glaring example is the sister of Elwood who is supposed to act as an emotional centre for the character; being the focus of his goal. Despite her being present for a number of pages, we never actually find out her name in the actual story which would seem like an important detail since she is supposed to be important to him. There is also a similarity to another character’s goal as she tries to save her brother, which makes the sibling-bond theme a little bit repetitive. The reliance on character pages to add basic information and depth to some of the background characters can feel like a bit of a hindrance as some of the important elements (such as names) could do with being referenced within the plot rather than acting as an add-on.

There are a couple of stand-out characters who definitely drive the story and have pretty strong design concepts. It is easy to see how they are reflected in Kubo’s later work. The character designs, on the whole, are also strong with antagonists having a mix of skill sets that make for interesting fights. Had the series had a longer run then it probably could have developed into something that stands out more.

It is unfortunate that Kubo was unable to wrap up Zombie Powder. as it leaves a couple of intriguing plot threads unravelled and it wasn’t able to conclude in a satisfying way. However, based on what is currently on show, I am glad that he decided to step away and move on to something that he was more comfortable with.
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okeeeee
30/100
If you're here for Kubo, you may as well give it a shot. If not, don't bother.
__ZOMBIEPOWDER by Tite Kubo__
Reviewed 12 April 2022

ZOMBIEPOWDER Volume 1 Cover. From _VIZ_ ZOMBIEPOWDER, at least as it currently exists, seems to have served it's purpose. A playpen for Kubo, as he works on the precursor to his critically acclaimed Bleach; a comic that is probably best described as his "take" on the concepts featured in [ Yasuhiro Nightow's 'Trigun'. ](https://anilist.co/manga/30704/Trigun-Maximum/) Putting it mildly, this comic is not that good. Not quite terrible but it can't really be said to be at the the level of your average shonen. And this is for a variety of reasons, as we shall explore. But before that, it's really worth mentioning that this is a very short comic. It's 30 chapters long and has been collected into 4 volumes. This is fairly typical for an author's first serial, especially at a company as huge as Shonen Jump. But, as will be seen, the length of this comic lays a huge part in it's downfall. Story For starters, the story. It is practically nonexistent. Why? Because the entirety of this series is nothing more of an introduction into Gamma Akutabi and those surrounding him. There's nothing wrong with a series being nothing more than an introduction, especially if it's this short (although, those tend to function more as prequels, or as a basis for characters in the author's future work). What is a crime though,is how uninteresting it all is. So, the premise of the story and the objective of our hero, as established in the first chapter, is to obtain the elixir of life or Zombie Powder. And to accomplish this, he must recover ten 'Rings of the Dead'. While this is a sub-standard premise, the failure of Kubo to properly build on this is what really drives the nail in the coffin. As the story progresses, we are confronted with nothing but cliched scenarios, each scenario being the introduction of a character. This lack of a story is the main problem plaguing this comic. It's 30 chapters long, but because it's all still an introduction, there's nothing to keep me sticking around. Fighting gangs and searching for rings is cool and all, but there's just no excitement in it. At this stage, it's all so lifeless, all so robotic. The characters rarely diverge from the archetypes they're based on and everything said and done is all so predictable. This is a less than amateurish attempt at a story. Art The art is actually not too bad. It's difficult to ignore the unique sense of style instilled in the character design but the overall bit is just not magnetic. This comic is really at it's best during the battles, when there's minimal dialogue. The action shots are far from 'pin-up' status but are surprisingly decent. The low level of detail in the backgrounds and the lack of memorable shots though do not add to the minimal success that these moments bring. As previously mentioned, the character design is also somewhat decent. The look of the characters pretty much the most interesting thing about the series, and what with the series length, there aren't a lot of moments for Kubo to simply let us appreciate this. This is also a huge part of what makes the battles a little decent to look at.
People will mostly come to this series because it is a comic by TIte Kubo, author of 'Bleach'. And that by itself is a testament to the quality of this comic. While the concept is terribly uninteresting, what really hurts it is it's insistence on being so bland and unoriginal in it's narrative choices. A terrifyingly unappealing choice. PS I should note that the reason for the short length of the series is it's unfortunate cancellation at the time, of which I'm fully aware. And be that as it may, I still feel it relevant to bring up the length in my review.
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