Everything Dead & Dying #1

Everything Dead & Dying #1

by Tate Brombal, Jacob Phillips (Cover Art)

MINISERIES PREMIEREJack Chandler is the sole survivor of the zombie apocalypse in his rural farming community, but rather than eliminate them, he has chosen to continue living alongside the undead—including the husband and adopted daughter he fought so hard to have. But when his town is discovered by outsiders, Jack suddenly becomes the one thing standing in the way of those who hope to kill his family for good.Eisner Award-nominated creators TATE BROMBAL (Barbalien, Batgirl) and JACOB PHILLIPS (THAT TEXAS BLOOD, NEWBURN) team up for a haunting rural character piece set during a zombie outbreak, best described as THE WALKING DEAD meets Essex County.

Genres: Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Zombies, Fiction, Comix, Adult

Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2025

Reviews

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very slow-burn beautifully depressing zombie apocalypse tale, Tate Brombal's "Everything Dead & Dying" is the story of a farmer who just wants to keep his family together after a global pandemic that leaves the infected in a violent flesh-eating zombie state. Told in a very non-linear narrative where present and past events meld together confusingly, one quickly gathers that Jack, the protagonist, is one of the only non-infected left in his small farming community. He has kept his infected husband and daughter in a docile state by feeding them ground-up parts of animals. He does the same with local townsfolk, trying to create some semblance of normality. It becomes quite clear that Jack is suffering from a post-traumatic shock that has left him in a horrible state of denial about the zombie apocalypse, a state of mind that affords him some solace... until the survivors show up.

[sunny (jael’s version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting start - i’m excited to see where this goes!

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I love about post apocalyptic books is the introspection and thoughtfulness they can have. This definitely did that. The art is great and the vibes are immaculate. It’s weird seeing the zombies be a little more than brain dead. Interesting start.

[Colin Post · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting setup for a post-apocalyptic story, a man living through the trauma of losing everyone around him by keeping the zombies going on the circuits of what they did on their last day alive. Brombal and Phillips use some nonlinear storytelling to effectively layer in the past and the present. I almost wish this was a one-shot, though, because I’m actually not interested in what happens when he encounters other living people. This works for me better as a short story, the last man alive living among the zombified ruins.

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything Dead & Dying - Tate Brombal & Jacob Phillips
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

ARC review
Publish Date : May 5, 2026

📖 : Jack was raised on a farm and grew up to live the same quiet, hardworking life in a small rural community. He fought hard to build the family he always wanted—a husband named Luke and a daughter named Daisy. When a zombie apocalypse devastates the town, Jack becomes the only living survivor.
Rather than destroy the town or the undead left behind, Jack chooses to stay. In his home, he continues to care for his zombified husband and daughter, refusing to abandon the family he loves. But when newcomers arrive hoping to take over the town, Jack finds himself standing in their way—determined to protect his family from those who would destroy them.

💭: This story is a powerful mix of love, loyalty, revenge, and loss. Jack is the kind of character who will do absolutely anything to protect his family, no matter the cost, and I couldn’t help but admire that about him.
As someone who loves a good zombie apocalypse story, this definitely gave me The Walking Dead vibes — which I’m always here for. The story is tragic, gory, and emotional, and I ended up enjoying it way more than I expected.
The artwork is incredible too — super detailed and really brings the story to life. I’ve only read one other graphic novel before this, but this one is definitely my favorite so far!

[Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Absolutely loved the majority of the issue but I’m not sure if I love the direction it’ll go given the ending. We shall see!

[Abel Allwein · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an opener for an indie series! Immediately I’m hooked, I NEED to know what happens next!

Highly recommend for any queer horror fans out there!

[Ezra Downie · Rating 4 out of 5]

like that episode of the last of us but more painful

[Bokvandraren · Rating 5 out of 5]

#3 💔

[Kylesnooze · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 rounded down. I really wanted a different ending, I feel like I knew it was coming, but I wanted something a bit fresher. nonetheless, it was engaging, beautifully drawn, and well written. I'll pick up the next

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between a 3.5 and a 4. I like the narration, the main lead is very relatable as a father myself. But the back and forth can be jarring and the ending...interesting. I'll try another issue.

[Tyler Dunl · Rating 3 out of 5]

WHAT A SET UP!!
The art is so pretty. I've been craving another graphic novel. Though the zombie-ness seems typical so far, I loved the wholesome family and the idea of a docile zombie. To flip the narrative on its head with the humans being killer, sweet! Save me gay farmer zombie dad... save me...

[Zarina Ahmadzada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the early release!

It is always a great pleasure to read a graphic novel with a beautiful artwork! Colour choices were amazing! The style of art was nice to look at, but sometimes I couldn’t tell what was happening in the scene (like what happened to the dog?)

Storywise, I have my nits to pick.
Although the premise was a different take than what we normally see (zombies are being less like cookie cutter zombies) the villains were the downfall of the story, in my humble opinion!
Colette was a joke, and the only positive comment is have for that character is the way the her story concluded!

Jack, although, obviously mentally unwell (due to all the trauma obviously) the one thing he did towards the end was questionable to me. Why differentiate between species? Thats just all i will mention!

Overall, it was really nice to read this 5series comic and i thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Cybernex007 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of a good farmer, and wow am I glad I went into this story blind as this is genius. The entire story revolves around Jack Chandler, who built a life with his husband Luke and their daughter Daisy after facing years of scorn and abuse from those around him. They found their way in their remote farm in their remote town while the world around them changed and acceptance grew. His life is perfect and he desperately wants to keep it, except something has already taken it away. As the title suggests…everything is dead or dying. An infection struck the town, and possibly the world but we don’t know as communications have been stopped, and everyone in the town has become infected and zombified, stuck in the cycles of their lives the day that it took hold. All of them have been affected, except for Jack. For some reason he is immune, he isn’t sure why and doesn’t particularly care as at the end of the day he is a farmer and a good one so he keeps things going. Every day he follows the same routine, his daughter wakes him up, they join Luke downstairs for breakfast, the mailman greets them, and Jack makes his way into town to carry out business. Throughout the entire day he sees everything as normal, only getting brief flashes of the horrific reality he surrounds himself with. It’s as if his mind has splintered. He may imagine himself eating breakfast with his daughter, but in reality he is keeping his dead daughter and husband fed based on the churned up meat and bones of cattle. He does this for everyone in town and eventually he makes his way to his closed off farm where the living animals still reside and he still carries out his duties as a farmer to provide more for the town. But everything is still dying, and the fear that all of this can go away is becoming ever more present. It hasn’t rained and he is running out of water, three hens in as many weeks have turned into the infected dead, and he doesn’t know where to go from here. We don’t actually know exactly how long he has been here, only that he is somewhere in Canada and that his daughter, who looks like she should be in elementary school, should now be in college. The slow reveals of this issue as they give us glimpses into the real world is brilliant. Jack can carry out full conversations with zombies in his head to try and give himself some semblance of hope or to try and ask for advice, but they have nothing to give only things he already knows and the same actions they take every day. But as the issue comes to an end, things are different. Daisy didn’t wake him up like she always does, and as he runs downstairs he finds Daisy and Luke at the table as normal but then the mailman arrives way too early. Jack answers the door in a desperate attempt to keep things on track, only for Stu’s brains to be blown out and spread all over Jack as he opened the door. Jack stands there as Stu collapses as a group in the hill appears. They are survivors, armed up and they even have a horse. This group looks like they were ripped out from the walking dead, and suddenly Jack’s entire life track, as much as it was living, just got derailed. Wild.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything Dead and Dying #1 is an Image Comics comic book written by Tate Brombal, art by Jacob Phillips, and colors by Pip Marten. It is cover dated September 2025.

Jack Chandler has built himself the life he has always dreamed of: carved out his own land, started his own farm, built his own house, married the man of his dreams, and adopted a beautiful baby girl. But that life suddenly turned into a nightmare when a flu quickly spread causing everyone in town to become mindless, flesh-craving zombies. Everyone except Jack that is. Jack has repurposed his life to taking care of the town and its people, imagining a perfect small farm town utopia in his head.

This was an extremely captivating first issue. It introduced you to a new world, immediately flipped it on its head, and then had you asking “What’s next!?” The art perfectly switched between a beautiful, idealistic small farm life to a dark and gorey hellscape at the snap of a finger as Chandler fantasizes between the past and present. I’m very curious to see how the book will continue to play out and whether it will take the usual zombie story approach.

[Sophia Palermo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Tate Brombal and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book

I found the premise of this story to be interesting, a farmer who has somehow managed to survive an outbreak and is living among the dead, but I don't like the execution. I agree the story needs exposition to get you attached to the characters, but having the plot continuously flip between present day and then the past of the zombies just felt.....pointless. Like I know that the little girl is a zombie....why am I having a long section dedicated to a story about her, and then another section about her being born from her biological mom. There is no connection for me to form here. I liked the art, found it gritty for a zombie comic, but honestly the flow didn't work. I also thought that when the raiders came it went in too many directions leaving me losing interest because it no longer followed the zombie family and farmer, but now these randos.

[seidi Lou who · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything Dead & Dying was quite an original take on a zombie graphic novel I’ve read in a while. I taken interest in it at first because the cover art caught my eye. And safe to say the illustrations throughout the novel did not disappoint! I really liked the soft color pallet used even when there was an intense scene happening. The story was also beautifully written. You follow the main characters grief & how he’s living with the dead. I really enjoyed how you follow his daily routine & then you have a flashback or a flash forward to the present when he’s (spoiler) keeping his zombie neighbors alive! Of course he encounters other people & they want to kill the dead. If I were in a zombie apocalypse I’d probably do the same however with the way the story was written I was on the main characters side! Overall this graphic novel was very well done 👍 & it did make me cry lol

[Taikyra.tbr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me a copy. I read issues 1-5 for this review. This was so absolutely heartbreaking and really puts forth the idea "what would i do if my family succumbed to a horrible illness that turned them into zombies"? The answer is probably not one anyone could pick easily and in these 5 issues we get to see two completely different paths. 1. learn to live with them even if they are not coherent and 2. immediately end their suffering. We get to see flashes back in time from when the main character was growing up in a small farming town and grappling with his identity, finding his partner and becoming a father and then having to navigate an unthinkable situation in which he finds himself to be one of the few to not get sick from the virus going around. I deeply sympathized with Jack as parent because how does one even begin to decide what to do in this situation. I kept seeing this in my local comic shop and im so glad(sad?) i finally decided to give it a go.

[K.B. King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bleak but beautiful. The cover art is absolutely stunning. While it’s a slow burn, the emotional depth makes it more than worth the journey. I found myself immediately sympathetic to the farmer, and while I saw the ending coming, I still felt satisfied. I read it in about an hour and would gladly read it again. I’m already looking forward to the next installment. Highly recommended for anyone who appreciates atmospheric, emotionally driven storytelling.

Thank you NetGalley and Image Comics for an advanced copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

3.50/3.75

[kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm torn on this, I can't really decide between a 3 and a 4.

I think the art style wasn't really my type of thing. I was drawn in by the art on the cover and the art inside was a lot different. It was giving action super hero comic book type of style to me which I respect but do not prefer.

The most interesting aspect of this was its topic. Last guy is able to live with zombies along side him as long as he feeds them? Okay! And he's a father with an adopted daughter, a gay farmer husband, this guy is just not a flat character.

Other than that, this was somewhat forgettable. I want to keep reading onto the next to see how the plot complicates, but this was truly just the introduction into the situation type of book.

We watch a guy going through the motions of grieving and missing his family (that are now zombies that he still lives with) while navigating the world that exists with seemingly less harmful zombies that we'd expect. We go back and forth from the past and his new present. And at the end, along comes this group barging in who starts shooting zombies! Which is kinda problematic because it seems like our main character has gone to a lot of trouble to keep them alive.

[kesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

nothing pushes my will to live more than a comic that has the set up to find new grounds for the dystopian genre

this is everything and more that i could have hoped for in a first issue and whilst i don’t want to celebrate too early, the storytelling is well paced + the art feels familiar with one of the phillips on page

this may have to be one of those stories that i collect every issue for because i don’t know how to wait

5 stars.

[Jenn Kause · Rating 5 out of 5]

what starts as a colorful introspection of farmlife is tossed with sprinkles of truth: a zombie apocalypse where a man's colorful life is only a memory. His partner and daughter are zombies, as our main character is the only one immune in a town grown of hate. It's so far a very interesting flip-flopping dilemma of truth and false memory, of coping with life's hardships. The ending leaves great intrigue so I'm excited to read the rest of the series.

[Charlie Tombini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel neutral towards this comics. I enjoyed the take on zombies and the non-linear storytelling style. It was interesting and very, very gory. I thought it could benefit from being a little slower paced and ergo longer. I couldn't quite connect with the characters, which was unfortunate. Also, I expected the art to be different, based on the soft colors on the cover, but that's on me.

Thank you, Netgalley and Image Comics, for this eARC. This was an honest and unbiased opinion.

[Kaylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an ARC review courtesy of NetGalley.

Chapters 1-5. This wasn’t really the comic for me. The concept was interesting, but the reality was bleak and the characters were not likeable. Although that is obviously intentional, I need something to believe in, or someone to root for when I’m reading a story. Everything Dead and Dying would definitely be an enjoyable read for those who like the dark reality of human nature, who don’t need beauty in their stories or happily ever afters.

[Harry Palacio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dreamland or not there’s an issue with zombies and the problem with getting too attached to them is you never know what could go wrong… now that your family has turned what can this small town do but wait till everything is gone

[Kaitlen Seals · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is surely going to rip my heart out. An almost cozy start to an apocalyptic zombie story. I really love the LGBTQ family representation, even if 2/3 of them are flesh eating zombies now… Interested in where the story goes next.

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this was a preview I found on Edelweiss, and it is the first three issues of this series. It is very sad. I honestly do not know where it will go from here but it definitely had last of us vibes.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good zombie issue, with an interesting premise and an enjoyable protagonist. I loved reading his voice

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting take on Zombies. I recommend it!