The Minions of Ka Crawl from the Grave

Announcements of proposed film projects based on zombie-themed comicbooks / graphic novels have been sporadically tossed into the blogsphere over the past few years, though as far as I know, there has as yet been no result from these optimistic declarations. Some of the comics that I’m familiar with cry out for cinematic adaptation, though one of the best — Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead — would not be too difficult to turn into a TV series.

Many of these take a  Romero-inspired, “traditional” approach — set at the beginning of, during or in the aftermath of a post-apocalyptic zombie plague, full of cannibalistic frenzy and shots to the head.

Alpha Zombie Inc.’s graphic novel project The Minons of Ka — written by Michael Furno and Michael Ahearn, drawn by Chris Moreno and Mario Boon — gives a certain uniqueness to the standard proceedings by utilising historical settings, slightly re-writing history to give credit for various wide-spread disasters to the cannibalistic dead. Though the main story takes place against  late 17th Century squabbling between Church and State, culminating in the Great Fire of London, the zombie plague originates in ancient Egyptian obsession with immortality and gorges itself on the fall of Rome and the Crusades before “re-purposing” the Black Plague as it moves through history:

Synopsis:

For hundreds of years, the Church has used the power of the undead to spread fear among heretiucs and non-believers. Now, in the late 17th Century, the Church has their sights set on the throne of Charles II. An unnamed warrior finds himself caught between the Church and the English Monarchy, in one of the greatest conspiracies of all time.

The Minions of Ka is a dynamic work, with an atmospheric,  in-your-face style that carries considerable impact. It has garnered wide-spread praise and attention. Now, having bought up the rights for Minions, Monsterfoot Productions has announced its intention to make it into a feature film. At this stage there has been no announcement of a timetable for the production, but as Monsterfoot is run by Ahmet Zappa (son of Frank) and Christian Beranek, it’s worth getting interested in the possibility, at the very least. As you can see for yourself from the synopsis, if this is the route they are (presumably) taking, the result could stand out from the living dead flicks crowding the DVD shelves.

Meanwhile, we’ll keep you informed if more news comes our way.

• Source: Dread Central via Avery
• The Minions of Ka website (where you can read the first 24 pages of the graphic novel online)