Infestation issue 2: Difference between revisions
replaced: IDW Generation 1 continuity → 2005 IDW continuity |
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*Dr. Zych (3) | *Dr. Zych (3) | ||
*[[Baroness]] (9) | *[[Baroness]] (9) | ||
*[[James | *[[James Kirk]] (11) | ||
*CVO personnel (16) | *CVO personnel (16) | ||
*[[President of the United States]] (19) | *[[President of the United States]] (19) | ||
Revision as of 18:13, 12 November 2020
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| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | April 6, 2011 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | April 2011 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning | ||||||||||||
| Art by | David Messina | ||||||||||||
| Art assist by | Claudia Balboni | ||||||||||||
| Inks by | Gaetano Carlucci | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | ScarletGothica | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Robbie Robbins | ||||||||||||
| Assistant editor | Bobby Curnow | ||||||||||||
Vampires 1 — Zombies 0.
Synopsis
At Kirtland Underground Munitions Storage Complex, it's zombies vs. robots, with battles raging across the entire compound. In the portal chamber, the Covert Vampiric Operations team is holed up with the unconscious Britt and a group of Warbots and Scibots, but upon hearing the sound of an incoming airstrike, they promptly flee via trans-gate, narrowly avoiding a barrage which flattens the base. Back at CVO's Coffin headquarters, Director Overmars, consultant demon Nikodemus, and the other staff are fending off their own zombie assault, having reluctantly called in the airstrike at Kirtland to take CVO's stolen artillica out of the equation. The tide is turned when the field team portals in with their robot companions, and the Coffin is soon secured. Bools grumbles about the decision to bomb the base with the team still inside, but desperate times call for desperate measures: the entire country is rapidly becoming overrun with zombies.
Luckily, Benny—now protected from the Undermind's influence by an artillica helmet—has a plan that may allow them to stop the infestation in its tracks. With Britt's new nature as living artillica confirmed by Nikodemus, Benny plans to use their unconscious teammate's power to "hack the universe" and turn the tables on the Undermind. The rest of the team can't hang around, though: Cross and Bools, with a team of Warbots, are teleported away to secure the White House and protect the President.
Back at the Coffin, Britt suddenly awakens, and opens portals to draw back and reabsorb her otherdimensional avatars. Now crackling with newfound energy, the enthralled zombie-vampire blows away the Scibots and remaining CVO personnel, and begins using her enhanced powers to open a huge portal leading directly to the Undermind itself. Benny, Overmars and Nikodemus are forced to retreat via teleport to the White House, and convene with Cross, Bools and the President in the Oval Office. With Britt now more powerful than ever, Cross proposes a radical solution: turning himself into a second zombie-vampire in order to level the playing field. Removing Benny's helmet, he allows the Undermind to reassert control of the Smith, and then offers up his arm for a bite. Cross quickly becomes powerful living artillica, just like Britt, but is protected from the Undermind's control by a drink of Nikodemus's powerful demon blood.
Teleporting back to the Coffin, Cross confronts Britt, and the pair of zombie-vampires engage in a super-powered duel around the Undermind portal. Cross emerges victorious, using his new artillica powers to get the drop on his opponent and run her through with a machete, but he is too late: the Undermind has emerged into their universe, its form a horrific mass of writhing bodies. All out of options, the CVO field leader enacts a suicidal final gambit, using his new powers to rewrite the laws of magic and then erase the Undermind from existence. The resulting explosion of energy tears through the Coffin, even reaching the surface-level CIA headquarters above, and across the country, zombies drop to the ground as the Undermind's influence suddenly vanishes.
Days later, the remaining CVO personnel are still taking stock of the situation. The Undermind seems to be gone for good, but Cross's actions have "reset" magic worldwide, rendering all artillica devices inert. Britt has been left comatose, with no end in sight, while Cross is missing in action, presumed to have perished alongside the Undermind. But unbeknownst to his teammates, the CVO field leader has survived, still glowing with artillica power. At Arlington National Cemetery, Cross looks down at his own grave, a reminder of when he "died" years ago and began his new life as a vampire. Now, reborn for a second time, he walks away towards a new beginning.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Humans | Vampires | Others | Autobots | Decepticons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Notes
Continuity notes
- At the end of last issue, the Undermind had been cut off from CVO's universe, deanimating all its zombies, and the team was preparing to use a one-way portal to search for Britt's avatars in other universes. At the start of this one, without explanation, zombies are again running rampant at not just Kirtland and the Coffin, but across the entire country.
- Cross's former life in the US military was detailed in the original CVO one-shot, as well as the later African Blood mini-series. In contrast to the 2002 date given on his grave in this issue, the original one-shot had Cross becoming a vampire in 1976, but that date had already been retconned by African Blood #1, which depicted him as still being human in 1987.
Errors
- Like last issue, Overmars is treated as a normal human, colored without the characteristic red pupils of a vampire.
Other trivia
- A second style of Scibot appears in the CVO artillica storage compound, and like many of the robots from last issue, it's a hybrid of two Ashley Wood World War Robot designs: the head of a Martin on the body of a Dropcloth.
- Infestation was followed by the four-issue mini-series Infestation: Outbreak, which continued the adventures of CVO, crossing over with characters from Chris Ryall's 2009 comic Groom Lake and serving as a lead-in for 2012's Infestation 2 crossover event. The Zombies vs. Robots: UnderCity mini-series was also marketed as an Infestation sequel, but makes only brief references to CVO and plays fast and loose with continuity, depicting the nationwide zombie threat as having continued following the event storyline, despite this issue's statements to the contrary.
Covers (3)
- Cover A: Prime, the Baroness, Spock and Peter Venkman, with Britt and her army; art by David Messina.
- Cover B: Britt vs. CVO; art by John K. Snyder III and colors by Jason Wright
- Cover RI: B&W version of cover A
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Cover A -
Cover B -
Incentive Cover
Advertisements
- Zombies vs Robots: Undercity comic series
- Outbreak comic series
- Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness crossover comic
- Infestation cover checklist (back page)
