Zombies. Clowns. The circus. Zombie clowns at the circus. Yes, please.

Made Up: Zombie Clown Circus is a new book from writer Mira Mortal, and artist John “JAR” Rodriguez, published by Source Point Press.

Something in the clown makeup is turning the clowns into flesh-hungry zombies. That’s how it starts, and that’s all you really need.

The book wastes no time getting started, and it’s an all-out fight for survival from start to finish. I love how quickly the book gets going, there are no wasted moments in the story, it’s tight, fast moving, and brutal. The backdrop of a circus also lends itself to tons of creative ways for fighting and escaping zombies. Trapeze? Yep. Human cannon? Elephants?

It’s not just about the blood and gore, though it is plenty bloody. Writer Mira Mortal manages to give characters enough dialogue to give you an idea of the relationships between characters to care about them, one character in particular got me when they died. This isn’t a group of strangers forced to try and survive together, these are friends and family, they love each other, and it shows.

Of course, what is a comic without art? John “JAR” Rodriguez does some truly beautiful stuff in here, and some beautifully grotesque stuff too. I actually was blown away by some of the book, this dude is a beast, I look forward to seeing him grow.

Sometimes you read a comic and you think, “this is obviously a pitch for a movie or TV show, that’s been re-purposed as a comic;” but with Made Up, this is a comic book first,  I couldn’t help but thinking could make a great little horror movie of it’s own. It’s fast, fun, and nasty.

Check out Made Up: Zombie Clown Circus from Source Point Press here.

-Kris