Drawn and written by: Olivia Vieweg
Published by: Graphic Universe
Ever After takes place in a zombie apocalypse. The main characters, Vivi and Eva, leave their home settlement after events dictate they can no longer stay there, and travel across the country to find a new safe settlement in which to live.
Ever After is a look at the idea of a zombie apocalypse through a lens which it isn't often shown; serene beauty. The sky is often golden, the trees are green, and the fields are lush. There are pages which just stop to show off the landscapes surrounding the characters, and such scenes are one of Ever After's key strengths. The vibrant, natural world is contrasted against the human characters, and the location in which the book starts. Unlike the lively countryside close by, the settlement has a cold, deathly, pallor to it, and the humans themselves have a sickly appearance to them. There may be death all around, but in the outside world, life carries on, while the human dwellings appear to be stagnating.
This dichotomy speaks to the core lesson which Vivi comes to learn, that the apocalypse isn't the end of the world. At the start of Ever After she has suffered a great tragedy. This loss, and her part in it continue to haunt her throughout the book. Learning to move past that tragedy is as much a part in her learning to survive as getting over her initial inexperience of life outside the walls which previously offered her shelter does. Unlike in other zombie apocalypse fiction, Viva and Eva do not overcome the world around them by recreating some semblance of their old life, they learn that accepting and adjusting to the new reality is what is needed in order to thrive. This is what distinguishes Ever After from other, similar stories.
In Ever After, Olivia Vieweg has created a story which ties man's survival in a zombie filled world in with the process of dealing with grief. It is only when the characters accept what they cannot change, and appreciate their new surroundings for themselves for what they are, they are are able to move on and create a good life for themselves. Ever After is therefore is an optimistic story, one in which hope never went away, it just looks different now. This is a comic for anyone looking for a zombie apocalypse which is just a bit different than the ones we have become used to over the years.
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