Dick Turpin and the Restless Dead

Dick Turpin and his friend Tom King the Gentleman Thief are happily robbing a coach in the dead of night, after relieving the passengers of their valuables Turpin and Tom make good their escape but not before charming the young Lady Isabel by throwing back her jewels as they leave.

It’s during their escape that they come across a small village in the middle of nowhere one that seems deserted, until they come across one lone boy wondering slowly around (you can see where this is going). Very quickly the two thieves’ are surrounded by the undead and fighting for their lives and not even a shot to the head of one of these zombies stops them advancing, lucky for Turpin and Tom, Toms horse Chestnut becomes the focus of the horde of undead which buys the two thief's some time.

Just as all looks lost a priest appears with a flaming crossbow and offers the two highwaymen sanctuary in the church, while pointing out fire is the only true way to dispatch the walking undead that he knows of. Once inside the church the priest tells them the story of how the dead came to take over the village and that he is the only one left, its during this time that Turpin comes across a tomb that reveals the twist in the tale. It seems the priest is one of the undead but for reasons unknown still has all his faculties and doesn’t crave brains, Turpin decides to lure the undead into the church and once they are all in set fire to it with himself and the priest inside. Tom who has made his escape once everyone is inside ensures the doors cannot be opened again, while Turpin makes his escape by jumping through a window as the dead are all engulfed in flame and the undead are finally put to rest.

The book is produced by Time Bomb comics and written by Steve Tanner with art by Andrew Dodd, the story is an interesting twist on your standard zombie tale with the decision to pit Dick Turpin against the undead is simply genius. Its a black and white book which in some eyes may be a draw back but lets be honest it never hurt the Walking Dead comic did it, in fact I think that the fact its in black and white helps the book and helps convey the time period better.

If you like horror books or you’re a zombie fan and you are looking for something a bit different then give this book a try, they have a very good website and Facebook page and produce several books besides this one click the link to get on their website to have a look. Time Bomb Comics

I came across this book at the Thought Bubble comic convention and had quite a long chat with the writer Steve Tanner at the stand, who listened patiently as I told him of my family's supposed Turpin connection. As his eyes didn’t glaze over as most people’s do when I go into this family tale I decided to buy a few copies of his book, but to be honest he had me as soon as I saw the words Dick Turpin on the stand.

The follow up book to this one is Dick Turpin and the Crimson Plague, I will be reviewing that book in the coming weeks but take it from me its one hell of a good read.

Dick Turpin and the Restless Dead book cover is the sole property of Time Bomb Comics and only used as an aid to this review, the cover will be removed if requested to do so.