You don't get any cooler than Khary Randolph. On top of countless comics, Khary did character designs for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2000s version), The Boondocks, Hellboy and the new Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon that began in September. He designed the characters. Friggin designed them. He's been very influential in animation in the 2000s, and I'm extremely happy to have a zombie from him.
There are three categories of zombie that I've found myself pursuing. There are zombies drawn by people famous for drawing zombies, there are zombies doodled by people famous in the zombie community (although not necessarily illustrators as a profession) and then there are artists that I adore so much that I need a sketch even though their resume is zombie-free.
Jacen Burrows (before I even get into this, check out that splash page for his site; awesome) is a household name in zombie comics, and if the name isn't familiar, you've probably seen his work. He's done tons of amazing covers including Black Gas, Escape of the Niving Dead and various Night of the Living Dead books (with author George A. Romaro).
Oh, this makes me grin a big grin. This zombie is from Archie Comics artist Dan Parent. Dan has also done work with Felix the Cat Productions, Mattel (Barbie), Disney, the list goes on. It's not often that I get such an iconic artists' sketch, but now that I have this one, I have a dozen others I want. Zombie Betty, Zombie Veronica, Zombie Jughead... God, I need the whole gang!
Max Brooks is one of the most influential figures in modern zombie fiction. Max wrote the Zombie Survival Guide in 2003 and followed up with World War Z in 2006. WWZ is phenominal, and the dozens of other recent zombie novels over on Amazon all owe their success to WWZ for paving the way. WWZ is currently being made into a film, and part of me doesn't want it to happen. There is no way to top the novel, and I feel like I'm just going to be disappointed. Of course the other part of me, the larger part, can't wait.
Joe Dodd is a killer artist that has had his hands in various G.I. Joe and Marvel comics, and most recently he illustrated a fabulous book called Tales From Wonderland: The Mad Hatter, an origin story for the Tales From Wonderland version of the Mad Hatter. Theres some twisted stuff in this book, and you need to check it out, if for no other reason than.. zombie wall.
Jeremy Bastian is an incredible artist. He creates these monstrosities and these structures and these creatures that all inhabit this realm, and you know that if you were to crack open Jeremy's skull and peek inside, all of these creations would be in there waving back at you. 