In our review of Bleeding Hearts #4, Poke finds himself torn between his unlife as a zombie and that pull toward the Live Ones.
BLEEDING HEARTS #4
Written by DENIZ CAMP
Art and Main Cover: STIPAN MORIAN
Variant Cover: JUNI BA
Page Count: 32 pages | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
Release Date 5/13/26
This review contains spoilers
As Bleeding Hearts #4 begins, Rabbit’s decided to throw a tea party with her mom and Poke…or as she’s taken to calling him, “Flower Boy”. Being a protective mother in a zombie apocalypse, Cara’s ready to shoot Poke. But her daughter calls her out on this, getting her to apologize. Of course, Cara’s torn between letting her kid actually be a kid for once, and keeping her from becoming one of the undead, herself.
She does see that her girl’s genuinely laughing, though.
Eventually, Poke rushes off, feeling like he’s a disgrace to zombiekind and promising he won’t go back. He reflects on how the stuff that used to bring him joy no longer does, even on Out-Break eve.
Mush finds him, wondering where he’s been lately, and the two go hunting together. Mush asks what’s been going on, but he keeps dodging.
Alone, he decides he can’t go back to the Live Ones…but he also hates not having said goodbye, and grabs some supplies for them. He drops those off, and as Rabbit goes to catch up to him…
Mush turns up.
The beginning of Bleeding Hearts #4 was, quite honestly, an utter delight to watch. Rabbit’s a kid that’s never known the pre-zombie world. It’s questioned at one point how she even knows what a tea party is (though it’s shown she has her own take on it). But either way, she has a chance to just be a happy, carefree child for a bit, even with the fact that the undead have taken over the earth. Not only that, but she’s gotten a zombie involved.
Her mom, understandably, is still ready and willing to shoot if need be, but bringing out the gun mid-tea party? Ultimate party foul, in Rabbit’s eyes.
Poke’s internal tug of war between zombie culture and the living took the main bulk of the story this time, and it was done quite well. The way he found himself reflecting on the things he used to enjoy before the heartbeat began, like what he found funny and how he used to enjoy Out-Break, only to find that maybe they weren’t as objectively great as initially thought, felt incredibly relatable.
It reminded me a bit of re-watching an old favorite movie after, say, twenty or thirty years, only to find that it’s aged like old milk. With time, someone’s perception on stuff like that changes, they find problematic elements. The writing truly nailed that whole feeling, and I appreciate that.
But one thing that comes up is that feeling that nothing with zombie culture ever changes, ever evolves. Makes me wonder about the natural unlife span of zombies in general, and got me thinking about a common thread that comes up with stories about vampires, or even immortals in general. Someone lives long enough, their life hits a kind of stasis.
I do wonder how far from the gym Poke got before Mush showed up, though. It is pretty clear that his best friend is going to figure it out. That last page involves him picking up both of the Live Ones, presumably to either bring them to Out-Break, confront Poke about what’s been going on, or some combination of both.
Loved getting a bit more information about Out-Break, as well, in the form of some debate as to if it’s lost its way as the go-to zombie holiday, about celebration of culture versus an excuse to eat, or if it’s a combination of the two.
The artwork continues to give us some dynamic poses and expressions, but I think my favorite image overall may be a splash page near the end, where it’s just Poke, alone, and framed by a basketball hoop and a tree. I could totally see that image just as a poster on its own, and the color work is so pretty.
Final Thoughts
Bleeding Hearts #4” gives us a nice glimpse at the struggle between staying true to zombie culture and reconnecting to humanity, proving why this title is such a standout in the world of zombie media.
