In this review of Everything Dead & Dying #2, Jack’s situation goes from bad to worse as a group of strangers come knocking at the door. Can he get them to leave and return to his “normal” life?
Everything Dead & Dying #2
Writer: Tate Brombal
Art and Main Cover: Jacob Phillips
Variant Covers: Jacob Phillips, Dani
Page Count: 40 pages
Release Date: October 8, 2025
This review contains spoilers
At the close of Everything Dead & Dying #1, a group of strangers arrives at Jack’s house, taking out the zombie mail carrier, Stu. As Everything Dead & Dying #2 opens, their leader, Sam, immediately comes across as friendly, wanting only to offer a hand while they’re passing through. Jack, being protective of his undead family, quickly jumps back inside, locking the strangers out of his house. He has to feed Luke and Daisy to keep them settled and away from the prying eyes of the zombie-killing group.
Through interspersed flashbacks, we find out that Jack was an alcoholic before the apocalypse occurred. That, along with raising a baby, was causing major stress between him and Luke. The backstory is short, but powerful, rapidly helping us to form a connection with the characters.
As Jack goes about the task of feeding his family, he’s yelling at the outsiders to get off his property and leave them alone. He gets distracted by this and zombie Luke wanders off to an upstairs window. Luke crashes through the window, just as Jack arrives to pull him back in. When the strangers see that Jack is living with the dead, they decide to break into the house to finish off the zombies. Jack, along with Luke and Daisy, struggle with the intruders. They’re able to make an escape out the back door, only to be confronted by another member of the strangers, who promptly shoots Luke in the head.
With Daisy held behind him, Jack’s rage erupts over the loss of his husband. He raises his handgun at the stranger and the issue ends.
Analysis
The interplay of past and present in Everything Dead & Dying #2 works even better than it did in the first issue. The details introduced by this back and forth approach help to flesh out the characters and build an attachment to them without wasting time. After all, this is only a five-issue series, so every panel on every page has to deliver. Writer Tate Brombal is doing that in spades. The two pages right after Jack and his family escape out the backdoor are the perfect pay off to the nonlinear storytelling happening throughout the issue. You know what’s coming before it happens, but, at the same time, hoping that it won’t actually play out. When it does, the emotions of both the characters and the reader run high.
The last few pages of Everything Dead & Dying #2 are some of my favorites of anything that I’ve read recently. When zombie Luke gets killed, I was ready for Jack to unleash hell on the strangers. Even though we’re only two issues in, Brombal has done an effective job of creating a sense of sympathy for Jack’s situation. Now, the only thing he’s got left of his world is zombie Daisy and he’s willing to die to protect her.
The art by Jacob Phillips and colors by Pip Martin only serve to heighten the effects of the story. A blend of vibrant colors and darker tones at just the right times make the action unfolding on the pages stand out. The level of gore remains high, as one would expect for the subject matter. For any fan of zombies, this story is a great read.
Final Thoughts
Everything Dead & Dying #2 is an emotionally engaging entry in an otherwise unusual zombie world. It is a beautifully drawn and expertly told tale of a man who just wants his life to be normal after a world-shattering event. How far will Jack go to protect what remains of his family? It looks like we’ll find out next issue. Have fun, comic lovers!
