The godfather of the zombie movie may not be making as many films (at least as many decent ones) as he used to, but with a CV like his, George A. Romero can afford to get away with a duff movie or two. Not unlike Robert De Niro, though Romero at least has had the good sense to reduce his output somewhat while his muse is away. Part of the trouble with Romero's last few films is that they've exclusively been part of his Dead series, each with less atmosphere and more simple, obvious political allegory than the last. At least in the '70s and '80s he would refresh himself by making the odd vampire movie (Martin) or anthology film (Creepshow, written by Stephen King) between his zombie pictures, but he hasn't made a movie that doesn't involve flesh-eaters since 2000's Bruiser, and his comic-writing output doesn't do much to change that. Romero was a big fan of the EC Comics of the '50s, citing their horror and boldness as a great influence, so it's surprising that he never wrote a single comic until he contributed to a zombie series (what else?) called Toe Tags for DC in 2004. He didn't write a full series until he began Marvel's Empire of the Dead, a continuation of the world he created in Night of the Living Dead, with artist Alex Maleev last year. Although he's sticking to old guns, reviews have been fairly positive so far, so hopefully the new medium will bring new life to Romero's creative endeavors.
