The original Marvel Zombies – and the Ultimate universe story that set it up – felt fresh, new, gory and darkly hilarious back in 2005.

The success of Robert Kirman’s initial series was a blessing and a curse, however, with numerous sequels and prequels being released to ever diminishing effect.

It’s been a few years since the undead superheroes have been on comic shelves, but with Marvel Zombies: Black, White and Blood, they’ve been resurrected; brought back from the dead once more.

And it’s actually pretty good, at least so far.

Taking the form of an anthology series means that we get a chance for different creators to present a variety of stories and characters, rather than sticking with a single plotline.

It’s much stronger for it.

There’s also the aesthetic choice dictated by the title of the series; each tale is presented in black and white, with the only other colour being red – which is smartly deployed not just as blood (and there’s plenty of opportunity for that to appear) but also as the red of Daredevil’s costume, as well as Spider-Man’s and Iron Man’s outfits too.

First up we have a tale by Garth Ennis, whose grim sensibilities and frequently anti-superhero stance seems perfect for a world overrun with super-powered zombies.

In his tale, the undead Daredevil is trapped and forced to fight in gladiator style battles – at least until another character arrives with a devil’s bargain for the previous hero of Hell’s Kitchen.

Next up, we see Spider-Man valiantly defending the Daily Bugle offices, which have been overrun by the undead. Whether or not you’re aware of Spidey’s fate in the first Marvel Zombies series, this is a great story.

Lastly, there’s a tale featuring Moon Knight, in which Egyptian Gods appear alongside the undead menace – with Iron Man also turning up, already zombified, to cause problems for our protagonist.

It’s dark, violent stuff and a pretty great read – it seems to really revitalise what became an increasingly tired and, series of comics that just wouldn’t die – despite being long past their prime.