The Zombie (Simon William Garth) is a fictional

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. The character was created by writer

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

and artist

Bill Everett William Blake Everett (; May 18, 1917 – February 27, 1973) was an American comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner as well as co-creating Zombie (comics), Zombie and Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), Daredevil ...

for the standalone story "Zombie" in the horror-

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

'' Menace'' #5 (July 1953), which was published by

Atlas Comics Atlas Comics may refer to: * Atlas Comics (1950s), one of the two comic publishing companies that would be the forerunner of Marvel Comics * Atlas/Seaboard Comics Atlas/Seaboard Comics is a line of comic books published by the American company S ...

, a forerunner to Marvel. The character later became well known for starring in the black-and-white

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

series ''

Tales of the Zombie ''Tales of the Zombie'' was an American black-and-white horror comics magazine published by List of comics magazines published by Magazine Management in the 1970s, Magazine Management, a corporate sibling of Marvel Comics. The series ran 10 issues ...

'' (1973–1975), usually in stories by

Steve Gerber Stephen Ross Gerber (; September 20, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include '' Man-Thing'', ''Omega the Unknown,'' ''Marvel Spotlight ...

and

Pablo Marcos Pablo Marcos Ortega, known professionally as Pablo Marcos
at the

editor-in-chief

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

plucked the character Simon Garth, the Zombie, from a pre-

Comics Code The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA enabled comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. The c ...

horror tale in '' Menace'' #5 (July 1953), published by Marvel forerunner

, and brought the character into modern-day continuity in ''

'' #1 (August 1973). The initial modern story, co-scripted by Thomas and

and drawn by

John Buscema John Buscema ( ; born Giovanni Natale Buscema, ; December 11, 1927 – January 10, 2002)Social Se ...

and Tom Palmer, was a 12-page tale that led into a seven-page reprint of the 1950s story (with the art slightly altered to give the Zombie shoulder-length rather than short hair). That original story was also reprinted in 1975's '' Tales of the Zombie Super Annual'' #1, and again two decades later in ''Curse of the Weird'' #4 (March 1994), the final issue of a short-lived Marvel horror reprint series. Following the premiere, all the Zombie stories were by Gerber and artist

Pablo Marcos Pablo Marcos Ortega, known professionally as Pablo Marcos
at the

Doug Moench Douglas Moench (; born February 23, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American writer of comics, novels, short stories, newspaper feature articles, weekly newspaper comic strips, film screenplays and teleplays. He is notable for his ''Batman'' wo ...

and artist

Alfredo Alcala Alfredo P. Alcala (August 23, 1925 – April 8, 2000) was a Filipinos, Filipino comics artist, born in Talisay, Negros Occidental, in the Philippines. Alcala was an established illustrator whose works appeared in the ''Alcala Komix Magazine''. ...

). The original series' finale, set at Garth's daughter's wedding in issue #9, was a three-chapter story written by

Tony Isabella Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...

(chapter 2 with co-scripter

Chris Claremont Christopher S. Claremont (; born November 25, 1950) is an English-born American comic book writer and novelist. Claremont is best known for his 16-year stint on ''Uncanny X-Men'' from 1975 to 1991, far longer than that of any other writer,Clarem ...

), and drawn by

pencilers A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations. In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step ...

Virgilio Redondo, Yong Montano, and Ron Wilson, respectively, and inked by Alcala (chapters 1–2) and Marcos (chapter 3). ''Tales of the Zombie'' published the last work of

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

great

Syd Shores Sydney Shores (1916 – June 3, 1973) was an American comic book artist known for his work on Captain America both during the 1940s, in what fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books, and during the 1960s Silver Age of comic books. B ...

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

's first penciler following

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

's departure from the character in 1941. Shores had finished penciling two-thirds of the eight-page story "Voodoo War" for issue #5 (May 1974) before dying of a heart seizure.

Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...

penciled the remainder of writer

's anthological horror tale. Although laid to peaceful rest in ''Tales of the Zombie'' #9 (he did not appear in the following, final issue, which contained a

Brother Voodoo Dr. Jericho Drumm is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in '' Strange Tales'' #169 (September 1973) as Brother Voodoo. The character was created by Marvel publisher Stan Lee, write ...

story and three anthological tales), Simon Garth was reanimated in the horror-comics magazine ''Bizarre Adventures'' #33 (Dec. 1982), in an out-of-chronology story hard to reconcile with the remainder of the character's continuity. The Zombie returned to color comic books in a backup story in '' Daredevil Annual'' #9 (July 1993). At the time of that appearance, the Zombie remained unearthed, and controlled by his daughter Donna, who pledged to have him eliminate other such enthralled undead. The Zombie thereafter appeared in '' Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual '97'' (1997); in a behind-the-scenes reference in ''

Blade A blade is the Sharpness (cutting), sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they a ...

: Crescent City Blues'' #1 (March 1998) leading into a guest appearance in ''

Spider-Man Unlimited ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' is an animated television series produced by Saban Entertainment which features the Marvel comic book superhero Spider-Man and serves as a follow-up to '' Spider-Man: The Animated Series''. ''Unlimited'' premiered in 1 ...

'' #20 (May 1998); and in a solo story in the anthology series ''

Strange Tales ''Strange Tales'' is a Marvel Comics comics anthology, anthology series. The title was revived in different forms on multiple occasions. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (feature), Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made their d ...

'' (vol. 4) #1 (Sept. 1998). A decade later, he starred in a solo story in the

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'', a ...

omnibus ''

Legion of Monsters Legion of Monsters is the name of different fictional superhero teams appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The Legion of Monsters first appeared in Marvel Comics chronology in ''Marvel Premiere'' #28 ( ...

Man-Thing The Man-Thing (Dr. Theodore "Ted" Sallis) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writers Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and Gerry Conway and artist Gray Morrow, the character first appeared in ' ...

'' #1 (May 2007). He was also one of the main characters in ''

Marvel Zombies 4 ''Marvel Zombies 4'' is a four-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics beginning in April 2009. It is part of the ''Marvel Zombies'' series. The series is written by Fred Van Lente, penciled by Kev Walker, with covers by Greg La ...

''. He made an appearance in ''Marvel Zombie'' (October 2018).

Fictional character biography

Simon William Garth was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

and became a work-obsessed executive of Garth Manor Coffee, based in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Ambushed and kidnapped by his former

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...

(whom he had fired), Garth is to be a

voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * West African Vodún, a religion practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

cult's

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...

; however, the cult's priestess Layla recognizes Garth as her own everyday-life employer, with whom she is in love. Though her attempt to let him escape is thwarted, and though she is forced to mystically transform his corpse into a

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

with a clouded mind, under the control of whoever holds the matching Amulet of Damballah worn by Garth, Layla and her grandfather, Papa Doc Kabel, continue to try to help the uncomprehending Zombie reach his final rest. Despite his zombie state, he retains some vestige of his soul: for instance, when under the control of the Amulet, he has been forced to hurt or even kill people he has come to care about (such as Philip Bliss and Layla). The moment he is free from control, his vengeance is terrible. Because of these remnants of soul, Layla and Papa Doc perform a ritual that allows Garth 24 hours in his restored human form in order that he might attend the wedding of his daughter Donna and set in order what was left of his previous life. He was resurrected by the

witch Calypso who discovered that, through acts of selflessness, this particular zombie possessed free will, i.e. the ability to act of his own accord and not always at the request of whoever was wearing the Amulet of Damballah — an unusual feature for a member of the walking dead. In this case, he ignored her orders and pushed Calypso aside in order to release the captive soul of his friend Papa Doc Kabel, whom Calypso had murdered as part of the process of reviving Garth.

''Marvel Zombies 4''

Simon Garth had been a test subject of A.R.M.O.R. when the zombie plague killed everyone on the base. He retrieved the head of zombie

Deadpool Deadpool is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (December 1990). In his comic book appearances, Deadpool is ...

, and used the base's teleporters to escape to the bottom of the sea, where Deadpool's head infected all of the Men-Fish and their leader, the

Piranha A piranha (, or ; ) is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the subfamily Serrasalminae, of the family Serrasalmidae, in the order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although ...

. Garth was compelled to travel to the island nation of Taino in the Caribbean Sea, where he told Black Talon about the zombie plague. Black Talon assumed control of Garth, and captured Deadpool's head. When the zombie Deadpool's head bites one of the Black Talon's henchmen, he uses this opportunity to get Garth to help him escape. At the end of the series,

Jennifer Kale Jennifer Kale is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Rich Buckler, the character first appeared in '' Adventure into Fear'' #11 (December 1972). Jennifer Kale is John ...

and the Black Talon confine the zombie virus inside Garth. The Zombie was later recruited by

Phil Coulson Agent Phillip J. "Phil" Coulson ( ) is a fictional character portrayed and voiced by Clark Gregg in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise. Coulson is depicted as a high-ranking member of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and longt ...

to join his incarnation of the

Howling Commandos The Howling Commandos is the name of several fictional groups appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team also appears in the franchises developed for other media. Fictional team history Original Incarnation (1963) T ...

in order to fight

Dormammu Dormammu () is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #126 (November 1964). He is the extra and inter-dimensional demonic e ...

's Mindless Plague.

Powers and abilities

As the Zombie, Garth is supernaturally strong and able to heal mystically from injuries; however, he is also virtually mindless. Also, due to the Amulet of Damballah, which he wears around his neck, he must obey anyone who holds that item's duplicate.

Other versions

A revamped version of the Zombie appeared in a new continuity in Marvel's mature-readers

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

, in the four-issue miniseries ''Zombie'' (Nov. 2006 - Feb. 2007), written by Mike Raicht and illustrated by

Kyle Hotz Kyle Hotz is an American comic book artist and writer. His work has appeared in series published by Marvel Comics, DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics. Comics career Hotz graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine arts in 1993. While still in the ...

. Here, Simon Garth is a bank teller who, with his co-worker Layla, becomes tangled in the affairs of two robbers and an infectious zombifying gas. Simon plants paint bombs in the money bags that only he can defuse, so he and Layla are kidnapped and accidentally brought into the zombie quarantine zone, thinking that the barriers were to stop the robbers from escaping rather than to keep the undead in check. The series concludes with a bitten and bullet-riddled Simon, the only survivor of the outbreak, being taken into the custody of the military and extracted from the scene via helicopter. ''Zombie'' was followed by a second four-issue miniseries, ''The Zombie: Simon Garth'' with Eric Powell replacing Reicht (with the cover of the first issue paying homage to the cover art of the first issue of ''Tales of the Zombie''), which chronicles the events following the extraction, and Simon's escapades as a "heroic" zombie.

Other Zombies

Other characters known as Zombie in the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Superhero teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardia ...

include: * Otherdimensional counterparts of Marvel's superheroes, supervillains and others in the various ''

Marvel Zombies ''Marvel Zombies'' is a five-issue limited series published from December 2005 to April 2006 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Robert Kirkman with art by Sean Phillips and covers by Arthur Suydam. It was the first series in the ''Ma ...

'' series. * In ''Tales of the Zombie'' #4, a zombie of ancient Egypt appeared. The person died violently under unknown circumstances and was reanimated as a zombie by an unidentified man by calling upon

Anubis Anubis (; ), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian (), is the god of funerary rites, protector of graves, and guide to the underworld in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depicted as a canine or a man with a canine hea ...

and

Ereshkigal In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal (Sumerian language, Sumerian: 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒆠𒃲 REŠ.KI.GAL, lit. "Queen of the Great Earth") was the goddess of Kur, the land of the dead or underworld in Sumerian religion, Sumerian mythology. In la ...

. The man had him forced a woman to marry him, but the woman eventually learned how to control the zombie and she had it slay the man. * A new Zombie, whose true identity is never revealed and is known only as John Doe, is a member of

S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism government agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, this agency first appeared in ''Strange Tal ...

's Paranormal Containment Unit. His only appearances occurred in the 2005–2006 series ''

Nick Fury's Howling Commandos ''Nick Fury's Howling Commandos'' was an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. Running six issues before its cancellation and cover-dated December 2005 to May 2006, the series featured a fictional team set in the Marvel Universe, ...

''. * A giant of unknown origin was known as the Zombie Master; he used a machine to transform others into a zombie-like state. His machine instead empowered Dr. Jack Castle, who defeated him and became the Fiery Mask. He was also known as the Master and appeared in ''Daring Mystery Comics'' #1.

Reception

Simon Garth, the Zombie was ranked #19 on a listing of Marvel Comics' monster characters in 2015.

Collected editions

Some of the stories have been collected into

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboar ...

: * '' Essential Tales of the Zombie: Volume 1'' (collects ''Tales of the Zombie'' #1-10 and ''

Dracula Lives ''Dracula Lives!'' was an American black-and-white horror comics magazine published by Magazine Management, a corporate sibling of Marvel Comics. The series ran 13 issues and one '' Super Annual'' from 1973 to 1975, and starred the Marvel version ...

'' #1-2, 592 pages, October 2006, ) * ''

Marvel Masterworks ''Marvel Masterworks'' is an American collection of hardcover and trade paperback comic book reprints published by Marvel Comics, with the main goal of republishing classic ''Marvel Comics'' storylines in a hardcover, premium edition, often with ...

: Atlas Era – Menace Volume 1'' (includes ''Menace'' #5, 304 pages, November 2009, ) *Marvel MAX: ** ''Zombie'' (collects ''Zombie'' #1-4, 96 pages, April 2007, ) ** ''The Zombie: Simon Garth'' (collects ''The Zombie: Simon Garth'' #1-4, 96 pages, July 2008, )

References

External links

*
The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zombie (Comics) 1973 comics debuts 2006 comics debuts 2008 comics debuts Characters created by Bill Everett Characters created by Stan Lee Comics characters introduced in 1953 Fictional characters from Alabama Fictional zombies Howling Commandos Marvel Comics characters with accelerated healing Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics male superheroes Marvel Comics titles Marvel Comics undead characters Undead superheroes Zombies in comics