ALL72024

In our notes on the first set of zombies in this series we described the classic image of walking slowly with an awkward gait, but the image of the zombie changed in the late 1990s with the release of games like Resident Evil, which showed them as fast-moving and therefore far more dangerous. Subsequent games and films took up the new image, and so we find zombies moving rapidly and sometimes in vast swarms to overwhelm the remaining people. Films like 28 Days Later (2002) and World War Z (2013) showed this new type, and this appears to be what we find in this second set from Dark & Light Alliance. This time there are zombies moving quickly, with no apparent difficulty, or, in our bottom row, flinching from some supposed blow perhaps. The first figure in the second row appears to be eating a forearm, and there are several figures either crawling or on their knees. The mix of individuals is again quite wide, with men and women, children and even a couple of babies - a particularly unnerving concept.

The standard of sculpting is the same as with the first set, which is very good. The ghoulish faces are again well done, and we find the emaciated bodies and torn clothing repeated here. The second figure in the top row is quite amusing as it appears to show an elderly woman wearing a dress and brimmed hat that probably looked quite charming while she was alive, and seem slightly incongruous now she is undead. Again the outstretched fingers have not been very successful, but otherwise the figures look good and the poses are lively and menacing. Flash is fairly low-level but there are also large tabs such as on the baby at the end of the second row. These much more mobile and so more terrifying zombies are a recent invention, but have quickly found their place in the world of fantasy literature, media and games, and with this set they make a good introduction to 1/72 scale plastic figures too.