Zombie Empathy: Why Bleeding Hearts is the Story We Need

When a zombie begins to feel an emotion, that’s uncommon today: empathy

With the return of DC Vertigo, it’s introducing many great stories, but for this little article, I’d like to focus on Bleeding Hearts, written by Deniz Campz. At one point, zombies were everywhere. They were in your movies, comics, video games, shows, and, at some point, your cereal. If someone could make money off it, they’d slap a zombie on it. As time passed, and every trope related to their graves was rung dry (or dug out?), we moved into the superhero area.

But zombies will always have a place in entertainment! Where it’s through the likes of romance like in Warm Bodies, survival-horror like Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days, or returning horror icons like 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, zombies will have a place in everything, and everywhere.

But before we start, let me tell you what’s DC Vertigo is in this quick little paragraph below.

Oh, and don’t worry, I won’t go too into details for Bleeding Hearts, either. I wouldn’t want to spoil anything, really.

I associate comics with superheroes, and even more when it comes to DC. But DC Vertigo is an imprint of DC, which thinks of it as a subsection. This imprint leans towards a mature audience, and it’s the original home of The Sandman and Fables. But this means the inclusion of graphic violence, nudity, drugs, and everything else you’d catch on The Boys.

They were once gone, and there are many outlets out there that covered it, in which I recommend the one written by. But now they’re back, and with a ton of new, fun, unique, and interesting stories. But for now, for this one article, let’s talk about Bleeding Hearts.

My Beating, Bleeding Heart!

It took ten years, but if you really think about it, that’s not much time when you’re talking about humanity being pushed down the food chain. Now with the zombies on top, they’ve had all the time in the world to become a developed society… somewhat, at least. Such as being named for something that distinguishes you!

But as the comic’s title suggest, you follow Mouse-Pokes-Golf-Ball-Through-Hole-In-Head—better known as Poke—much beloved member of his nomad community, as he’s a funny guy (guess why he got that name), whose heart just one day… beats. That’s when the beloved Poke begins to notice his community, and what it means to have become the top of the food chain.

The Moral Dilemma in Bleeding Hearts

This story’s dilemma comes through the eyes of Man vs society, as Poke begins to questions if they’re the bad guys. He hides his beating heart, only showing his empathetic side to his good pal Mush—of course, that’s the shortened version, but it has to do with the mushrooms on his shoulder—who has noticed his odd behavior. I mean, what kind of zombie refuses to eat a still quivering mush of toes, thigh, and who knows what else.

Culture Grows in Carcasses

What I’ve enjoyed about this comic, besides the unique and fun twist, is how they’ve, in a way, humanized the zombies. They are eating humans, chasing them, and all that good zombie stuff, but Poke goes over how their community functions. From how they name people, how gnawing on humans helps with social bonding, and how they don’t hate life, just love life in a different way—hint: eating the living—with an emphasis on how unnatural it is to be alone, to not be part of a horde. Which makes Finds-Whole-Family-In-Basement-And-Eats-Them-Himself-Over-Course-Of-A-Week’s silent treatment telling on how important it is to be part of a horde.

There’s strength in numbers.

Is Empathy the Problem?

In this case, it is! What would you do if you suddenly realized that everything you stand for, and everyone you care about, is doing something heinous? While Poke talks about his community, how they function, and almost justifies it—but not completely—he struggles, as he can’t really show his true emotions and thoughts. After all, he’s the only zombie with a beating heart.

So, when he finds a kid and his mother hiding in the suburbs, how could he possibly convince his pal Mush not to eat them?

Honest Thoughts

With only two issues out, Bleeding Hearts is an amazing and fun story. There are other subtle things I didn’t point out—can’t tell you everything, you know—that imply problems between different hordes, such as when a zombie corrects another zombie for calling a group an offensive term. Since Poke’s horde is very green, and the term used was chalkers, the reader can see that some ignorance follows people into their next life.

I’m very interested in seeing how they continue to explore this narrative, and the inevitable clash of going against your own. Because there’s a reason why, from what I’ve noticed, Poke’s the only zombie whose eyes get drawn with actual emotions. Which means, at some point, maybe not physically, but it’ll be impossible for Poke to hide his true feelings.

Thank you for reading!

I greatly appreciate that you took your time to read my work! Hopefully, you found something new to try, a new comic to read, or just learned something!

I’d greatly appreciate it if you’d subscribe for free and leave me a comment! I’d love to hear your input! If you need help to come up with a comment, you could try answering these questions:

What are your thoughts on the comic?

What do you think of the premise?

Are you tired of zombies? Are they overused trope?