With Marvel Zombies exploding in popularity over the past few years (including a featured spot in the Disney+ animated series What If…?), chances are we haven’t seen the last of this horrifying horde of heroes. And while there are dozens of over-the-top issues, we’re looking purely at the best Marvel Zombies covers of all time. In other words, we chose them because of their incredible cover art. To keep things simple, we’ve listed each issue in order of publication date, along with estimated prices and our reasons for choosing each book. One other thing to note is that every cover on our list is illustrated by the great Arthur Suydam, an artist who made his mark almost exclusively on this series.
But enough of our brain dead ramblings. Prepare to face a sea of shambling superheroes as we dig into the rotting flesh of… the 20 best Marvel Zombies covers ever made!
1. Marvel Zombies Vol. 1 #1
- Published: February 2006
- Estimated Price: $75 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: While this premiere issue was written by Robert Kirkman of Walking Dead fame, we chose this issue because of the incredible homage to Amazing Fantasy #15, a classic grail comic from 1962 illustrated by the great Steve Ditko. The end result is a Marvel Zombies cover that’s as gruesome as it is iconic.
2. Marvel Zombies Vol. 1 #1 (Second Print)
- Published: February 2006
- Estimated Price: $40 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: Inspired by Todd McFarlane’s legendary work on Spider-Man #1 from 1991 (which we recently listed as one of the best Spidey comic covers of all time) this undead version is an absolute must have for fans of both the legendary wall crawler and Marvel Zombies.
3. Marvel Zombies #1 (Fourth Print)
- Published: February 2006
- Estimated Price: $20 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: The Incredible Hulk might be the original Marvel monster, which is why it’s only fitting that in this issue he’s given a full undead makeover in an epic zombie cover inspired by Jack Kirby’s Incredible Hulk #1 from 1962 (which also just happens to be one of the greatest Hulk comic covers ever).
4. Marvel Zombies Vol. 1 #2
- Published: March 2006
- Estimated Price: $15 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: Jack Kirby’s 1964 cover art for Avengers #4 remains one of the most iconic comic book images of all time. That also makes it ripe for a Marvel zombies remake, with Arthur Suydam offer a gloriously gruesome take on Earth’s mightiest heroes.
5. Marvel Zombies Vol. 1 #3
- Published: April 2006
- Estimated Price: $10 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: The Incredible Hulk #340 is arguably one of the most popular comic book covers of all time, with the legendary 1988 image by Todd McFarlane having since been reproduced, swiped, parodied and homaged dozens of times. As a result turning it into a zombie version seems like an absolute no brainer (see what we did there?).
6. Marvel Zombies Vol. 1 #3 (Second Print)
- Published: April 2006
- Estimated Price: $10 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: While there are plenty of epic Daredevil covers from Frank Miller, Daredevil #179 from 1982 may be his most famous. Judging by this awesome Marvel Zombies cover, Arthur Suydam is also clearly a fan, with his grotesque rendition showing Elektra in a whole new blood-soaked light. Guess love really is blind AND never dies.
7. Marvel Zombies Vol. 1 #4
- Published: May 2006
- Estimated Price: $10 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: Inspired by Jack Kirby’s legendary work on X-Men #1 from 1963, this Marvel Zombies cover has everything we love about the series, with a combination of horror and hilarity. After all, you’d have to be dead inside not to love a book that features the reanimated corpse of Cyclops shooting optic beams from his severed head.
8. Marvel Zombies Vol. 1 #4 (Second Printing)
- Published: May 2006
- Estimated Price: $20 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: John Romita Sr.’s epic 1966 cover to Amazing Spider-Man #39 is arguably one of the greatest Spidey covers of all time. But for our money, this Marvel Zombies cover is also pretty damn awesome, offering up an even more ghoulish and gory Green Goblin. Nuff’ said.
9. Marvel Zombies Vol. 1 #5
- Published: June 2006
- Estimated Price: $12 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: When Peter Parker and Mary Jane officially tied the knot they agreed to “til’ death do us part”. So it makes sense that they’d be given the life after death treatment in this incredible cover, which is of course a cover swipe to the classic Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, illustrated by the legendary John Romita Sr.
10. Marvel Zombies Vol. 1 #5 (Second Print)
- Published: June 2006
- Estimated Price: $20 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: They say that in space no one can hear you scream. This amazing Marvel Zombies cover (inspired by The Silver Surfer #1 from 1968 by John Buscema) puts that to the test, with stunning art work from Arthur Suydam featuring a headless Norrin Radd terrorizing the spaceways.
11. Ultimate Fantastic Four #30 (Variant)
- Published: July 2006
- Estimated Price: $25 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: No one is ever going to top Jack Kirby when it comes to drawing the Fantastic Four. But even the King himself would probably dig this horrifying homage to his legendary 1961 cover from the Fantastic Four #1. It’s corpse clobberin’ time!
12. Ultimate Fantastic Four #31 (Variant)
- Published: August 2006
- Estimated Price: $40 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: What’s more terrifying than a zombie? How about being a giant orange, stone-skinned super zombie with a penchant for fresh brains. That’s exactly what Arthur Suydam manages to pull off in this epic cover inspired by Jack Kirby’s work on Fantastic Four #51 from 1966.
13. Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness #1
- Published: May 2007
- Estimated Price: $10 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: If you thought being a mutant sucked, try being a mutant whose rotting face keeps falling off. That’s exactly what you get in this amazing cover inspired by John Byrne’s legendary 1981 cover for Uncanny X-Men #141 (which, incidentally, we also recently picked as one of the very best X-Men covers of all time).
14. Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness #1 (Variant)
- Published: May 2007
- Estimated Price: $20 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: Another classic X-Men cover gets resurrected in this amazing Marvel Zombies interpretation based on John Byrne’s work on Uncanny X-Men #137. It’s proof that the best of the best never really dies (even if you do take a chainsaw or boom stick to its head).
15. Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness #1 (Second Printing)
- Published: May 2007
- Estimated Price: $20 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: If the image of a Captain America punching Hitler in the face doesn’t get your patriotic juices going, then chances are the image of a zombie Captain America punching zombie Hitler in the face should do the trick. It’s a tribute to both the star spangled banner and undead ingenuity (not to mention Jack Kirby’s iconic 1941 cover to Captain America #1).
16. Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness #2
- Published: June 2007
- Estimated Price: $10 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: The cover to X-Men #268 is a classic work of 90s era Jim Lee goodness. So it’s fitting that Arthur Suydam would pay tribute with this zombified version that features three of Marvel’s greatest heroes in all the gory glory.
17. Marvel Zombies: Dead Days #1
- Published: July 2007
- Estimated Price: $20 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Another amazing Marvel Zombies cover, this particular issue is inspired by Jim Lee’s iconic wraparound cover to X-Men #1. It’s an eye popping (and potentially eye devouring) image that reanimates one of the best selling comic books of all time.
18. Marvel Zombies Vol. 2 #1
- Published: December 2007
- Estimated Price: $20 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: Marvel’s Civil War comic series shows what happens when superheroes fall apart. This particular Marvel Zombies cover, however, shows what literally happens when superheroes fall apart (spoiler alert: it’s smells). The end result is a gorgeous book that pays terrorizing tribute to Steve McNiven’s 2006 work on Civil War #1.
19. Marvel Zombies Vol. 2 #4
- Published: March 2008
- Estimated Price: $20 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: Jim Steranko’s psychedelic cover to Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D #4 from 1968 is an absolutely groundbreaking work of a comic book master. So it’s no surprise that it ended up in Marvel Zombie’s crosshairs, making this one cover we absolutely had to include on this list.
20. Marvel Zombies Vol. 2 #5
- Published: April 2008
- Estimated Price: $20 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why We Picked It: When it comes to comic book grails, there are perhaps few more sought after than John Buscema’s 1968 cover to Silver Surfer #4. That’s why we chose this freshly dug up masterpiece to round our list of the best of the best corpse-filled covers.
So there you have it, horror fans! Our picks for the 20 best Marvel Zombies covers of all time. Are there any books you think we missed? Let us know in the comments below!
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