"You have to understand that even if I never brought them back, nothing could stop them. You see when a person's life is taken by another, there is a break…The break leaves that person's spirit restless…Think of it like falling asleep and never waking up."
—Johnathon Raines
In a unnamed big city, two pairs of homicide detectives are investigating separate, unrelate, murders when they find a shocking link: their victims have unexpectedly and inexplicably returned as zombies and are looking to settle the score with their killers. As they try unravel the mystery behind this, the city comes under siege as more and more of these "Woken" appear seeking justice for their deaths.
All the while one man has the answers and the means to end this nightmare, but the answer is will he when it would cost him the thing he loves most...
The Waking is a 2010 comic miniseries published by Zenescope Entertainment (publishers of Grimm Fairy Tales)
The sequel, Dreams End follow Det. Vanessa Pelagreno two years later when she transfers to Chicago and receives a new partner. Their first case? The unexpected disappearance and presumed murders of nearly a dozen people.
Tropes shown in this work:
- Alternate Continuity: Meta example. The events of the two mini-series run in contradiction to the events of the Grimm Fairy Tales series and it's various spin-offs similar to Fly.
- Ambiguously Evil: The Woken. On the one hand, they're coming back from the dead with the singular purpose of killing someone. On the other said person killed them first so they kind of had it coming…
- Babies Ever After: The Detective and Betty have a son in the epilogue and are shown to be quite happy. It helps that they now live in a world where murder is non-existent.
- Back from the Dead: The premise of the series is that the dead, specifically those murdered, are raising and seeking out those killed them.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Subverted as Vanessa and her partner's first encounter with The Woken sees her nearly killed, her face covered in bruises and her arm in a sling afterwards. The Woken themselves aren't pretty to look at either being grey-skin and rotted even if they've only been dead a day.
- Body Horror: The undead have greyish skin, partially rotted, and have maggots coming out of their bodies.
- Came Back Wrong: The Woken come back super-strong, nigh-invulnerable to everything including bullets, and completely homicidal. The only upside is that as long as you don't actually get in their way and aren't the focus of their rage, you're safe.
- Madison was presumably sweet girl before dying and brought back as one of the Woken. After finding the man who killed, she sics all his other victims on him who proceed to rip him to shreds. She now travels the country creating more Woken and have single-handedly ended murder in the United States (if not the world).
- Cruel Mercy: In Dreams End, Vanessa has spent the last two years dreading encountering Madison Raines due to killing her father. When they do, the detective gives an earnest and heartfelt apology and Madison forgives her before waking away. Vanessa is left relieved not realizing the Woken Johnathon Raines is standing right behind her.
- Death of a Child: What kickstarted the plot. Johnathon's daughter Madison was the victim of a serial killer that targeted children. He used his powers to bring her back but all she wanted was to find the man who killed her. He starts bringing back more dead en mass in the hopes that one of the killer's other victims will find him before Madison. It's his hope that keeping her from killing him until then will leave her permanently undead and with him.
- The Dreaded: The Woken are feared by everyone in general because, well, they're homicide zombies. Gets turned on its head a little when people realize they're only after murderers and the result is steep drop in the murder rate.
- Famed In-Story: Vanessa is this for killing Johnathon Raines in the first mini-series and ending the chaos that had engulfed the city.
- Fate Worse than Death: Johnathon Raines describes death last this this for those who have been murdered; being murdered leaves their spirit restless and described as falling asleep with your eyes open and never waking up. This is why The Woken won't stop until they've killed the person who killed them and immediately drop dead upon it happening.
- Humanoid Abomination: Like all the Woken, Madison Raines is basically a reanimated corpse maintained by whatever power she and her father possess. Unlike the rest, her powers grant her a degree more intelligence and freedom to acts as she wishes.
- Irony: Johnathon Raines plan was to wait out until one of The Woken killed the man who murdered his daughter, believing keeping Madison from doing so would allow him to keep her with him forever. After his death, its revealed that Madison had the same ability as her father and is able to operate under her own power.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: The Detective's wife Betty is this to the point he actually dreads going home knowing she's won't give him a moment's rest when he does.
- Ms. Fanservice: Betty, The Detective's wife, is introduced in a short tight pink dress that shows off her cleavage. Even before that, her husband is actually complaining about the fact she is apparently insatiable when it comes to sex.
- Necromancer: Technically. This is Johnathon and his daughter's ability. People refer to it as 'magic' but even the elder Raines has no idea how it works. He can only equate it as something like controlling one's breathing or heartrate.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Vanessa kills Johnathon Raines to end the Zombie Apocalypse he started. However, its implied that only he could
- No Name Given: The Detective, Vanessa's partner, goes the entire of the two mini-series without ever referred to by name.
- Our Zombies Are Different: The only ones who come back are murder victims, seeking to kill their murderers in order to find peace. Once that person dies the zombie immediately becomes a regular corpse again.
- Power Incontinence: Johnathon describes his ability as the same as controlling one's breathe. You do so either consciously or subconsciously but its always happening, and so he needs to concentrate in order to not kickstart a Zombie Apocalypse…and then his daughter is murder and all hell breaks loose.
- Revengeby Proxy: Johnathon's plan is contingent on this.
- Roaring Rampageof Revenge: The climax of the story sees the entire city engulfed in chaos as hundreds, if not thousands, of undead go after their murderers.
- Sequel Hook: In the closing narration of The Detective's story to his son, it's revealed that Johnathon's body disappeared and something happened to Vanessa who shot him dead. Dreams End tells the story of what happened to her.
- Serial Killer: Dreams End explores this in a world where murder victims can come back to get revenge against those who killed them. The killer's first victim was his mother, who was terminal and he euthanized her as he was unable to let her go. Then he just off the rails from there to say the least…
- Small Role, Big Impact: Blake Roberts (the judge seen in issue 1 for a single panel) appears at the end of the first series and is revealed to have been the Serial Killer who murdered Madison Raines along a number of other children. His actions are what result in a world where the dead can "awaken" to take revenge against their own killers.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: The undead sickly golden eyes that seem to glow in the dark only adding to their creepiness.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: In the epilogue, its revealed that Murder has become non-existent as anyone who does so will be killed by their victims. Its framed in a way that seems that everyone has accepted the new status quo.
- Zombie Apocalypse: A small scale version happens when the city is engulfed by chaos as hundreds, if not thousands, of Woken seek out their killers. Another low-key version happens in the epilogue across the United States, with Madison Raines traveling and awaken those who have been murdered. Unlike most examples, civilization doesn't collapse due to the nature of the zombies in this setting and this new way of life is actually more or less accepted by the living.
- " From that point on, after people discovered the truth, the world became a safer place. No longer do people wake at night knowing that something terrible has happened to a loved one…because she is there…Her walk never ends. None can hide from her sight…Waiting for the chance to awaken. Always waiting to…wake the dead."
