The Guardians of the Galaxy face an army of undead Avengers in Marvel Zombies: Dawn of Decay

Cover art from Marvel Zombies: Dawn of Decay #1
(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

A simple sneeze could start the next zombie apocalypse if our preview of next week's Marvel Zombies: Dawn of Decay #1 is anything to go by... In the new issue Groot has got the sniffles. But when he sneezes in Captain America's face, Steve Rogers starts to transform into a flesh-hungry zombie – and that's just the start...

Marvel's synopsis for the new issue, which is from the creative team of writer Thomas Krajewski, artist Jason Muhr, colorist Rachelle Rosenberg, with lettering from VC’s Travis Lanham, teases both a team up between Groot and the Hulk and a battle between the Guardians of the Galaxy and a horde of zombie Avengers. It sounds like a lot of good, gory fun and we've got an exclusive preview of the issue right here.

The Marvel Zombies brand launched in 2005 with a limited series written, appropriately enough, by Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, with art from Sean Phillips. Since then it's been an irregular part of Marvel Comics, with the most recent series being last year's Marvel Zombies: Black, White, & Blood limited series, which featured an impressive roster of creators including Garth Ennis, Gail Simone, Peach Momoko, Rachael Stott, and more. 

The issue's main cover is by series artist Jason Muhr, with variants by Ron Lim, Annie Wu, Sean Galloway, and Nick Bradshaw. You can check out all of those below.

Here's Marvel's official synopsis for the new issue:

"A NEW ZOMBIE VIRUS IS UNLEASHED... AND GROOT IS PATIENT ZERO! Groot feels bad – not only because Rocket's latest scheme put them firmly in the crosshairs of the Avengers, but also he's just plain sick! Sap-dripping nose and all. Things go from bad to apocalyptic, however, after an ill-timed sneeze in Captain America's face has unforeseeable consequences! Suddenly, Groot is being attacked by a horde of zombified Avengers, and only he and Hulk, with his impenetrable green skin, remain impervious. Now it's up to these two heroes to team up and fight their way through a blighted New York City to Banner's lab in Avengers Tower to find a cure before it's too late. But can Groot keep the hero in check and on track, or will Hulk unleash his deadly might on the zombies they once called friends?"

Marvel Zombies: Dawn of Decay #1 is published by Marvel Comics on September 4.


Read all about the best horror comics of all time.

Will Salmon
Comics Editor

Will Salmon is the Comics Editor for GamesRadar/Newsarama. He has been writing about comics, film, TV, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he has previously launched scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for over a decade. He sometimes feels very old, like Guy Pearce in Prometheus. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places and he runs the micro-label Modern Aviation, which puts out experimental music on cassette tape.

Read more
Captain America is... a snake?!
Steve Rogers is no more, now there is only Cap-Snake! Check out a first look at the final issue of Avengers Assemble
An alien attacks.
Xenomorphs have taken the island as Alien: Paradiso nears its endgame
Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains #1
Meet the Venomouse, an all new Eddie Brock, and more in Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains #1
Web of Spider-Verse: New Blood #1
Spider-Hulk, Spider-Prowler, Count Parker, and more are the latest Spider-Man variants as the Spider-Verse and Venomverse prepare to go to war
Spider-Man reels in pain.
Peter Parker must face the unbearable truth as The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man continues
Captain America and Volstagg #1
Steve Rogers teams up with the Asgardian warrior Volstagg in the latest of J. Michael Straczynski's Marvel one-shots
Latest in Marvel Comics
Fantastic Four: 1234 #2 cover excerpt
Sue Storm and Namor are officially both in Avengers: Doomsday, and fans are wondering if Reed Richards has something to worry about
Daredevil: Born Again
Marvel may have just sneakily confirmed one of the biggest Daredevil: Born Again fan theories
New Champions #4
Meet Gold Tiger, the young Wakandan hero whose origin will be revealed in New Champions #4
Marvel Rivals: Ignite #1
Marvel Rivals goes manga in a new comic from Peach Momoko and three other Japanese artists that reveals several new in-game costumes
Fantastic Four #30
Thanks to Doctor Doom, Ben Grimm is no longer the Thing and his kids don't even recognize him in Fantastic Four #30
Silver Surfer sitting on his board
Marvel June 2025 solicitations: 10 must-have comics to pre-order this month
Latest in News
Pillars of Eternity
10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode
Destiny 2 Lightfall
When Destiny 2 "weekly active users dropped lower and faster than we'd seen since 2018," Bungie assembled an A-Team to put out some fires: "We needed to do something"
Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo looking at a giant key which is also a clue
Netflix is rebooting Scooby-Doo as a live-action series from the producer of Supergirl and The Flash centered around a "supernatural murder" at a summer camp
Astro Bot
Astro Bot went through 23 pitch iterations before its director promised PlayStation "happy gameplay" and "overflowing charm," though it did once end with robot decapitation that made "some people really upset"
Tomb Raider
5 years after Avengers, 2 years after its last layoffs, and who knows how long before Perfect Dark and Tomb Raider return, Crystal Dynamics announces another round of layoffs
AI Limit
"AI is not as effective as it might appear": Dev of AI-focused Soulslike RPG says they didn't use any AI-generated content and it can't match "genuine creativity"