Begun in 2000 as a self-published comic, the entirety of Kagan McLeod’s epic kung fu/zombie mash-up is now available in one massive collection. The story takes place sometime in the future, where a cataclysmic event has rendered the world as it was in medieval times. To make matters worse, there isn’t enough life to go around, so reincarnated souls are coming back in corpses and attacking the living. To top it off, an evil emperor is out to rule the world. Humanity’s only hope is a group of kung fu masters.

An award-winning illustrator, McLeod makes his comic book debut here. The art is quite stunning, with a cartoony style that works well for the over-the-top action. Limbs fly and heads roll in Evil Dead-style gore humor.

Less polished is McLeod’s writing, which at times hampers the story with a somewhat disjointed narrative flow and large chunks of exposition dumped into dialogue. Some of the interesting elements McLeod plays with, such as the setting, aren’t fully developed. Aside from the inclusion of some Blaxploitation characters, the story could take place completely within China’s mythical past. There is no sense of any apocalyptic event, no remnants of a past civilization.  

Still, Infinite Kung Fu shows real love of the genres to which it pays homage, and it’s a diverting read.

Grade: B



Infinite Kung Fu is currently available.