Minor zombie scourges in small towns on the East Coast are a fairly common occurrence -- at least in the pages of ZombieWorld. But how often does the human race lose an entire, over-populated metropolis to the walking dead? It's about to happen for the first time in ZombieWorld: Winter's Dregs. New York City is the setting for this landmark zombie tale, where a monumental convergence of rats on the subterranean platforms of the city's massive subway system seems to be a harbinger of more terrifying things to come.

And the terror does come, slowly at first, from the subways and underground tunnels -- shuffling figures with vacant stares and graying skin, hungering for human flesh. But it doesn't take long for the isolated, overpopulated island of Manhattan to become infused with zombies, and with a subway system shut down by attempts to control the rat scourge, it seems there is little hope for anyone to escape the plague of the living dead.

"About five years ago, the first thing I pitched at Dark Horse was a couple of zombie series, so when ZombieWorld was brought to my attention I was rabidly interested in contributing to it," said writer Bob Fingerman. "I've been nuts about zombies since my teens, so I'm thrilled that I am going to have a crack at doing them my way."

ZombieWorld: Winter's Dregs is a four-part horror-fest by Minimum Wage chronicler Bob Fingerman and Tommy Lee Edwards (Moon Knight, Gemini Blood). Issue one of Winter's Dregs unearths itself May 13 for the rat-tail, um, we mean retail price of $2.95.