Bleeding Hearts #8 Review

 

Bleeding Hearts #8 Review

Writer: Deniz Camp

Artist & Cover Artist: Stipan Morian

Colorist: Štef Bartolić

Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Variant Cover Artist: Martín Morazzo

Editors: Chris Conroy & Mathew Levine

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $3.99 US/Variant $4.99 US (cardstock)

Release Date: September 30, 2026

 

Poke didn’t ask for his heart to start beating. But when it did, the blood pumping through his cold, dead veins changed everything. He’s tried to walk a line between embracing the Live Ones while remaining in the dead community. Yet, keeping a foot in both camps has forced him to start killing his fellow Zombies. He’s lost his best friend, Mush. And for what? A Live One who’d prefer he vanished from their lives? And a Live One girl that he cannot understand?

 

A half-alive Zombie doesn't belong anywhere. At least, anywhere that he knows of. Can Poke help Rabbit and her mother reach safety? And can Poke make peace with his past and embrace this unique new form of existence? Let’s leap into Bleeding Hearts #8 and see!

 

Story

When Finds-Whole-Family found Rabbit, he could have taken her to the search parties. After Live Ones ruined their Out-Break celebration, a Horde might have accepted the shunned Zombie. Instead, his selfishness drove him to attack Rabbit. And after he killed the girl and her mother, Finds-Whole-Family once again intended to keep them for himself.

 

After Mama and Poke destroy Finds-Whole-Family, they carry Rabbit's broken body on a stretcher through the snow. When search parties find them, Mama and Poke defend Rabbit side by side in Bleeding Hearts #8. But Rabbit isn't always with them. She inhabits a world of visions, fueled by memories and her imagination.

 

While Rabbit shares her journey with us, Mama and Poke's thoughts reveal their concern. Neither the big Live One nor the “Flower Boy” can understand the other. Rabbit was always the bridge between them. Now that Rabbit is fading, Mama knows she needs his help to save her. Yet unlike Rabbit, her cynical outlook hampers her attempts to communicate with the “Brain Dead Kid.”

 

As Mama struggles to save her daughter’s life, she remembers all she has lost. The Zombie apocalypse destroyed her world. Although she had hoped to find another defended outpost of Human civilization, she has learned she cannot trust other people. If Rabbit dies, she loses her entire world, but Poke and Rabbit's social bonds will strengthen in Bleeding Hearts #8.

 

Art

As she runs through the snow, she chases Flip's many friends. Unlike the stuffed animal her father gave her, the white bunnies hop around her. Her left eye is swollen shut. The pupil of her right eye no longer focuses. Still, Rabbit dances with her new friends. Yet when both eyes close, and stitched scratches adorn her cheek, Rabbit clutches a symbol of transformation. As she returns to the present, the girl sees Mama, Flower Boy, and the bunnies regard her with concern. Yet instead of opening her eyes, Rabbit frowns down at them like the girl on the moon.

 

As Stipan Morian shows Mama and Poke’s desperate journey to save Rabbit, Štef Bartolić matches differing palettes with scenes in Bleeding Hearts #8. As the girl continues to forge her own path, her footsteps and shadow cast blue on the snow. Blue dominates Mama and Poke's night journeys, as they carry Rabbit on a stretcher between them. Her orange tongue matches her jacket as she prepares to join another community, while Rabbit's green pants link her with the Zombies' skin. Yet Poke turns gray when he slays his fellow Zombies to protect the Live Ones. Yellow flames may awaken painful memories. Yet, they also provide food and light as Mama attends her dying daughter.

 

Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou places Mama and Poke's black uppercase thoughts in white boxes. The letters in narrative boxes and dialogue balloons grow bold for intonation, and shift to lowercase for lowered voices. As she flits between two worlds, Rabbit speaks enlarged letters into distorted balloons. While yellow and red sound effects heighten moments of violence, Poke's heartbeat abandons its normal red to link the Zombie with the sounds of Rabbit’s name and her hopping friends. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.

 

Final Thoughts

Mama has sacrificed everything for Rabbit. Likewise, Poke defied his community to save the girl and her mother. Both want Rabbit to get better. But in a rapidly changing world, new values, morality, and outlook are redefining society for Mama and Poke. Saving Rabbit may necessitate radical steps that, like her half-dead, half-alive Zombie friend, prevent the girl from fitting in anywhere in Bleeding Hearts #8.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this preview with us.

To look inside, see Bleeding Hearts #8 Preview. 

For Poke, Rabbit, and Mama's art appreciation, see Bleeding Hearts #7 Review. 

For the Out-Break mall hunt that changed everything, see my preview of Bleeding Hearts #6.

For how Rabbit met Ms Ruby, see my review of Bleeding Hearts #5. 

For Rabbit's Tea Party, see my preview of Bleeding Hearts #4.

 

For the strange emotions that stress Poke out, see Bleeding Hearts Preview #3. 

 

For why Rabbit likes bunnies, see Bleeding Hearts #2 Preview. 

 

For Poke's full name, see my preview of Bleeding Hearts #1. 

 

Bleeding Hearts #7 Review

 

Bleeding Hearts #7 Review

Writer: Deniz Camp

Artist & Cover Artist: Stipan Morian

Colorist: Stef Bartolić

Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Variant Cover Artist: Manny Vincent Carbonilla

Editors: Chris Conroy & Mathew Levine

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $3.99 US/Variant $4.99 US (cardstock)

Release Date: August 12, 2026

 

Poke and Mush have reached a parting of the ways. After learning that his best friend's heart had begun beating, Mush realized he should have listened to the mushrooms growing out of his neck. They kept telling him that there was something different about Poke.

 

Yet even if Mush felt betrayed by how Poke hid the changes he was going through, at least Mush didn't kill Mama. And when Mama returns, she brings a gun to the Live Ones’ hunt. Can Poke, Mama, and Rabbit begin again? And is Poke a Zombie, a Live One, or something no one has ever seen before? Let’s leap into Bleeding Hearts #7 and see!

 

Story

As they sit together, studying a painting, Rabbit tries to help Poke speak like a Live One. Yet, Poke's thoughts center on his friendship with Mush and the community he has betrayed. As she watches her daughter continue to ignore the facts and maintain her friendship with "Flower Boy," Mama's thoughts dwell on all the sacrifices she has made and what they have netted her.

 

In Bleeding Hearts #7, Deniz Camp interlaces Poke’s journey with Mama’s. With both characters stalled in contemplation, Rabbit works at her familiar occupation of bringing people together. Unlike Rabbit, both Poke and Mama believe their fellowship cannot last. Yet while Mama and Rabbit’s prospects for finding a Live Ones community seem unlikely, Poke still has a home to return to.

 

Despite rescuing her daughter from the ritual Out-Break hunt, Mama struggles with despair instead of celebrating her victory. Like everyone she has ever known, the Zombies have consumed her community and culture. Poke also struggles to know where he belongs. Since his heart began beating again, everything has changed. Poke can trust nothing, not even himself, because he is both dead and alive.

 

As Poke rises above the limitations of both communities, he yearns to help people from both cultures. While Rabbit has been gifted with overweening optimism, Poke’s efforts spring from his beating heart. Yet as opposing cultures clash, any offer of help seems likely to be misunderstood in Bleeding Hearts #7.

 

Art

As Stipan Morian's long, thin panels showcase Mush's relationship with the growing Zombie community, cartoony drawings symbolize Poke's personal journey. The mushrooms sprouting from Mush's shoulders highlight the Zombies' rapid growth. A woman's Ankh symbol suggests the community's long-term health.

 

After Stef Bartolić adorns Poke’s fight to reconcile his recent actions with a vibrant palette, Mama sits by a dying fire. The blue boxes and covered equipment turn gray as the flames struggle for life. After sepia tinges her triumph and failure, a red background highlights the violent nature of clashing cultures. Yet, when she feeds the fire, the yellow flames also seem to devour the surrounding blue. As Poke stares at a painting of white and violet flowers in a blue pot, his skin takes on the coloring of the leaves.

 

Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou places Mama and Poke's black uppercase thoughts in white boxes. The letters in narrative boxes and dialogue balloons grow bold for intonation, and shift to lowercase for lowered voices. Poke and Rabbit’s attempts at communication change colors to match their skin or clothing, while raised voices accompany a fight for belonging. Yet while he struggles to accept change, the red beating of Poke’s heart suggests his desire for growth and beginning anew in Bleeding Hearts #7. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.

 

Final Thoughts

While Mama struggles to find meaning in Human culture, the Zombies unite via their rituals and shared values. Unlike Mama and the Zombie community's leaders, Rabbit and Poke stare at the world in wonder. They may lack the certainty of the Zombie preachers' beliefs. Yet both prize life over codes of conduct, as Rabbit and Poke strive to help others in Bleeding Hearts #7.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To look inside see my preview of Bleeding Hearts #7.

 

For what happened last time, see my preview of Bleeding Hearts #6.

For what happened before that, see my review of Bleeding Hearts #5. 

For what happened even before that, see my preview of Bleeding Hearts #4.

For how this series began, see my preview of Bleeding Hearts #1.