Xombi is a 1994 series by Milestone Comics.
David Kim is a Korean scientist who developed a nanotechnological virus capable of extensive tissue regeneration. After being injured during an attempted theft by Dr. Sugarman, David was injected with the virus, allowing him to regenerate by absorbing nearby materials and making him functionally immortal.
This was Milestone's supernatural title and seriously weird (we're talking Grant Morrison and Rachel Pollack's runs on Doom Patrol weird here.)
Years later, a 2011 miniseries was made where David Kim had to fight against a new threat. The title would also be rebooted as part of Milestone Returns in the 2020s, under the new title of DUO.
Xombi provides examples of:
- And I Must Scream: Rustling Husks are mummies animated by the revived corpses of wasps who died caught between two window panes - as they died, they could see the outside but could never reach it. Needless to say, their reanimated corpses hate humans and by extension all living things. In short, they're pissed.
- Avenging the Villain: After Manuel Dexterity dies, his sister Manuella tries to kill David Kim to avenge her brother, only to get killed herself.
- Catholic School Girls Rule: Young superheroine Catholic Girl, and by implication, her ally and mentor, Nun Of The Above (who is presumably a former Catholic School Girl).
- Death by Origin Story: David Kim's origin involves the death of his assistant Kelly Sanbourne.
- Full-Frontal Assault:
- Both Manuel and Manuella Dexterity are assassins who never wear clothes. Granted, their lower bodies are giant hands, so the only private parts exposed are Manuella's breasts.
- The tenth issue has David Kim mutated into a two-faced monster by the villains, who attacks his allies naked. His nanites eventually restore him to normal in time for a nude brawl with Manuella Dexterity.
- Healing Factor: Xombi has a Nanomachines based healing factor. It's treated more realistically in that the title character does explicitly need raw organic material to properly heal. In the first issue, his lab assistant is partially devoured when she rests her body against his own while he's healing.
- Hurricane of Puns: Xombi. The entire series has punny characters like Nun of the Above, Nun the Less, Manuel and Manuella Dexterity (both of them are disembodied hands), Sheer Shears (living scissors), and so on.
- Nanomachines: What the nanomachine "virus" functionally is, granting extensive tissue regeneration.
- Nuns Are Funny: despite not being comedic figures, there was Nun of the Above, who had clairvoyant abilities, and Nun the Less, who could shrink. The humor mainly came from their punny names, and there was a third nun whose task was to guard a door to an underground prison. When asked which nun she was, she replied "None of your business."
- Origins Episode: The series starts with a zero-numbered issue where David Kim is introduced as already having his regenerative abilities in addition to being involved with the general scope of the Dakotaverse. The first arc of the subsequent ongoing was devoted to explaining how he got his powers.
- Show Within a Show: One issue opens with the cast discussing a film they just saw - which, based on the plot and cast details mentioned, is 'Habeas Corpus', the film within a film from The Player.
- Transmutation: David Kim has limited transmutation abilities due to the Nanomachines in his body.
- Weirdness Magnet: Dear God, Xombi, in spades. David Kim's status as an immortal, artificial zombie makes him the target of a lot of weird plots.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Dumaka finds his immortality as a Xombi a curse due to outliving all his loved ones over the centuries. Fortunately for him, he dies as soon as he loses the will to continue living.
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: Xombi is spelled Xombi, not Zombie.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: David Kim tries to use the nanotechnological virus that gave him his regenerative abilities to resurrect Kelly Sanbourne at the end of the first arc, but learns that he's too late due to Kelly's remains already being cremated.
