Also, on the TV program, Shane seems much more sympathetic than his counter-part here in the books whose death at the hand of a little boy is much less scarring (although still pretty damn shocking the first time I read it) than it would have been on the TV series. Rick is front and center in this story and while he’s had a lot of time to be analyzed as a character, I can’t say the same for everyone else. The comic books are very character oriented so far, but if it weren’t for the TV show, I probably wouldn’t have had enough time with any of the supporting players to learn their names, except for the obvious exception of Shane. So far, at least in volume 1, The Walking Dead, the graphic novel, seems far more optimistic and action oriented than The Walking Dead, the TV show, which is character driven and pessimistic as hell from the get go. While I want to try and analyze this piece on its own without comparing it to the TV show which has different needs and different strengths and weaknesses, I know I’m going to fail in that regard. That is not the case in The Walking Dead, although there is still plenty of talking and character development but more on that in a second. Some comic book authors forget how this is a visual medium and try to put too much dialogue to the point where it feels forced. There are a large number (in relation to the majority of comics I read) of panels in these first six issues with absolutely no words, and the story doesn’t suffer one second for it. Simultaneously, he’s able to achieve a lot of story-telling in scenes that can be largely devoid of dialogue but instead rest on the power of his drawings alone. ![]() He puts the “graphic” in graphic novel with morbidly detailed depictions of the zombies themselves as well as the violence and gore they are capable of inflicting. ![]() The story itself is done in this marvelous black-and-white penciled by Tony Moore. The only part of this series that is done in color are the covers which are uniformly evocative and make you want to read whatever issue is inside. I normally associate black and white comic books with Japanese manga as most American comics are done in color. I absolutely adore the art work for the series. The collection ends with Rick’s son, Carl, shooting Shane to save his father (a major plot departure point for the TV series where Shane is still alive and well). Shane and Rick go hunting and Shane pulls a gun on Rick and tries to kill him. After constantly pushing Shane and the others to move the camp to a safer distance from Atlanta, Shane and Rick’s problems come to a head (though Rick never learned about Shane’s tryst with his wife) after zombies invade the camp (which has a host of other members) and kill two of the survivors. There is trouble in paradise however as Rick’s wife Lori has slept with Rick’s best friend Shane because she thought that Rick had died in the hospital bed. With the help of an Asian twenty-something named Glen, Rick is able to make it out of Atlanta and back to Glen’s camp where he finds his wife, his son, and his best friend from the force. After learning that Atlanta is the most likely location of his wife and son, Rick heads off to Atlanta only to discover that the city isn’t a safe-have but is has been completely taken over by the zombies. Rick quickly discovers that the hospital (and the whole world) are over-run by zombies that want nothing more than to eat his flesh. ![]() He wakes up an undisclosed amount of time later in a hospital and finds himself in a world that has literally gone to hell. 1, Days Gone Bye, we are introduced to Rick Grimes, a Kentucky police officer who is shot during a stand-off along the highway. While I probably think that the first season of the show was better in virtually every aspect over the comics (and with the production of Frank Darabont, what else would you expect), there are still some things that the comics do better, and this was still a great introduction to a world in crisis. Much like Y: The Last Man, The Walking Dead has garnered a reputation as one of the premier comic book series for adult readers of the 2000’s, and it’s ability to combine good old-fashioned zombie scares against the backdrop of social commentary and a focus on character development was what inspired Frank Darabont to adapt it for the small screen. Published by indie comic publisher Image Comics back in 2004, The Walking Dead is still telling its story today and at last check, there have been 89 issues to date. In honor of the season premiere last night of Season 2 of AMC’s critical darling/zombie apocalypse/drama TV series The Walking Dead (which I will get around to watching at some point today), I have decided to start reading the comic book series that the show is based around (one trade paperback at at a time).
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