The Walking Dead

Written by: Robert Kirkman

Illustrated by: Tony Moore & Charlie Adlard

Released by: Image

Every zombie fans dream is a Romero story that never ends.  And every medium has its defining zombie story.  Cinema has Night of the Living Dead. Books have World War Z. Comics have The Walking Dead, which is like the Romero story that never ends. (Written by Robert Kirkman, with art by Tony Moore, until issue #7 when he is replaced by Charlie Adlard.) If you haven’t read this yet you need to apologize to yourself. Like a hand-written apology. Because this is hands down one of the greatest zombie stories ever written. Hell it might even be one of the greatest comics ever written.  Now a hit TV show on AMC, with Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, The Mist, The Green Mile) at the helm, you need to read this series it will rekindle your long lost love for comics, which are so much easier to collect now in the form of trade paper backs (or graphic novels if you prefer that term).

It starts off with our hero Rick waking up from a coma, in a hospital-bed, to a whole new, savage world. A world in which the dead have risen from their graves. A world where the dead outnumber the living. And the living are stripped of their humanity. Rick sets off back to his house to find out what has become of his wife and son. He returns to an abandoned home, his family no longer there. They went to the city thinking that’s where the rescue teams will show up. But there’s no rescue. After a grueling few weeks of solitude, and hopelessness, Rick finds a small group of survivors. This is where we meet the main group for the first time. This is where the real story of survival begins.

Surrounded by death, the rag tag group is camped outside the city, trying to survive with limited supplies, and limited access to medicine, food and shelter. Aside from those mentioned we have Andrea and her sister Amy – 2 college kids trying to find out what happened to their parents. Dale an older man with an RV who saved the 2 girls, as well as give them a warm place to sleep. Glen a young guy who escaped the perils of the city, and is now alone in the world. Shane; Rick’s deputy in the force who who is acting as the groups leader. Carla, and Sophia a young widowed mother and her fatherless daughter. Allen (a nice pushover) Donna (his bitch wife) and their twins Billy & Ben. And Jim the middle-aged loner.  More characters get added in & taken out, but these are the first we meet.

I won’t say too much as this is an ongoing comic series, but not one TPB (which is how I collect them) has let me down, each is packed from cover cover with gripping story, and heartwrenching moments for the few survivors. It contains some of the most powerful moments in this medium, and the story just gets better & better with each page. The characters just keep getting deeper & deeper. Until you're drowning in them.  It will leave you scrambling for the next volume, just to make sure everything is ok. You’ll clutch your chest as you read this series. Kirkman takes you through this new life in this post-apocalyptic world, and makes you love the people in it… before they’re all ripped from your arms & torn from your pages. One thing that fascinates me is that even in a world overrun with the walking dead, humans are still the greatest monsters of all. On the same token; you’ll also see how in times of adversity people can band together for the greater good, and how roles get assumed and assigned. You get to see the best and the worst of mankind all in one series.

Kirkman knows when to hit you hard. He is the new master of this art. But make no mistake, he also knows when to slow down, and make you think, make you fall in love/hate with his cast of characters. This is far beyond “well-thought-out”. No two characters in the story are alike. They are more than just fodder, each has their own thoughts, emotions, triumphs, goals, failures, secrets, and personality. While keeping you more than riveted, Kirkman manages to make you love (or hate) each person by displaying the depths of their being. His story telling never once contradicts itself something you rarely see in a series of this ilk. He has thought out everything you can imagine and the character-driven story blooms because of that.

The Walking Dead is not just some out of control gore-fest like Ennis’ “Crossed” (not that I mind gore-fests). It’s complex and primal, thought-provoking, and passionate. This is not a kiddy-candy-coated story at all. You’ll feel the pain when characters start dying because by the time they’re ripped limb from limb in front of the ones they love … you'll love them, and feel like they’re apart of the family. But on the bright side: you WILL cheer when bad guys get what’s ultimately coming to them. Never have I read something that moves me so much – that has been so consistently powerful.

One of the most powerful aspects of the series being the inclusion of kids. Zombie stories almost never have child-survivors. You get to see children deal with a world where the dead won’t stay dead. You get to see them grow up in an apocalyptic graveyard.  Where your mother/father/brothers/sisters will rise from their death to consume you. All while the surviving adults turn out to be even bigger threats than the monsters surrounding them. There is no protection. There is no where safe.  But they know nothing else – these children of the apocalypse. Possibly one of the most complex characters is Carl, a boy that never got a childhood. In the later issues you see him grow up fast because he has to, he has to make decisions no child should ever have to make. You get to see first hand; how the world around Carl is evolving and shaping him.

The artwork is phenomenal, done in black and white for that NOTLD feel, which only adds to it’s beauty and nostalgia. Every character is illustrated in a unique way depicting each's personal attitude. The story is unlike anything you will ever read, and yet encompasses everything you’ve ever loved about the zombie sub-genre. Read volume one, and if you’re not hooked, then I promise I will eat my own arm. A solid 10 out of 5 stars. 5 just isn’t nearly enough to express my love for this powerhouse of a comic.

In short: READ THE WALKING DEAD!!! Max Brooks (author of World War Z) liked it, and so will you.

The trade paper backs/graphic novels   (the fastest way to go) collect 6 issues             per volume. 

The hardcovers (the prettiest way to go) collect 12 issues per volume. 

The compendium (the cheapest way to go, yet the most annoying to read because it’s so cumbersome) collects the first 48 issues. (which is the first 8 tpb’s, or the first 4 hardcovers.)