With Season 3 of The Walking Dead set to air tomorrow night on AMC, I thought this would be a great time to share my thoughts on the first novelization to be spawned from this fantastic comic book series.
Credited to series creator Robert Kirkman and newcomer Jay Bonasinga, Rise of the Governor provides the origin story for one of the first arch villain's to be introduced into the series. Philip Blake, also known as The Governor, is one of the most diabolical individuals encountered in The Walking Dead. As portrayed in the comic book, Philip is the leader of the survivor community of Woodbury. Best known for keeping his zombie daughter Penny chained on a leash, brutally raping Michonne, and arbitrarily hacking off Rick Grimes' right hand, Philip is portrayed as a sociopath who has no qualms about destroying the lives of others for his own twisted benefit.
The novel provides all of the back story for how he ended up as such a sick, depraved son of a bitch.
The novel follows the journey of Philip, his daughter Penny, his older brother Brian, and two of his drinking buddies, in the first days and weeks after the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse.
While Robert Kirkman is credited as an author on the novel, it is glaringly obvious that he acted much more as a consultant. Despite sharing the mythos of world of The Walking Dead, the tone of the novel is just too far removed from the typical feel of both the comic book and the AMC television show, to have actually been written by Kirkman. The interactions of the characters take such a backseat to the journey that in the end, the reader ends up questioning the shocking twist that is revealed at the end of the book.
I really don't want to go into spoilers here, but I will say this: Right from the beginning I felt it was odd that a novel focused on the life of Philip would begin with a chapter focused on Brian.
Fans of the series should read this story for themselves, just to form their own opinions.
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