So I just finished reading all of the existing issues of The Walking Dead. 102 issues in under 4 days, all while working a 40 hour work week. I will be honest, it became something of a compulsion. I just couldn't stop! I got sucked in.
Another confession: Before this I had never really read a comic book. I know! Shocking right! I have no problem admitting to the world at large that I am a full on super hero geek. But comic books weren't really something that I had access to as a kid, and while I certainly was exposed to alot of mainstream comic book super heroes in my youth, it was usually through either big screen movies (Superman, Batman) or cartoon adaptations (Spiderman, X Men). While I always recognized that these characters had their roots in the comic book format, it was never really something that I chose to delve into. (The one exception to this statement was Marvel's Wolverine: Origins Graphic Novel when I was in my mid 20's because like every other Wolverine fan out there, I just had to know...).
The Walking Dead has been a really wild introduction to this medium. I was first introduced to the franchise through the fantastic television adaptaion on AMC (only 8 days until the launch of Season 3!!!), but the comic has actually been around since 2003. The premise: Small town cop, Rick Grimes, awakes from a lenghty coma after having been shot while on duty only to discover that his world is now populated by hordes of shambling flesh eating zombies, re-animated by some unknown global (At least I assume global) catastrophy. All of the modern convieniences that we have come to rely on are gone, (electricity, running water, telephones, the interweb, grocery stores, everything!) along with established government and social order. Small pockets of survivours band together in an effort to increase their chances of survival. Scavenging for food, gasolene, and ammunition and securing defensible living quarters have become the keystone for the continued existance these individuals.
What makes this series so interesting to me is the interactions between the various surviving characters. While there are zombies throught this series, it is the human element that really stands out. In a society with all of its rules stripped away, The Walking Dead really puts it's central characters under a microscope. The choices that they make when faced by such hardships are what really define them. They are all faced with hard decisions, and time and time again they are put in situations where they have to make choices that directly impact not only their own suirvivial, but the survivial of those around them. People that they have come to feel responsible for. Because of the breakdown of society, there is no law enforecement or judicial system, so everyone is limited only by their own sense of morality and what they deem as acceptable behaviour to ensure their own survival. Each and every member of the "core" group has their own motivations for these choices, often in direct conflict with the choices of other members of the group. It is the dynamic of these relationships that really kept me engaged throughout the series. They core group also frequently encounters other groups of survivors who are working at cross purposes to their own desires, and this is when the fireworks really start. The scripts are really well done, and much more focused on the human element than I would have ever expected from a comic book.
Ofcourse I would be remiss not to mention the fantastic art work of The Walking Dead as well. Drawn entirely in gray scale, the art lends an incredible amount of depth and detailt to the post-apocalyptic world that the characters inhabit. The tone that this black and white rendering adds to the project as a whole is quite incredible. As a contrast all of the the cover art is drawn in colour, and I enjoy the flashes of insight that these isolated glimpses reveal. I have included some of my favourite cover art throughout this post so you can get a sense of what I'm talking about. While these are only 4 of the 102 issues covers currently availale, I think all of these images speak volumes.
Now that I am caught up to the current issue, lightyears beyond the television series, I honestly can't wait for the next issue to be released...8 days and counting. This is something I hope to be able to follow for years to come!
