The Walking Dead Review – Part 1

I started reading The Walking Dead. I bought four big compendia collecting all 193 issues. There is a lot of reading material, so it will take me some time to get through it all. For those who’ve never read or seen The Walking Dead (TWD), it’s a post-apocalyptic story that follows a group of survivors and sees them adjust to a new world overrun by the dead.

I saw the TV show from start to finish. To me, the show has had its ups and downs. On its high seasons, it is enjoyable and keeps me at the edge of my seat. The only reason I powered through the low seasons is because I am a completionist, and held hope that it would get better.

Until recently, I had stayed away from the comics. But, my curiosity took the best of me and I decided to read the comic book series that inspired the TV show.

This week, I read The Walking Dead Compendium vol. 1, which collects the first 48 issues of the series. The back cover of the book sums up the series in a much better way than I could, so here it is:

The world we knew is gone.

The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility.

An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months society has crumbled- no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV.

In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally start living.

What a description! If I had read this as the series was being published, I would have read it immediately. The first issues see Rick Grimes, a sheriff’s deputy, wake up from a coma to find the world overrun by zombies (or roamers, as he calls them). He heads to Atlanta where he finds a group of survivors and is reunited with his wife, Lori, his son, Carl, and his best friend, Shane. Rick quickly assumes leadership of the group and begins teaching survival skills to the others. Things start to go south from there…

We start the story as a post-apocalyptic zombie survival tale, where people are learning to live without electricity and modern comforts, learning to shoot guns and defend themselves, and learning to get along with a group of strangers. The story then shifts to focus on the group dynamics, as survivors debate how to best adjust to the new life, and whether there is a chance that things will get back to normal. Finally, we see the survivors settle in to their new lives, and struggle with the concepts of death, heartbreak, responsibility, forgiveness, and trust. Just as our group seems to be able to adapt, they realize that the real danger isn’t with the zombies lurking in the shadows, but the evil in people that is now coming out into the light.

Review

As I wrapped up my reading, I thought: “Oh boy! What a ride!” This book kept me captivated and interested throughout. Be warned, there is a lot of violence, to the point where it is gratuitous. But all that is balanced by drama, romance, and adventure in the story.

One of the things that stood out the most to me, especially reading this massive book, was how time would shift hours, days, or even weeks forward between panels with no warning or title boxes. This, to me, helped immerse into the world of our characters, where no one really keeps track of time, to the point where no one really knows what day it is. Often we hear characters talk about how “it’s been a few days, but it feels like years”, and the art and writing style helps make this a reality to the reader.

Often, the weird behaviors of some of the characters would make me feel a bit of cringe. Yet our main characters excuse these behaviors given the “end of the world” situation they are living in. Through monologues and conversations, we get a glimpse into the minds of the main characters, and see how none of them are perfect and are just trying to survive. To be frank, none of these characters could lead a solo series. But when they are put together, their interactions within a group make them much more interesting.

I do think that the characters should agree on a name for the zombies. They are called roamers, lurkers, and biters. I actually liked the name used in the TV show (walkers), even though it’s a silly one.

Overall, this compendium was a very enjoyable book to read, and left me wanting to read more. I guess I should start with Compendium vol. 2 now.

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