I just got into The Walking Dead this past week. I had downloaded the first issue via Comixology on the iPad, and thought it was good, but then kind of forgot about it until my sister brought it up over the weekend. I mentioned that I liked the first issue and the next thing I know she’s handing over a grocery bag with all of the 11 trade paperback volumes that’ve come out so far. It’s taken less than a week for me to plow though the first 9 and I’ll be all caught up by the weekend.
“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: There is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV.
Rick Grimes finds himself one of the few survivors in this terrifying future. A couple months ago he was a small town cop who had never fired a shot and only ever saw one dead body. Separated from his family, he must now sort through all the death and confusion to try and find his wife and son. In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally begin living.”
Holy crap. The Walking Dead is the best comic I’ve ever read, hands down. Ok, I’ll admit that I don’t read comics that often these days, but this thing really hits a sweet spot for me.
It may be because I have an undying (hehe) love of Romero-esque zombies, or it may be that Robert Kirkman has a real knack for making you feel the palpable desperation, fear, and just plain horribleness that would accompany a zombie epidemic.
This is one intense, depressing comic. Lots of people that you come to care about die, way before you think their stories are over - just as I suppose it would go down if the situation were real. I can’t think of anything else I’ve read that’s made me exclaim out loud “oh shit, no! I can’t believe they did that!” as many times as I have in reading this series. Every time you think things might actually start working out it all falls apart again, and Kirkman has a way of making you, or at least me, feel it. Like a kick in the gut.
AMC is making a series, set to premiere this October. I caught a phone camera capture of the trailer they showed at Comic-Con, and it looks really good, but I don’t know what they’re going to have to do to put this thing on the air, even on cable. I mean, this is some bleak, depressing, heart wrenching stuff. If they stay true to the story then it’ll be the most depressing and gory tv series I’ve ever seen.
In any case, from the footage and screens I’ve seen so far the zombie effects look awesome so I say bring it on. The trailer seemed pretty true to the first issue of the comic, so it may be that AMC is planning on sticking with the story line. If they do then I feel for all of the actors who think they are getting important leading roles only to last an episode or two. Oh well, that’s just how it goes when the dead walk the earth, I guess.
If you’ve got an Android phone then give it a try. I’ve only tested it in the emulator and on my Droid Incredible, so I have no idea how it runs on any other device. So, if you put it on something else please let me know how it works out for you.
