Last night I finished the currently last number (#79) of The Walking Dead.
No, I’m not talking about the new TV series, I’m talking about what that TV series is based on – the comic.
The Walking Dead is created by writer Robert Kirkman and drawn by Charlie Adlard (Tony Moore did issues 1-6). It is in black and white, which I first thought was a let-down, but only after an issue didn’t really think about. While the art is very good, the storytelling is brilliant.
The story centers around Rick Grimes, a police officer who wakes up from a coma after a gunshot, only to find out that the world has been overrun by zombies. While this might not sound very original, I find it if not the, then at least among the very best zombie fictions I’ve ever seen, any medium. It has a lot of heart (and other intestines as well for that matter), and isn’t afraid to make dramatic turns, offing main characters and having plot twists that would make M. Night Shyamalan go “Whaaat?!”. This is a good thing. Unlike other ongoing comics that keeps the same ensemble of characters for 20 years except for the supervillain of the week (who often returns at least 20 or 30 times anyway), you actually meet new, original people all the time here. And then they die. 😉
Differences from the TV series.
While the TV series is based on the comic, it seems to take a very different storyline after the first few issues. Without giving away the story, the happenings in the last episodes in season 1 didn’t occur at all in the comic – at least not so far. Most of the main characters stay basically the same, but where they are and what happens to them is different. For me it’s a good thing since I get a new story while watching the series (which I by the way also think is rather good), but the ones only watching the TV series is missing so much!
Try it for free!
Image Comics who publishes The Walking Dead offers the first issue online for free here, which I think is a great strategy for bringing new readers. So go ahead, see if you like it. If you do, visit your local comic book dealer.