Human Contact
Acclaimed comic book series The Walking Dead is being made into a weekly television series on AMC.
What a coincidence, seeing as how Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead has been my current obsession, snapping up books 1-6 within the span of one week and already fiending for the 7th and on. An old friend of mine recently told me that if I wasn't reading The Walking Dead right now, then I had to stop everything that I was doing and start immediately. And so I didn't hesitate. Because she who hesitates inevitably falls behind once the TV series begins.
Originally illustrated by Tony Moore, but replaced by Charles Adlard from issue #7 and onward (Moore still draws the covers), The Walking Dead is a black and white comic that began in 2003 and has been compiled in several series books for convenient up-catching -- because when I was told that I had to be reading this series, I thought, "Really? Another something-something about zombies?" Because what hasn't already been done to death with the genre, especially with a premise we've all heard before: In an apparently post-apocalyptic world where zombies roam the earth, a small group of the living band together to survive the plague as well as each other. At this point I could probably write my own scenario and make a small fortune, if the real world weren't already being overrun with teenage Mormon vampires. (and the women who love them!)
But I'm pleasantly surprised but what I've been reading. Like the movie 28 Days Later, the protagonist Rick, a small town cop from Georgia, awakens in the hospital from a coma to discover himself alone in a world lousy with flesh-eating zombies. Like Night Of The Living Dead, he comes across a rag-tag cluster of living humans of various ages, races, and personalities, all trying to get along while trying to stay alive until they can be rescued by whatever left out there to possibly save them. But unlike the movies where resolutions are expected to be brought about by the end of the picture, The Walking Dead takes the familiar premise and explores its every potential. What if the zombie situation isn't being resolved any time soon? What if a year has already gone by and the U.S. government hasn't come to your rescue? What if there is no more government? What if the living have to start governing themselves? Rick, as a police officer, is instantly look to amongst the group as the leader. But how does a man handle that kind of daily pressure under what appears to be a permanent situation? And when conversation is limited to survival and little else, how well do you really know the person you are sleeping next to in a cramped living arrangement? Plus, sexual tensions rise when desperate people feel compelled to start pairing off. Racial tensions increase when people from all walks to life are forced to work with one another. People you thought would be troublemakers from the get-go prove themselves as heroes, and the person you were rooting for from the beginning is starting to show signs of dangerous personality disorders, either carried over from before, or acquired during their extended living conditions. You never quite know who's going to change, who's going to die next, and scarily of all -- who to place your faith in.
What a coincidence, seeing as how Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead has been my current obsession, snapping up books 1-6 within the span of one week and already fiending for the 7th and on. An old friend of mine recently told me that if I wasn't reading The Walking Dead right now, then I had to stop everything that I was doing and start immediately. And so I didn't hesitate. Because she who hesitates inevitably falls behind once the TV series begins.
Originally illustrated by Tony Moore, but replaced by Charles Adlard from issue #7 and onward (Moore still draws the covers), The Walking Dead is a black and white comic that began in 2003 and has been compiled in several series books for convenient up-catching -- because when I was told that I had to be reading this series, I thought, "Really? Another something-something about zombies?" Because what hasn't already been done to death with the genre, especially with a premise we've all heard before: In an apparently post-apocalyptic world where zombies roam the earth, a small group of the living band together to survive the plague as well as each other. At this point I could probably write my own scenario and make a small fortune, if the real world weren't already being overrun with teenage Mormon vampires. (and the women who love them!)
But I'm pleasantly surprised but what I've been reading. Like the movie 28 Days Later, the protagonist Rick, a small town cop from Georgia, awakens in the hospital from a coma to discover himself alone in a world lousy with flesh-eating zombies. Like Night Of The Living Dead, he comes across a rag-tag cluster of living humans of various ages, races, and personalities, all trying to get along while trying to stay alive until they can be rescued by whatever left out there to possibly save them. But unlike the movies where resolutions are expected to be brought about by the end of the picture, The Walking Dead takes the familiar premise and explores its every potential. What if the zombie situation isn't being resolved any time soon? What if a year has already gone by and the U.S. government hasn't come to your rescue? What if there is no more government? What if the living have to start governing themselves? Rick, as a police officer, is instantly look to amongst the group as the leader. But how does a man handle that kind of daily pressure under what appears to be a permanent situation? And when conversation is limited to survival and little else, how well do you really know the person you are sleeping next to in a cramped living arrangement? Plus, sexual tensions rise when desperate people feel compelled to start pairing off. Racial tensions increase when people from all walks to life are forced to work with one another. People you thought would be troublemakers from the get-go prove themselves as heroes, and the person you were rooting for from the beginning is starting to show signs of dangerous personality disorders, either carried over from before, or acquired during their extended living conditions. You never quite know who's going to change, who's going to die next, and scarily of all -- who to place your faith in. Yes, if you're not reading The Walking Dead right this minute, then... well, it's no big hurry. I won't tell you to drop everything, because that would be irresponsible. But check it out when you can. Unless you wanna wait for the TV series to hit the air.
See! I like to keep things in perspective. :)
posted by Melissa at 10:15 AM
2 Comments:
This sounds awesome!!
By any chance have you been turned onto the great Brian Keane? Oh man - I know there's a glut a zombie out there right now, but Brian hit the scene with The Rising / City of the Dead right around the time 28 Days later came out - while that really revived the zombie movie world, Keane I think did the same for the lit world. If you don't pick them up, I'll send them to you when the two or three people that I've promised them to get through them...you'll want to have them both as City takes up immediately where Rising ends with a cliffhanger...
While the human characters are great, the zombies can do all they did as humans - ride cars, tell bad jokes, me thinks you'll dig it!
dart tie in - remember Shaun of the Dead - the dart scene...sorry it's all I got...holy crap it's 12:30...off to sleep!
I would really like to check out those Keene books. I've never heard of them. I never pursued much in the way of zombie lit/comix because I thought maybe there wasn't much else one could do different with the genre. But it sounds like Keene is taking things into an interesting direction. I am sort of intrigued with Marvel Zombies, however.
LOL Shaun Of The Dead!
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