Comics: The Walking Dead

Today, if you haven't already guessed, I'll be talking about one of the best comics on the walls for the past few years, The Walking Dead.

Published by Image Comics, and created by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore, the men behind Battle Pope! Kirkman has also written for Invincible (co-creator of), Marvel Zombies (after walking dead), Captain America, Jubilee (hey everybody makes mistakes), Fantastic Four, ect...point being, the guy's a good writer, and a big Marvel fan which is a bonus in my book. I believe he even named his son, no kidding, Peter Parker Kirkman.

Now, there's been tons of zombie comics out there, Marvel Zombies, Night of the Living Dead, Ash Vs., ect ect ect, the list can and does go on. However, of all of them, none...NONE...have been written half as well as this one. Proof of this being to date it is the best selling black & white comic, not to mention all the critical acclaim.

The basic story is this: Officer Rick Grimes suffers a vicious injury right at the start of his career with the local Sheriff's Dept. thus putting him in a coma. When he wakes up, the world is a much different one than he knew, as he flees the desolate hospital and makes his way home, encountering some "undesirables" on the way, he slowly comes to realize, it's true, the dead have risen.

He does his best to make his way to the city, in hopes of finding his wife and son, which, he soon does, along with a "rag-tag" band of survivors. Accepting, of course, that under such duress, there could be nothing other than "rag-tag" folks.

Well, this is where the "fun" starts.

What follows for the next, to date, 61 issues, is some of the most brutal, honest, sad, despicable, pitiful, ect. storytelling that you've ever read. Nobody is safe, this isn't a "comic" this is the "real" world. I'm not lying when I tell you that one of my friends told me that he stopped reading the comic because it was upsetting him and he couldn't take feeling that depressed after every few issues. If that isn't a train wreck of a selling point I don't know what is. I myself have closed the cover after reading and needed to distract myself with anything to get my mind off of it.

I don't want to get too much into it, saving you of any decent spoilers. Issues up to 56 are now available collected in Trade Paperbacks, I believe the next one, bringing you up to issue 60 is due out in August. There's also the paperback compendium edition collecting up to issue 48. Oh...and how could I forget to mention....pardon me being still relatively new at this "reporting" style of blogging, the art!!

The art, up to issue 6 was done by Tony Moore, fantastic and visceral, he has since stayed on doing covers, giving the series some of the best in current comic-dom. The first issues of the TP can be put together to form a panorama of the dead, all Moore's art. From issue 7 on the art was taken over by Charlie Adlard. To be honest, I didn't see too much of a difference, save Adlard's art being a bit more gritty, more horrific, better suited, incidentally to this title, a welcome addition over all.

Well, here's to hoping that's enough to make you want to run out to your favorite comic shop and pick them all up. If you're in Jersey (North) I recommend Paradox Comics in North Arlington, NJ. Not only are they a great shop run by good people, but if they don't have it, they have no problem's getting it for you!

Good luck, and watch your back.....