The Walking Dead

Walking Dead is definitely the Lord of the Rings of zombie stories. I hesitantly bought books 1&2 after hearing good things about it from a few podcasts I listen to. When I finished the first half of book 1 I immediately ordered book 3 (4 was not out yet at the time) because I was completely and utterly hooked.

The story is one we are all too familiar with. In 28 Days later fashion Rick, a cop from Georgia, wakes up on a hospital bed not knowing where he is or why he can't find anyone in the hospital our outside. Then the first person he comes across tries to bite his face off and he realizes the zombie apocalypse has occurred. He meets another survivor who has taken up residence in his old house and gives him an update on what exactly happened. He learns that many people evacuated to Atlanta so he heads in that direction in hopes to find his wife and son.

At this point you're probably saying "why should I waste my time with that, it's been done before?" And if we were talking about some new zombie movie coming out next week I'd be incline to agree but the title's author and creator Robert Kirkman has seen it all before too. That's why underneath the title of the comics it says "a continuing story of survival horror." Kirkman got tired of seeing zombie movie after zombie movie where the group gets in a plane, train, or automobile and escapes followed by the credits. What he has set out to do is make a zombie story that answers the question of "what happens after the plane lands or the bus runs out of gas?" It fills in all the juicy bits that every other movie glosses over. That you can dangerously get used to an insane situation. That you are never safe despite all precautions. That the greatest threat to you may not be the walking dead around you. Kirkman delivers on his promise. We do see what happens when camp isn't safe anymore and the flee in an RV only to have it run out of gas.

Kirkman has also managed to give us real characters and create situations that happen in ways you feel they would actually transpire should zombies take over. The characters are multifaceted, intelligent, and you know the motivation of each and every one of them. You want them all to make it. But the world they live in is full of peril and not one of them is safe. There is tension on nearly every page of the book in a way that I've never experienced in a book written or drawn. It has all the makings of one of the best stories I've ever been told in any medium. Don't just take my word for it either. You owe it to yourself to read this series. Find it on Amazon or your local comic store, or even your local book store may have the hardcovers. By the end of chapter 1 if you're not hooked then you can call me a lier.

Kirkman set out to make a zombie story that never ends. I'm hoping it actually will end, just not for a long time as the story is great and has only gotten better. Still all good things must come to an end and hopefully he'll pull the plug before the writing shows any signs of faltering. A+, 10, 100.