Tag Archives: The Walking Dead

For some reason I been overlooking this graphic novel, so now when the TV-series approaching the third season it’s time to correct my mistake!

How many hours are in a day when you don’t spend half of them watching television?
When is the last time any of us really worked to get something that we wanted?
How long has it been since any of us really needed something that we wanted?
The world we knew is gone.

The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility.
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, no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV.

In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally start living

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This is my first take on Zombies in a more graphic form; I absolutely love the zombie genre ever since my first encounter with the classic Night of the living dead. Most Zombie films are more about gore and quick scares than about character building or questions surrounding the human condition under extreme stress. But in the recent year there been a shift and we see more of the psychological aspects of human behavior.

How do we stay alive when the entire world as we know it seizes to exist?

This is a story that’s all about the characters and how they cope with their new reality. Tony Moor’s beautiful black and white art is setting the mood right from the beginning. At first it almost feels a bit dreamlike, you follow our hero Ricks awakening at the abandoned hospital, confused and totally clueless about what happened to the world. But that dream fast and brutally changes into a hellish nightmare instead.

The zombies are always there in the background during the whole story and when you start to relax there is a sudden burst and someone ends up dead. But the main theme is what happens to a modern society and its people when everything collapses. This story isn’t about gore, guts and cool zombies (well not all of it), it’s about survival, relationships and not all women and men might be good at heart, the may have started that way, but the fight to survive can lead us on to a different path.

I do wish that there were a bit more character development, and particularly when it comes to the women. They feel a bit one dimensional and to be honest not so very interesting. But then again maybe the story is all about Rick Grimes…although I personally hope there will be a bit more development of the women and some depth of the other survivors in future volumes.

Robert Kirkman just push you, right in to a reality were even the basics in life is a struggle and were friends may become the enemy in a blink of an eye. It is going to be interesting to see how the character reacts to this harsh new world. And when you get to the end of this first volume, it’s sad and chocking and you just want more!

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The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye
By Robert Kirkman & Tony Moore
Image Comics