I’m a big fan of the walking dead series. I remember my dad, sister and I waiting for every episode to come out when the series was at its height on television. We would talk about our predictions on what would happen and who would die next. It was something we enjoyed all together. I dropped off the show at around season 4 and for many years I never really came back to it until one day my sister told me something that happened in the show in 2019. So I restarted the show in order to jump back into it and I was hooked. I would come home after work and my sister would ask me, ” Where are you at now?” and I would tell her something about a character I was starting to like and she would give me this face like as if she was hiding something. I knew that someone was gonna die and I would deny It like as if I could change what she already saw. I binged all ten seasons and was blown away by the story. I just needed to know more!

Then that year, for my birthday, she bought three of the compendiums for me I started reading the comic every now and then. The way the story played out was different than the show for sure, for the most part events played themselves out about the same but with different characters. Before I get on about that, I would like to break down some elements and then get to my overall thoughts on the comic.

• The Characters

This story was created by Robert Kirkman who is also the writer and creator of Invincible, another comic I enjoyed reading( review coming soon). The story takes place in a post apocalyptic world where the dead have come back to life. The story follows a man named Rick Grimes and his family,Carl and Laurie, as the fight to survive the new world they live in.

This is a character driven story , of decisions and consequences. The genius behind the writing is how they make every character believably flawed. I kind of see it as, ” how would this kind of person fare in a zombie apocalypse?” and “how would this affect the psyche?” I find myself wondering what I would do in their situation. I question whether if I was put in their shoes, if I would make the right decision because in that world one wrong decision could mean life or death.

. For the most part, the living come out to be the most threatening thing about the world. The line between good and evil gets muddied. Theres a delicate balance between going too far and not doing enough when it comes to dealing with groups who threaten the very wellbeing of Rick and his group. The cast of characters shift pretty frequently up until the end and there are definitely moments that tear your heart out when someone you have seen go through so much passes. Every death is felt, every moment tense, because it affects the characters in unpredictable ways.

• The Story

there are very distinct shifts to the story that pose interesting questions about good and evil and what you would do to survive. In the beginning, the story mostly deals with questions about survival. where do I go? Where do we live? how do I sleep? What do I eat? the elements of both nature and the zombies became the central issue for the most part until at a certain point that the dead no longer are the threat.

Then, it becomes about the people. What levels of depravity will people go to in order to survive? What happens when you run out of food? what happens when people hurt you? How far is too far?

Again the story shifts and asks, what does power do to you? what does grief do? what if you live in a bubble, can you survive? Do you become weak? Its really quite interesting what kind of questions come up when dealing with the dead and the living alike.

• Overall thoughts

The comic can be pretty bad. It is a mature comic so it deals with mature content.(Language, sex, gore, blood) so if you are one who is sensitive to all that you may definitely not like it. If that’s the case, the show might be better for you since it deals with the same characters and scenarios minus some of the mature content. If you are able to look past that in order to look at the story and the questions posed in the story then you will like the comic. The characters grow on you. the decisions aren’t cringe worthy bad. instead they are suspenseful. Rick and his exploits become something worth seeing through. I recommend with some precaution. with that I will end the blog! God bless!