The Walking Dead comic is based in a post apocalyptic world.  After a deadly virus infects the nation, the dead start to come back to life.  Once the infection sets in, there are only small pockets of survivors living in isolated groups.  This comic focuses on the life and struggles of one group, in particular the life of Rick Grimes.  The author presents the story as a biography of Rick’s life.

            The comic opens with Rick as a cop pinned down in a shootout with a criminal.  He is there with his partner and best friend Shane.  When Rick tries to move to a new position, he gets shot.  The rest of that scene is not explained, but the story jumps to him in the hospital where he awakes days later from a coma.  When Rick wakes up, he has no memory of anything that has happened since he was shot.  He finds himself oddly alone in the hospital room.  So he decides to explore the building.  Very soon he realizes that something catastrophic has happened to the world and that things are very different.  When he opens a door that is locked, he runs into his first zombie.

After a fight and a few very panicked moments, he escapes the zombie infested hospital and wanders the town looking for a safe place to stay.  In his search, he runs into a man named Morgan Jones and his son Duane.  Luckily for Rick, he is very kind and he takes him in.  He gives him a meal, takes care of him for the night and explains to him some of what’s happened since Rick was shot.

            The next day he and his new friends head over to the police station with the idea of collecting some guns and taking a squad car and anything else there that is useful.  Ultimately Rick decides to go off on his own, but he gives some guns and a car to Morgan and Duane.  Rick is compelled to try to find his family or anyone that he knows.

            Eventually the car runs out of gas and he is forced to ride a horse for the rest of his journey.  This takes him to the city, which turns out to be a huge mistake.  He went there because he was told that when the infection got really bad the government had asked everyone to move to the cities for protection.  However, that plan backfired and the concentrated areas of people allowed the virus to spread even faster.  Now the cities are overrun with zombies and they are extremely dangerous.  Rick sadly is unaware of this and is soon overrun by zombies.  First, they kill his horse and try to eat him, but when it seems like there is no escaping the onslaught a young man named Glenn finds him and leads him to safety.  Soon Glenn brings him to his camp and the people he lives with.   By a stroke of luck, Rick is reintroduced to his family and best friend Shane.

            Rick is able to quickly assimilate to the group and get into the flow of their life.  Everything is seemingly calm until Rick starts to realize that there current situation is probably not as safe as they had originally thought it was.   Rick decides to approach Shane about the possibility of moving to a new location and Shane is very adamant that they have no business moving somewhere else.  Rick accepts his wishes but warns him that he does not agree.  Sadly Rick’s suspicion eventually comes to a head when one member of the group is suddenly killed by a zombie inside the camp.  This event leads to Rick and Shane getting into a fight over the decision not to move the camp. 

 

This fight however escalates into a full on fist fight that shockingly ends with Ricks son Carl shooting Shane in an effort to save his father.   This altercation leaves the group in utter disarray and their future becomes very unsure.

            This story is a social commentary on the behavior of humanity when civilization becomes fractured and social norms no longer apply.  Rick is our guide through this tumultuous world. His experience allows us to see some very unusual behavior.  The conduct of the group almost immediately changes from civilized to barbaric.   The ultimate expression of this comes at the end of the story when Shane’s behavior leads to his ultimate demise.  The strains of this life very obviously got to Shane as shown in the way he reacts to situations and the way he is easily angered.

            The Walking Dead series has been one of the highlights of Robert Kirkman’s career.  He began writing in the 90’s, but he did not make his first book completely by himself until 2000 when he wrote the superhero parody called Battle Pope.  It was only a few short years later he wrote the Walking Dead in 2003.   

 “The Walking Dead” was created mostly by Kirkman but with the help of Tony Moore and Cliff Rathburn.   Kirkman is credited with being the creator writer and letterer. 

            Today he is still working as a comic writer and has also transitioned to television when The Walking Dead was made into a T.V. show. 

This comic is drawn with a definite realistic feel to it.  The drawings are obviously not real but they are anatomically correct and highly detailed.  But this style suits the mood and nature of the story.  The choice to draw it in black and white also helps to create a dark and hopeless mood, which suits the story.  The realistic look of the people, the environment, and the zombies makes the story hit home.  It helps the reader put himself or herself in the situation and makes this world appear very genuine.  That authentic quality makes the horror of the story come to life.

            Kirkman also does a commendable job making sure that it is not too type heavy.  The type does not overwhelm the images but there is still enough to develop a great story.  I will admit that there are a few panels that are somewhat type heavy but for the most part the comic is very effective.

           Overall this is a very visually appealing comic.   There is a lot of attention paid to detail and esthetics.  There is also a lot of action in the story.   All of these scenes are vey well done and well expressed.   You can see the fear on the faces of the characters and you can see the physicality of there actions.   One detail that I noticed in particular, that stood out to me, was the way he depicted the breaths of the characters during the winter.  This detail helped to show how the characters might not only be challenged by the new violent world they were living in, but still had to contend with the normal problems like cold and the elements.   I thought the way he was able to show that was amazing and I was honestly blown away by that. 

In the history of comics I think Walking Dead will have a huge impact on the comic world but not really for the comic.   Walking Dead is so different from many other comics and more impactful because it has enough realism in it to make the reader feel like this is something that could actually happen.  It also makes the reader question how he or she would handle this situation.  The other reason this comic is so important is its success when moved from the comic book to television.   Other comics have been made into T.V. shows and movies, but it hasn’t been done in a while and usually the story is the typical superhero story.  In this case,  the story is very different then what we typically think of as a graphic novel.  This is a story that is a social commentary with very deep views of humanity and life itself.  I personally love the story and love analyzing the underlying messages because they can be looked at in so many different lights and contexts.   I think this comic has raised the bar for future artists to be able to make something that equals or surpasses Walking Dead.  Not only is it an unforgettable story that is beautifully developed, but the illustrations are dynamic and compelling.   The drama depicted in the type is well reflected in the illustrations.  The gory dramatic pictures tell the story beautifully and make it impossible to pull your eyes off the pages once you start reading.