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The Walking Dead (comics)

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Helmholtz said:
This series sounds pretty good. I see that the first Compendium collects 1-48, is there going to be a second one? If so any idea when it comes out?
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A second similar compendium would have to come out around issue 96. So..around three years from right now :lol .

I'd recommend just getting the first compendium, then get trades 9-11. Trade 12 is coming out in June as well.
 
gdt5016 said:
A second similar compendium would have to come out around issue 96. So..around three years from right now :lol .

I'd recommend just getting the first compendium, then get trades 9-11. Trade 12 is coming out in June as well.
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Sounds good, thanks
 
gdt5016 said:
I'm reading something like 10 comics monthly, so the wait doesn't really bug me. Every week is something new.

But, if you're only waiting for The Walking Dead, maybe just trade waiting is better for you. A new trade every six months.
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I collect the TPB but torrent the new release so I'm not waiting the 6 months.
 
is there a comic review website?

there seems to be quite a few non super hero ones everyone likes. one with that cera guy turning it live action methinks.

thinking about getting into comics.
 
Viewt said:
I've considered picking up The Compendium:

C112129.jpg


48 issues for $38 is a pretty good deal.
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This thread just made me order this (very impulsively). The picture made it look thicker than a big phone book - over 1,000 pages - so I'm hoping it's good. I've been looking for something like this to get into.
 
skads_187 said:
would you recommend this to someone who loves zombie stories/movies, but doesn't really read much comic books?
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absolutely.

it's the first ongoing comic series I got into, and opened up a world of awesomeness.
 
Costanza said:
absolutely.

it's the first ongoing comic series I got into, and opened up a world of awesomeness.
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cool, thx, now its time to find some cash to buy these.

i always see a lot of these in the pickup threads.
 
Just got the compendium in today! Already read a ton. I really like it so far, expect I'm having a tough time with the artist change. The first artist was so detailed, the zombies looked really gruesome and I loved the style, but so far the new style just seems.. sloppy or something. Does it take awhile to grow on you? Really not liking how now all the characters look angry when they're talking no matter what they're saying, especially Rick's wife.
 
I far prefer Adlard (the second artist).

He goes for a more grey and gritty style, as opposed to the detailed work of earlier. Works perfectly for where the comic goes, and he always sets the perfect tone/atmosphere.
 
gdt5016 said:
I far prefer Adlard (the second artist).

He goes for a more grey and gritty style, as opposed to the detailed work of earlier. Works perfectly for where the comic goes, and he always sets the perfect tone/atmosphere.
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Excellent- I did flip ahead and the art seems to get better as it goes, I just really miss Tony Moore's full page spreads that you could just stare at for a good minute it two-
running from the gun store in the rain was incredible
. This is my first comic experience so it was just pretty jarring having the characters look so different from one chapter to the next, I'm sure as new characters are introduced it will seem more natural to me.
 
GhaleonEB said:
This thread just made me order this (very impulsively). The picture made it look thicker than a big phone book - over 1,000 pages - so I'm hoping it's good. I've been looking for something like this to get into.
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Good God, I might get it too! :/

1000 pages? What are the chances of the spine of the book breaking? I'm very picky about the long-lasting condition of a book... :P
 
shagg_187 said:
Good God, I might get it too! :/

1000 pages? What are the chances of the spine of the book breaking? I'm very picky about the long-lasting condition of a book... :P
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I got the Compendium today from Amazon. The binding is rock solid, and the pages have enough white border around them that I don't need to flatten the book out to see all of the imagery - I can just read it like a normal book.

It's fantastic. Great characters, a nice cadence of story development and "oh fuck zombies!" *munch*munch*munch*

I got through the second "book" today, and had to pry myself away. The just left
Hershall's place and found the prison
. Really, really digging this. I'll have to pick up the trade collections that have been published separately after I tear through the Compendium. I've always had a fascination with zombie stories (but NOT zombie movies), so this is exactly what I've been looking for.
 
GhaleonEB said:
I've always had a fascination with zombie stories (but NOT zombie movies), so this is exactly what I've been looking for.
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Most of the movies are pretty bad, yeah. I've got high expectations on the TV-series based on the comics that they're currently working on though. That's one thing I thought several times when reading The Walking Dead; you could easily adapt this into a TV-show. Oh well, we'll see in October when it might premiere I guess.
 
I just wanted to point out that I've updated the OP to make this more of a "real" thread. I even borrowed a banner from the official site to use as a here! And copied some info from wikipedia!

I'm feeling very industrious today.
 
itsinmyveins said:
Most of the movies are pretty bad, yeah. I've got high expectations on the TV-series based on the comics that they're currently working on though. That's one thing I thought several times when reading The Walking Dead; you could easily adapt this into a TV-show. Oh well, we'll see in October when it might premiere I guess.
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What I meant by that comment is there's a large swath of horror stories that I prefer to absorb in book form (illustrated or not). For reasons I can't quite put my finger on, I'm fine with the grue in horror movies if monsters are involved - stuff like John Carpenter's The Thing or Alien don't phase me - but I can't watch (and don't like) slasher films, or zombie movies, regardless of quality. The human-on-human violence bothers me in ways that monster movies don't, even with the same or greater level of violence. Drawings, I don't mind one bit, as even they leave much to the imagination.

But at the same time, I've got a longstanding fascination about zombie stories. I read about zombie movies, and love stories about them. So a long-form comic is ideal for me.

All of which is to say, regardless of how much I like the comic, I probably won't be seeing the show based on it.
 
itsinmyveins said:
Most of the movies are pretty bad, yeah. I've got high expectations on the TV-series based on the comics that they're currently working on though. That's one thing I thought several times when reading The Walking Dead; you could easily adapt this into a TV-show. Oh well, we'll see in October when it might premiere I guess.
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Odd, as the Walking Dead is just basically a Romero Zombie flick that just keeps on going and going and going
 
GhaleonEB said:
What I meant by that comment is there's a large swath of horror stories that I prefer to absorb in book form (illustrated or not). For reasons I can't quite put my finger on, I'm fine with the grue in horror movies if monsters are involved - stuff like John Carpenter's The Thing or Alien don't phase me - but I can't watch (and don't like) slasher films, or zombie movies, regardless of quality. The human-on-human violence bothers me in ways that monster movies don't, even with the same or greater level of violence. Drawings, I don't mind one bit, as even they leave much to the imagination.

But at the same time, I've got a longstanding fascination about zombie stories. I read about zombie movies, and love stories about them. So a long-form comic is ideal for me.

All of which is to say, regardless of how much I like the comic, I probably won't be seeing the show based on it.
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Ahh, hmm, well, the comic is gonna get pretty graphic in a while. Extremely so, actually :lol .

Too bad about opting out of the show.
 
Just bought The Compendium even if I'm not really into american comics. The only American comic I like is "Y", I hope ill like this as much as Y.
 
Shaun of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead
Walking Dead

in order, are my fav zombie IPs

I just picked up the Walking Dead compendium 1 - it's like 20 pounds!!!
 
BattleMonkey said:
Odd, as the Walking Dead is just basically a Romero Zombie flick that just keeps on going and going and going
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Yeah, I don't think that's really accurate. I mean, yeah, in some respects it is -- there are zombies and there are main characters. Apart from the fact that I don't like his movies that much, the "going and going and going" allows for a far wider picture of the characters and their situation.
 
So, I'm not liking the direction the story took after book 4. Everything after the
helicopter
was spotted has simply been garbage. It's probably the laziest, least interesting direction the plot could possibly have turned. After three days of plowing through big chunks of the Compendium every night, I put it away for a few days and literally forgot about it. I went through another chunk today, where
samurai lady is getting the shit raped out of her and the idiot kid is leading them back to the prison
and I just put the book back up on the shelf. I'm not sure I'll be picking it up again any time soon. What a clusterfuck of a plot. :(
 
GhaleonEB said:
So, I'm not liking the direction the story took after book 4. Everything after the
helicopter
was spotted has simply been garbage. It's probably the laziest, least interesting direction the plot could possibly have turned. After three days of plowing through big chunks of the Compendium every night, I put it away for a few days and literally forgot about it. I went through another chunk today, where
samurai lady is getting the shit raped out of her and the idiot kid is leading them back to the prison
and I just put the book back up on the shelf. I'm not sure I'll be picking it up again any time soon. What a clusterfuck of a plot. :(
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All that is leading up to something big. It delivers in a big way if you keep reading it.
 
Have you guys noticed that in all of kirkman's comics (TWD, Invincible, Wolfman) that all the characters are all really polite and always carefully explain their feelings and points of view to each other?

Almost every conversation is pretty much this:

Character A: Unintentionally says something that sets off character B.
Character B: EXTREME OUTBURST followed by "I'm sorry, I just... : ("
Character B: Proceeds with lengthy explanation of why that upset him/her.
Character A + B: Some form of bro-five, sex scene, or crying ensues



Don't get me wrong I'm a huge fan of Kirkman's books, but almost all the characters seem to be overly polite and patient. :lol
 
I've read through volume 7. I have high hopes for the show. I wish their was some type of adventure style game that went along with this. An open world RPG with limited ammo/stamina so it wouldn't turn into Left 4 Dead or Dead Rising.
 
BuddhaRockstar said:
Just got the compendium in today! Already read a ton. I really like it so far, expect I'm having a tough time with the artist change. The first artist was so detailed, the zombies looked really gruesome and I loved the style, but so far the new style just seems.. sloppy or something. Does it take awhile to grow on you? Really not liking how now all the characters look angry when they're talking no matter what they're saying, especially Rick's wife.
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Agreed on all of the characters looking angry now. Rick went from sympathetic to raging asshole in 6 issues just because the new artist draws him like a snarling madman.
 
FTWer said:
All that is leading up to something big. It delivers in a big way if you keep reading it.
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I finished it up today, partly skimming. I really don't like how the plot went in the second half, even with all the insanity on the last chapter. I'm torn on continuing the series, because while I enjoy the premise, I no longer trust the writer's instincts on plotting. The story they told in books 5-8 was terrible.
Psycho one-dimensional bad guys with a torture fetish are not nearly as interesting as the siege mentality of a close-knit group fraying at the seams in a post-apocalyptic US.
. I really enjoyed books 1-4, and genuinely hated much of the other four. Just a hugely disappointing, lazy and often stupid direction to take after the setup.

I think I'll hold off on looking into the rest of the series in the trade paperbacks, at least for now.
 
itsinmyveins said:
Yeah, I don't think that's really accurate. I mean, yeah, in some respects it is -- there are zombies and there are main characters. Apart from the fact that I don't like his movies that much, the "going and going and going" allows for a far wider picture of the characters and their situation.
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Hmm no that is over simplification. The stories and characters feature many of the same themes and dialogue of Kirkman's is very reminiscent of the overly preachy nature of Romero's zombie films. They weren't simple horror/action flicks like majority of zombie films, but heavy on social commentary, which Romero has been criticized for especially in his later movies where many viewers were like "WE GET IT ALREADY".

I feel Kirkman is very similar in his take on the zombie genre and has in the past referenced Romero influences. Kirkman is well known and often complained about for his overly preachy dialogue and characters who just talk way too much. As others have said, his characters talk waaaay too much as if they always are taking what they are thinking and just blurting it out. To me Romero and Kirkman have alot of similarities between their stuff.
 
yeah, im super late getting into this comic but I gave it a shot with the iPad comics app and, wow, blown away by how good this is.

I’m now trying to catch up as quickly as possible. great stuff.
 
BattleMonkey said:
Hmm no that is over simplification. The stories and characters feature many of the same themes and dialogue of Kirkman's is very reminiscent of the overly preachy nature of Romero's zombie films. They weren't simple horror/action flicks like majority of zombie films, but heavy on social commentary, which Romero has been criticized for especially in his later movies where many viewers were like "WE GET IT ALREADY".

I feel Kirkman is very similar in his take on the zombie genre and has in the past referenced Romero influences. Kirkman is well known and often complained about for his overly preachy dialogue and characters who just talk way too much. As others have said, his characters talk waaaay too much as if they always are taking what they are thinking and just blurting it out. To me Romero and Kirkman have alot of similarities between their stuff.
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I just started reading these books a few weeks back, and while I've enjoyed them, I've also found them almost frustratingly difficult to get through because of this 'WE GET IT ALREADY' feeling. I'm all caught up now (trade wise at least, finished 11 just the other day, and that feeling comes around pretty much every other trade.

I damn near stopped reading when Rick went on and on and on about how horrible they were as people and then his whole rant culminated in the 'WE ARE THE WALKING DEAD!' single page. NO SHIT. A 5th grader could have pieced that together by the end of the first book. I didn't need the author to stop everything for an irritating rant that just had a character verbalize what was already obvious.

And again with the Governor. Earlier in the book someone was making a comment about how being the leader, take responsibility was turning Rick into a monster - and then not 5 pages later we get introduced into the obvious conclusion of that idea. Ok, a little on the nose - but not bad - untill we get another character later SAYING that the Govenor was once a nice guy like Rick but then turned into the villian we see now. UGH.

Also - the characters, save for a handfull, are almost all disposable and poorly written. Even some of the more 'central' characters are just awfully written. I swear, every time Lori came into frame I'd groan. Which arbitrary emotion was she going to throw at Rick this time, providing pages of dialogue which will have no effect on the next scene they are in together.
I practially cheered when her and the baby were killed off. I felt that at least her death could put an interesting emotional twist on Rick instead of forcing her character to be needlessly/unreasonably shrill to acheive the same effect. I mean, it says something when her character is better written as a PHONE than as a person.

And finally - the art. Reading over the thread I've seen people say it suits the mood better, and I guess that could be so - but I've never had so much trouble figuring out just what the hell was going on in a frame than I have had in these books. Partly because the lack of definition, I'm more often than not guessing at who is who in a large cast scene. Even the full page, or two page spreads are lack luster. The original artist might not have captured the same 'mood' but the art was detailed enough so I could pick out each character before even knowing their names for sure. He also drew MUCH better zombies. The little addition of the flys/gnats that were always buzzing around the zombies in the first book practically gave off the smell of rotting flesh - but again that level of detail is lost with the current artist. Seriously go look at the 2nd volume, when they are in the subdivision and find the two zombies in the basement. They are drawn as two vaguely human shaped blobs with glowing eyes.

I will say the art *has* improved - but its never matched the quality of the first book.

And yet - for all the negative I've had to say about these books I'd readily recommend them. Because when it is firing on all cylinders, the story is about as gripping as you could want. And the characters who *are* well written, (Rick for the most part, Abraham, Dale, Andrea, and Michonne when she isn't being a superhero), are really interesting to read. And there is something to be said for the idea of a long form story in this genre - of being able to take these characters further than they could in any other medium.

From what I've heard about the next arc, I'm really excited to see where it goes - even if I don't love everything about it, I'm definintely along for the ride!
 
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