Then, all in the same winter/spring, I read the first four Scott Pilgrim novels (Bryan Lee O'Malley), the first five Y: The Last Man TPBs (Brian K. Vaughan/Pia Guerra), the first Amulet (Kazu Kibuishi), and Jellaby (Kean Soo). Quite an array, but ultimately, these all fell into easily accessible, relatively light category. These were quickly followed by The Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and for some reason, A Scanner Darkly, the graphic novel based on the movie based on the novel based on Phillip K. Dick's personal experiences. Convoluted, no?
Anyhow, that spring started in me a slow but steady fascination with the medium. Perhaps one day go back and write a bit about some of the pieces I've read since then, but for now, I'll get back to the topic at hand: The Walking Dead (Robert Kirkman/Tony Moore/Charlie Adlard).
In the past two weeks, I've read the entire series up through the most recent trade, No Way Out. I haven't been particularly immersed in the whole zombie culture (nor the vampire culture before it or the pirates before that,) so I had the benefit of experiencing some of the genre standards for the first time. On the flip side, I also had the unusual (dis)advantage of being able to read the first 80+ issues as quickly as I pleased, leading me to feel that the story's pacing was...off. While at times it began to feel like I was simply waiting for their newest Eden to experience its inevitable downfall, whereupon they'd take to their journey in exile once more, I started to let the meta story disappear in favor of the moment. And I've got to say, Kirkman and Co. do a pretty fabulous job of creating some pretty incredible and yet totally believable "what the fuck!?" moments.
I'm impressed by their ability to keep the characters feeling like...themselves. Even though everyone goes through a very understandable transition as a result of the horrors of their existence, I still feel like I recognize Rick now as I remember him from the early issues. Carl is still little Carl, just now world-wise in a way we nor he could have ever imagined. Even those who went through drastic transformations like Shane or Davidson, you get the feeling that they didn't become new people so much as very sick people in a world they no longer recognized or felt a part of.
A number of times throughout the story, I found myself momentarily asking, "Really!? Would this REALLY be the way people responded?" only to almost immediately answer myself with a resounding and resolute "Yes." And to be honest, that scares me in a way, which I suppose is just proof of how well The Walking Dead has been imagined and brought to life. It seems to have tapped into certain human truths that aren't particularly pretty--not the kinds of human responses you'd want your grandmother to be witness to. And while I sometimes find myself questioning the crazy factor that seems to seize the characters on occasion, I also marvel at the calm certainty they practice so naturally while taking on the kinds of daily tasks that would probably leave me cowering in a corner on day 1 of the zombie apocalypse, just moments before I'm bitten. Let's just say the survival instinct is not strong with this one.
One of the things I've struggled with a lot with other graphic novels and comics is being able to distinguish one character from the next, from an art standpoint. I fully expected to have trouble with this in a story such as this, with the characters not only constantly transforming personally but the cast on the whole suffering from a high turnover rate. I was pleased to find this wasn't the case at all, even as characters disappeared for many issues at a time. And while I haven't seen the AMC show yet, I saw the Blu-Ray pack the other day at Best Buy, and I was AMAZED at the casting--I could pull out each character from the back-of-pack pictures without hesitation. Bonus points to AMC.
A final thought before I put this to rest for now: in just about every other dystopian, apocalyptic story, it seems like everyone starts making new life choices when it comes to romances, namely hot chicks start going for old guys (ie. Andrea and Dale) or more often, women start going for other women at an exorbitant rate (every comic book ever but definitely apparent in Y.) One thing that bugged me about The Walking Dead is that you still don't see ANY interracial couples, with the exception of Glenn and Maggie (and the short-lived and tragic coupling of Tyrese and Carol.) C'mon Michonne, Rick is a nice piece of heroic-leadership ass...and yet you go for Morgan!? Seriously? No. That is unrealistic. Unrealistic, I tell you! Now give me more zombies.
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