I have only recently come across the Walking Dead comic book series. There is a huge number of them and the franchise is still hot and still growing.
This so-called comic book series is a far cry from the comics I read as a child. I knew that these were often referred to as graphic novels and had read one series prior to this.
Maus was written by Art Spiegelman and released in 1991. I didn’t come across it until almost 15 years later because I thought graphic novel was a fanciful name for a comic book (a comic by any other name) but I was horribly mistaken. Maus has a power and reach that surpassed anything I had read as a child. For the 1st time I had a grasp on the emotional depth that could be reached in the graphic novel format.
Maus in it’s simple form is the tale of survival. It is a biography of Spiegelmans’ father who was a Jew and was sent to a concentration camp. It includes all of his exploits but what was different was the cat and mouse format Spiegelman used to tell the tale. Jews were mice and the Nazis’ were the cats.
I know you’ve likely heard stories of Jews during the Nazi period but nothing and I do mean nothing can prepare you for the emotional impact that Maus has. Go and find it somewhere and enjoy because you will.
After Maus I decided to check out a few more comic/ graphic novels. Among those were Blacksad, Blackout and others but to no avail. I thought they sucked! I could not get into them. They didn’t have the emotional depth of Maus. Nor were the characters as well drawn out. So I stopped with the comic/ graphic novel.
How does this all bring me around to The Walking Dead comic/ graphic novel? I just wanted to show my history with the media, which is limited. That limitation however did not prevent me from getting sucked into The Walking Dead comic.
I had already read Maus and know the emotional impact a comic could have. I also knew how characters could be almost as well formed as in any novel. So I was only mildly surprised when I found myself getting sucked into the Walking Dead world.
The only reason for me to read the comic/ graphic novel of The Walking Dead was because I was familiar with the world from the wonderful TV show but I wasn’t sure how this could compare. It is very easy to see why they decided to make a TV show from this kind of source material.
The comic book leaves in its wake a map for the TV show to follow. You’ll recognize the characters not only by name but by personality also. Rick is a stubborn headed mule who always tries to do the right thing or at least what he believes to be the right thing. He’s tough but tender and all that.
The TV show didn’t stray far from the map provided by the comic. Although there are some differences that I consider to be huge. The Governor does not look physically the same in the comic as in the show. You see one thing in print but see another on screen. Personally, I think the on screen character is more effective because he doesn’t look like a thug.
Other places where the stories differ is that Rick loses a hand. Well, technically he doesn’t lose it like you might lose you car keys, it gets taken from him by force. Also, the loss of a leg happens to a different person. Oh and there are more characters in Ricks’ group in the comic.
Finally, there is the story of dear, dear Lori. She lost her life because of a “C” section but not so in the comic. She does die later and so does Judith -spoiler?- but keeping Judith for the TV show gives it a bit more depth. How does a baby survive? Will the community come together to take care of a child whose mother is dead and whose father nearly loses his nut?
Given the fact I have not finished the comic series yet, although I do spend late, late nights reading, I highly recommend it to any comic fan or any fan of the show. Grab the series however you can and I’m certain you’ll spend as many late nights reading as I have.
Things I like about the comic series :
1) Incredibly well written
2) Long and continuing but certainly not boring
3) Strong characters