The Walking Dead Compendium One
Publisher: Image Comics
The success of the television version of The Walking Dead seems as good a reason as any to take a look back at the comics that spawned it. Publishers Image Comics seem to agree, as they have just reprinted the first 49 issues in a massive omnibus. For some inexplicable reason zombies are red hot right now, and for some it's difficult to imagine why. It's not as if they have the sex appeal that their counterparts in True Blood and Twilight enjoy (although I can't wait to see the sexy zombie/sexy werewolf love rivalry that somebody HAS to write sooner or later). But those in the know understand that zombie stories are not about pathetic child-friendly vampire/werewolf/moaning bint love triangles. They’re about our own mortality, and sometimes communism. And Aids. And the homeless. AND ZOMBIES!!!!
Even with the high price tag (a wallet-busting £45) this is top value for money. It is a book that will take you an age to read, and not just because it's over 1000 pages long. The Walking Dead is perhaps the most depressing thing I have ever read and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Quite the contrary in fact. It's just that much like Ronald D Moore's reimagined version of Battlestar Galactica, the narrative moves from catastrophe to catastrophe with the frequency of a radio set to alternate every six seconds between Desperate Situation FM and long wave radio Death 252. It's almost impossible to make it through more than two chapters without having to stop, make yourself a cup of tea and make sure that everything is okay.
All the typical zombie story tropes are present and correct: world overrun by corpses? Check. Ragtag bunch of survivors? Check. Opportunist villains trying to exploit the situation to their own benefit? Check. The things that set TWD apart from the other zombie fare are the atmospheric black and white art provided by Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore and the fact that writer Robert Kirkman has an insane gift for making you care very deeply about a diverse cast of characters, and then butchering them in some horrendous fashion within three issues. A typical story sees our heroes trapped in a prison where all the guards have done a runner along with a homicidal maniac, a recovering heroin addict and a psychotic accountant. This is considered a massive improvement in fortunes. Make no mistake, it's no barrel of laughs. Kirkland has stated that there is a very definite conclusion to his narrative, and that comes across every issue as we, much like the titular antagonists, stumble relentlessly and inevitably to the horrific end.
BEST. ZOMBIE COMIC. EVER.
