"The Walking Dead" Volume #1 (Issues 1-6) Review!

Talk about horrific! If you've been following my posts, you'll know that recently I reviewed "The Walking Dead Issue #1". If not, I forgive you. Just don't let it happen again. *wink*. Honestly, Issue #1 drew me in. I'm a HUGE Zombie fan and the story just left so many questions.

The Volume begins with Rick and his partner in a shoot-off with an escaped convict. Rick asks his partner to cover for him. As he runs across the clearing, his partner's hand is shot, leaving him defenseless. As a result, Rick is shot and wakes up in the hospital, out of a coma. He wanders around and sees Zombies everywhere. Not sure what's going on, he leaves, searching for anyone that's living. After being knocked out again (you can never be too careful!), Rick wakes to find his attackers (Morgan Jones and his son). They head to the police station, load up on guns, ammo, and cars. While preparing to leave, Morgan warns Rick to not waste a bullet on a stray Zombie that's across the fence from them. On his way out of town, Rick stops to put a female Zombie out of her misery. Now on to the NEW stuff.

Rick heads out of town, and ends up searching houses for survivors. He's on his way to Atlanta, Georgia to find his wife and child. Stumbling into one house, Rick finds an entire family "dead" on their living room floor. Rick, horrified, runs from the house, vomiting. It's almost like you can smell the stench yourself. Damn! Who wants THAT as a visual?!? He wanders to their stable and finds a horse that's rearing to get out of her stall. Out of gas and desperate, he gives her the exercise she craves and arrives in Atlanta. When he arrives, he faces a town full of the monsters. What does he do? Let himself get surrounded. I would've been trying to ride out of there at the sight of the first five! Before he knows it, his horse is bucking and wild-eyed. Rick is thrown off and can only watch as his horse is devoured. Another visual I could go without: Zombies using horse intestine as Fruit-By-The-Foot. He runs and is soon discovered by Glenn, a street-smart Zombie escaper by profession. The two head to a safe "camp" where a group of survivors have gathered. Guess at who Rick finds there! Nope...not a reanimated version of Michael Jackson... His wife and kid! Tearful reunion...blah blah blah. Hugs and kisses...ewww.

Now that everyone's fine and dandy, the issue of survival arises. One person keeps watch every night...the women wash the clothes and the men hunt (don't worry! There's a whole discussion that answers the questions of all you feminists!) while the kids play in the dirt. A rattling attack by a Zombie leaves Rick convinced that EVERYONE needs a gun. Glenn and Rick head to town, thinking of a way to get supplies safely. Rick stops by the body of the Zombie that attacked their camp and cuts off random parts. The two men rub the scent of the rotted body all over them and carry body parts in the pockets. The theory is that Zombies operate by smell. If they don't SMELL alive, they must not BE alive. Everything goes according to plan, but it wouldn't be interesting if there wasn't a flaw in the plan. The two load up a shopping cart full of ammo and guns and plan to walk out. Guess what? It friggen RAINS. The ONE time they DON'T want a shower, they GET one. The water washes away the scent and the Zombies begin to attack. Somehow, the two shoot/run their way out with enough guns for the few survivors at the camp. Over the next few weeks, the crew practices their shooting, and the women and children are up to par. Little do they know, a 7 year old being able to shoot a gun saves the lives of both of his parents.

Later, the camp is roasting a deer around a campfire. Amy, one of the survivors, enters the RV that everyone stays in from time to time. On her way out, she's attacked by two Zombies and this triggers an attack on everyone in the camp. Amy is killed and another man is bitten on the arm. He elects to be left under a tree to waste away, not wanting to be a burden on the camp. Throughout the entire story, Rick and Shane are at each others throats (in a passive way in front of everyone, but at war alone) about moving the camp. Rick believes that the camp is too close to the Zombie-infested town of Atlanta. Shane wants to stay as close to the city as he can so that the military, if still in existence, has a better chance of finding and helping the group. Eventually, Shane reveals that he's not leaving, and that he had fallen in love with Rick's wife. He didn't want Rick to be alive, so his logic is that he SHOULDN'T be. Gun aimed at Rick, Shane says that Lori will come around. All of a sudden, a bullet slices through Shane's neck. Rick looks over to see his son, Carl, holding a gun. Reverence for life is obvious when Carl says that killing the Zombies isn't like killing live people. Rick replies that it should never be.

I've got SO many questions about what happens next. Does Shane's death put Rick in command? Does he move the group to somewhere safer?

I've yacked enough. On to the review!

Creativity of Writing: 5/5 It's definitely gotten more off the path of the traditional Zombie story since Issue #1! It's like watching a morbid Soap Opera! I love knowing what everyone's thinking and more importantly, it's the nitty gritty of watching a group of scared people SURVIVE without many options. I find it fascinating. The interaction between the characters is INTENSE. There's loss, there's hate, there's love...there's every human emotion and that allows us to be able to relate to a group of people in a situation extremely different than our own.


Creativity of Art: 4/5 There's so many more opportunities for images of different scenarios and people and, most importantly, Zombies. We get to see more of what we want to see, pretty much. Since the group is living near a wooded area, there's lots of opportunities for scenic backgrounds and omniscient-type panels (for example: Zombies are often shown hiding behind trees behind unsuspecting survivors). The artist thinks about the surroundings and manipulates them to his greatest advantage.

Overall Casual Read Rating: 5/5 I'm hooked. I want more. It's VERY entertaining and kinda satisfies my need to poke my nose in everyone's business. It's like, if I may, playing God. It's very visually pleasing (despite all the dead things and murders and gore) and it sticks in your mind (how the hell can it not?!).