“You know, every time I think maybe I don’t give a damn about Walking Dead anymore, some great stuff happens and then I do. Some pretty shocking stuff in this one.
Rather than talk about the plot and all that, I wanted to use this space for something. To talk about why people should be reading this series INSTEAD of watching the show.
Yes, I know people always say the book is better than the movie. I disagree with that statement more often than the average person.
Yes, I know that the show and the comics are different so doing both works.
Here’s the thing: I honestly think that this series will go down in comic history as a big, huge thing. Nearer a cultural phenomenon than a successful series. And it built a success from the ground. Issue one had between 5-7K copies printed in its first run. Issue 100? Over 350K were ordered. That’s an absolutely insane increase, especially considering that this book is printed entirely in an era where just about everything becomes available in trade paperback, meaning that unlike comics of the past that may have sold more, this book has to compete WITH ITSELF.
The show…I have my issues with the show. I think it’s fairly slow. I think that it dabbles in the newer TV show style of amazing season openers and closers with some filler in the middle. And readers will probably note that the brutality is toned down a bit. Which makes sense because certain things that work in black and white print don’t work when played out on screen. However, I think it’s done masterfully in the book. Violence used right.
More than anything, though, I’m less confident that the show will live on to be a huge classic in the TV medium. Not because of its flaws. Because television is such a weirdly competitive, crowded market that caters to everyone.
I really believe there’s more great TV now than there’s ever been. Starting somewhere in the late 2000’s, I switched from watching nothing to watching a good number of shows. Comedies, dramas, all this great stuff started coming out of HBO, AMC, FX, and even network TV scored huge with The Office.
The downside of every golden era, however, is that it makes identifying the real gold from the pyrite very difficult in the moment. Ten years from now, I think we’ll have very different opinions on some of the shows we love now. Some shows that were very popular in the past just lose steam over time, and they’re almost difficult to watch, or worse yet, you just don’t feel in any way compelled to watch them. When’s the last time you turned on Frasier?
Now, I DO want to say that I don’t think timelessness is absolutely necessary for something to be great. Sometimes a thing is great because of its timeliness, its ability to come along at the right time, when you’re in the right frame of mind for it. It scratches the itch, and just like scratching a real itch, nothing is better in the moment, but just scratching that same spot minus the itch has a very diminished effect.
However, one of the big factors that I use to judge what I truly enjoy is my ability to go back to it. I’ve re-read volumes 1-10 of Walking Dead at least 4 or 5 times apiece. I bought the first trade right when it came out, and after that I would re-read each one that I had whenever a new one was about to hit the shelves. And it works.
I saw the first season on TV. And honestly, I haven’t had a lot of desire to go back. Or forward.
There is an extent to which this has been caused by reading the books first. So as much as the story differs, and as much as I appreciate that, the characters and a lot of the big events follow similar lines.
Okay, this is getting nutty, so let me summarize here.
The Walking Dead comics are not only great, they are standout gems in the medium of comics. They push the boundaries of a medium, and they also use its timespan, paneling, and other nuances to really heighten the drama and the story.
The Walking Dead tv series is enjoyable, but I just don’t think it occupies the same space. It’s good television, but it’s not changing the way people consume television.
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