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The Walking Dead Comic (SPOILERS)


Glantern

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I didn't see a dedicated discussion thread for the walking dead comic, and I didn't want to potentially spoil anything for anyone who's not up to date.

I've been a trade waiter on this series so far, but last night I broke down and bought up through 102 on comixology.

ISSUE 100 SPOILERS...

Was any one else as grotesquely turned off as I was by Glenn's death? I know it's a series where anyone can die, but it wasn't the fact that he died that bothered me. It was how it was done. I disliked that he died as a whimpering victim, to be nothing more than another fuel for Rick's rage. Glenn was my favorite character, so perhaps I was just hoping for something more profound when his time finally came. As it stands, I really feel no desire to find out what happens to the rest of them, as Glenn was the only character I really liked anymore. Any one else feeling weary about the series now?

Edited by Glantern
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I find it increasingly hard to care about the characters as more and more are killed off. I can appreciate that this is how Kirkman wants to write his story, but its disappointing at times.

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I bought the first 13-14 volumes from a discount trades store. While I can understand the popularity of the comic, I eventually got fed up with it and stopped reading. My two major gripes:

1. Kirkman's really not a very good writer. While he's got a decent ear for dialouge, he's got a poor sense of plotting and absolutely no grasp of the more intricate mechanics of the form. This criticism isn't limited to just WD, but all of his comics. Some, like Invincible, are enjoyable despite their flaws; others, like much of his Marvel work, are just pretty poor. I'd probably still be reading WD, if it wasn't for....

2. The grotesque deaths suffered by children. I understand that it's a horror comic and all, but seriously, the fates of the children in this series borders on the perverse (I'm thinking of the twins, Hershel's daughters, ect). Frankly, it got to the point that I seriously began to wonder if there isn't something wrong with Robert Kirkman, and that's when I knew it was time to jump off.

So I haven't read issue 100, but I suspect that it would have been a jumping off point for me if, y'know, I hadn't already jumped off.

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The murder of the children in the prison was brutal, but for me, I saw it as somewhat brilliant. Not the method, but the execution. No matter what these guys do, someone or something is always after them. Human or post-human, it doesn't matter. In fact, if you have kept up, living humans have done far worse to the group than the "walking dead".

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I find it increasingly hard to care about the characters as more and more are killed off. I can appreciate that this is how Kirkman wants to write his story, but its disappointing at times.

This is my biggest problem with the series now. I feel that as the old, likeable characters are killed off, there are fewer and fewer likeable new characters stepping up to replace them.

1. Kirkman's really not a very good writer. While he's got a decent ear for dialouge, he's got a poor sense of plotting and absolutely no grasp of the more intricate mechanics of the form. This criticism isn't limited to just WD, but all of his comics. Some, like Invincible, are enjoyable despite their flaws; others, like much of his Marvel work, are just pretty poor. I'd probably still be reading WD, if it wasn't for....

Yeah, Kirkman's plotting sucks. He also gets stuck in repetative rutts a lot. The whole Negan arc just seems like a rehashing of the Governor, and I actually dropped Invincible following the Viltrimite War because every single issue ended on practically the same cliff hanger.

2. The grotesque deaths suffered by children. I understand that it's a horror comic and all, but seriously, the fates of the children in this series borders on the perverse (I'm thinking of the twins, Hershel's daughters, ect). Frankly, it got to the point that I seriously began to wonder if there isn't something wrong with Robert Kirkman, and that's when I knew it was time to jump off.

I had actually blocked out the bit with Hershel's daughters, but I took a year off from the series after he killed Lori and the baby, and when I finally picked it up again, I spent something like six month's getting through the volume where the twins die. I'm feeling that with the reveal that Maggie's pregnant, her days are numbered, because "ooh, wouldn't it be edgy if we killed the pregnant chick"

Edited by Glantern
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I agree with you all.

And, it's probably just me but what killed the interest in the book for me? The art. I loved the first couple issues- the level of detail, the style. It fit perfectly. Switching to the new artist, every character looks the same to me which ultimately leaves me confused when someone is axed. Wait, who's that again? That wasn't the hat guy or the guy with glasses or the guy with one arm. Now who's this guy? When I have to go back in trades to figure out who's who or search panels for names to keep track it gets annoying. I appreciate the black and white art- but color would make it so much better in my opinion.

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I find myself needing to take breaks from the book after certain plotlines. Having real depressing plot points are worse when they serve no real purpose to driving the story, which seems to be Kirkman's go-to move. And to me, #100 was disturbing and vile and (again) pointless. I do find the letters pages rather entertaining though - especially the ones following #100.

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The murder of the children in the prison was brutal, but for me, I saw it as somewhat brilliant. Not the method, but the execution. No matter what these guys do, someone or something is always after them. Human or post-human, it doesn't matter. In fact, if you have kept up, living humans have done far worse to the group than the "walking dead".

That's true, and it's clearly a large part of the narrative. I don't so much fault him for that as... well, I just know I don't want to read it. Ever since I became a parent I've become increasingly sensitive to any kind of "children in peril" story. So I admit that a big part of it is my hangup. But still... okay, look at the two twin boys. I think that they had literally gone a full year without speaking before they met their fate, in a way that really had little to do with the narrative. There's "it's a horror comic, bad things happen", and "that's just f**ked up".

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Ultimately, I agree with you hellpop. Kirkman is not a great writer and the subject of "zombies" was worn out before he picked it up. That said, I like the Walking Dead, but its not what it used to be.

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My 2 cents, I agree the book is not what it used to be, partly because we're loosing characters we care about and they aren't being replaced & partly because I think Kirkman is running out of ideas.

Having said that, 100 was the first time in a long time where I came away feeling something after I put the book down,

what happened to Glenn was uncomfortably brutal

, way beyond where it needed to be and left me with a 'I knew it was coming but still... what the fuck' moment!

Having read 101-103 since then I get that he's really trying to push the sense of hopelessness after letting Rick & group get too comfortable recently.

T.

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I think my thoughts on it may be a bit jaded since I read 1-100 all in a single weekend sitting so it was a huge adrenaline rush but I agree I was a bit wtf at the end of it but still cant wait to see what the next show stopper is going to be next as it seems like it is to a ramp point to build up more new char now also.

it seems like Jesus may soon become a key person as well

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I thought that these discussions should be moved to the comic book discussion thread. Alot of dialog on that thread after #100 came out 3 months back.

And because of that discussion, I had the character death in question spoiled for me. I thought perhaps there could be a separate discussion from the main comics discussion because there are a lot of people who aren't caught all the way up with the series. I'll leave it up to the staff. If you guys feel the threads should be joined, that's fine.

Edited by Glantern
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