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Running Review of The Walking Dead: Volume 5

October 31st is going to be awesome. No, not because of Halloween, the awesomeness of the night is going to be thanks to the premier of The Walking Dead TV series on AMC at 10 pm. I cannot wait for this. I've read every single press snippet and watched every clip available. I stood in awe of the extended trailer at Comic Con. Honestly, this is the only reason I would want to have TV right now (which I don't, and won't).

While reading one of the press releases I came across an interesting bit of information. Robert Kirkman was interviewed and was talking about how he loves helping with the TV show because he can write for characters he loved, favorites of his, that have been dead for a long time. He proceeded to name two characters, the first I won't spoil (yet… duh) but the second caught me off guard. The second character he named as a favorite was… The Governor.

To understand my distaste for those words and this character read on. Volume 5 here we come.

Volume 5 opens, as you may recall from my last review, where I felt volume 4 should have ended. Well to be exact we open to Rick and Dale checking out cell block A and chatting about the gas generator they found. It is decided that the gas required to run the generator should come from the cars outside the gates in the prison parking lot. Apparently none of them ever played Left for Dead because they clearly have no idea that turning on the generator will alert the horde.

Glenn pops up with some riot suits and they decide to put them to the test while they run the gauntlet. While getting the gas they see something that either probably never thought they would see again, a helicopter (perfect spot for a cliff hanger if you ask me…). This part always made me think of Reign of Fire. Just that amazement to see something, anything, in the air. The panel is brought down by the ridiculous angle, however, because Adlard can't draw from a low point. The image is set low, looking up at the two characters with their eyes on the sky, it just looks silly.

Rick and Glenn rush back to the prison, get a car and head to the area that the helicopter appeared to go down in. Of course, to add a little tension Rick forgot to tell his wife he was leaving. Just as they're about to leave Michonne shows up and tags along. They make it to the crash site and make the unsettling discovery that someone else had come and claimed the occupants of the whirly bird.

Instead of regrouping back at the prison Rick decides to fight the daylight and head in the direction of the footprints they found around the crash site. This eventually leads them to the "Last little town on earth" Woodbury. The town seems nice enough at first, Rick and his crew get saved from a zombie attack then taken on a nickel tour by "the governor", a self appointed leader who took charge after all heck broke loose with the zombies and all.

The Governor explains why Woodbury is special and how he takes his title as sort of a joke. He then shows our three heroes a gladiator style arena where two men fight while surrounded by zombies, which they call 'biters'. A part that really bothered me was that he said they hadn't had any new people in months, except for the couple in the helicopter. Then just a page later he explains that the zombies in the gladiator arenas used to bite more until they started feeding them, and of course when asked what they feed the biters the governor replies "well stranger, we feed them strangers." Little continuity please? seriously it was a page earlier that he said there hadn't been a stranger for months. Why would he lie and then instantly tell the truth? Did they literally just start feeding them that night, starting with the people from the helicopter?

Really it was all just a set up because then you find out that the friendly exterior of the Governor and his welcoming nature was all a clever ruse! Turns out he's pants on head stupid EVIL. He is absolutely beyond a trace of humanity psycho. The Governor proceeds to grill Rick, Glenn and Michonne about where they are from. Getting no response from Rick he does the civil thing and cuts off his right hand. Let me run that past you again, the main character of this epic, long running zombies series just lost his right hand, and this ain't Star Wars, he's not getting it back. Michonne gets pissed and bites off old Gov's ear and then everybody gets upset.

Rick awakes in a makeshift clinic and we meet a friendly doctor and a friendly nurse. Here we learn that most people in Woodbury aren't naive and that they actually know how crazy the Governor and his evil henchmen (because obviously he has to have evil henchmen) are. Glenn, in the mean time, was keeping busy by passing out at the sight of blood and soiling himself. Michonne really got the short end of the stick though (no pun intended…. honestly that would be horrifying…) because mr. sunshine and smiles himself decides to torture her into talking.

While all this craziness is going on back at the prison people are worried and no one shows this more than Laurie who is once again livid with her husband. Carl, her son, reasons with her and tells her not to worry and Carol just keeps being crazy (if you remember in the last volume she wanted to marry Rick and Laurie).

Meanwhile, back at Woodbury, Rick is told that Glenn was let loose so he would run back to the prison. The Governor boasts that he knows all about the prison and that Glenn will lead them right to it. Obviously nubby McNohand is terrified at the idea that the governor will find his wife, son and friends. The last few pages are of a person in a riot gear suit running toward the tall gates of the prison. The person, as it turns out, is actually Tyreese and not Glenn. Ty had gone looking for them.

The very last panel of the book is a full page in which we see the Gov talking about how soon they will find the prison. Basically if it went on one more page we'd be treated to a long maniacal laugh. It's not a great cliff hanger but it gets the job done. Although after I endured all the stupid that was Woodbury I have to admit the main reason I went after Volume 6 was because I wanted to see the Governor die.

I hate the character of the Governor because he's such a shallow stereotype. Of course the only person to rise to power would be a complete psycho and of course there a gaggle of crazies that will support him no matter what. He keeps severed heads in his apartment, has a zombie daughter he (probably) abused, and cuts off limbs on a whim. Also he's immortal, but I'll get to that in future volumes. I honestly can't believe he was one of Kirkmans favorite characters (and I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who really like him). I just can't stand how simple and two dimensional he is. Even though he appears over the course of 5 volumes his character is never expanded on. We just have to buy that he's evil and crazy and take it at face value.

Although brought down by the presence of the Governor volume 5 is relatively good, though I do find it a bit weak. Zombies are not in this book as often as I'd like but that's not really my complaint. This issue tries almost to hard to be edgy. Rick doesn't answer a question, first thing he does is cut off his hand, it's stupid, nonsensical, and not the least bit tactical (which they try later to convince us the Governor is tactically minded). Then to "up the ante" Kirkman throws in Michonne being tortured and raped. It's not edgy or artistic, it's just stupid and makes ol Gov out to be so over the top evil there's no coming back. I mean honestly, they might as well have elected the devil to run the town.

Still, even with the somewhat stagnent Volume 5, brighter days are ahead for The Walking Dead, although not before another heapin helpin of the Governor. So next time we'll devour volume 6 where we find out how stupid the Governor is, how pissed Michonne can get, and that doctors are idiots. Stay Tuned.

Running Review of The Walking Dead: Volume 4

Here we are again, back to the world of the living dead in the 4th installment of Robert Kirkman's Zombie magnum opus. With the cliff hanger ending of volume 3 I couldn't wait to tear into the 4th volume, and I'm sure you're anxious too! So here we go, grab your gun, axe, or blunt object!

As you probably recall volume 3 ended with our main man Rick about to floss with some buck shot. Of course Kirkman being the coy devil he is starts out volume 4 with a character we've never even seen before wandering around with two zombies (sans arms and jaws) chained to her. We eventually learn that this is Michonne, a slightly crazy katana wielding seductress who wholly and completely kicks butt. Now, I say slightly crazy because she is no where near pants on head stupid but… well we'll get to why she's a bit unbalanced.

So Michonne has been walking around looking for a safe place to stay when she stumbles upon Otis, on his way from Hershal's farm to the prison. She saves Otis and they start heading to the prison. Cut to Rick talking to Dexter, he asks him where he got the shotguns and Dexter does a mini monologue about Andrew sneaking into the riot gear room that he didn't tell Rick about in Cell Block A blah blah blah then BAM Zombies. See, cell block A had not been cleared, so Andrew (the druggy) had unwittingly released all heck upon them.

Everyone takes to arms and starts killing the Roamers when Rick notices one is about to go all Solid Snake and stealth kill Dexter. Being the upstanding chap he is Rick shoots the zombie and Dexter says something about how that "doesn't change anything, a smart man would have let it get me". Rick glares at him, then continues killing the mindless hoards. When they are just about finished Rick, being the upstanding chap he is shoots Dexter in the head and blames it on friendly fire "someone must have accidentally hit him"

This little display was not noticed by anyone, save Tyreese who basically just shrugs it off as a necessary evil, which it was. The thing is this came literally moments after the You Kill You Die rule Rick handed down (though this is covered at the end of the volume). Volume 4 really starts beating Rick to the ground mentally, but I'll get to that later. Andrew, not wanting to face any of the people he betrayed simply runs out of the prison and into the wild. Patricia, the role model of responsibility who tried to release Thomas now hangs her head in shame AGAIN because she apparently helped Andrew and Dexter… wow… and they let her stay.

Life seems to start settling down a bit and eventually they decide its time to search a bit more of the prison, and since cell block A was just recently flushed, they figure that's a good place to start. Alan, who we have hardly heard from AT ALL randomly appears and is eager to help. Several characters add some exposition saying that he's been doing much better lately (if you can't recall, his wife died and he couldn't take care of his own two kids he was so grief stricken) that he's been much happier and lively, and is only one day away from retirement… ohwaitohnooooo!

Yes, just like Kirkman did with Alans wife he tried to make the character likable and human just moments before a zombie munches his ankle. Again this was another silly attack. Alan gets spooked by a zombie and has to take a breather right outside a dark open door way. While standing there in this abandoned cell block he can't manage to hear the sound of a zombie not walking, but pulling itself out of the room because it has no legs. So yes, he gets bitten.

Alan is rushed out of Cell Block A and is starting to panic. In his panic he says that he can feel himself becoming one of them. Rick says that's not how it works and then he realizes that it really isn't. The bite only kills you, it doesn't turn you. So Rick decides the best thing to do is cut off his leg under the knee. Everyone begs him not to do it but he does anyway.

The rest of this volume is just a bunch of drama and arguments. Basically Tyreese cheats on Carol with Michonne and Carol sees it happen so she breaks up with him then slits her wrists in front of her daughter. Rick goes to tell Tyreese about it and walks in on him just as Michonne throws down a surprise kiss. At this point the main attraction starts.

In one corner you have Rick, who is seriously starting to lose it, and in the other corner you have Tyreese, who is also about to lose it. Rick starts yelling at him about how it's his fault if Carol dies. He continues with this winner, that Ty actually likes all the death. Yeah, wow, he brings up how he killed Julia's boyfriend and now his girlfriend. Tyreese responds in kind by telling Rick that he has lost it and that HE is the one who likes killing, and that's why he shot Dexter and "mutilated" Alan.

The war of words turns into fisticuffs and Rick passes out and falls a full story onto his back (but says Ty pushed him). He wakes up after more than a day of being unconscious to find Carol who thanks him for defending her by kissing him right on the lips! Rick tells her to cool, then Dale comes in to lay down the facts.

Basically the screaming fit that Rick put on showed everyone that maybe he wasn't so suited to be the leader, so they formed a comity of four (Rick, Dale, Tyreese, and Hershal) to make the decisions. No women you say? Thats the way the women folk wanted it, Dale explains (pardon my lol). Ol' Rick takes it like a champ, goes out to the field to apologize to everyone and then… yells some more... yeah... He spews a bunch of stuff about how everyone is crazy because that's the requirement of the world they live in and that things will never be the same. At this point the statement about "you kill you die" was retracted and supplemented with "you kill you live". The issue ends with Rick echoing the words "We are the walking dead…"

So that's Volume 4, honestly I both like and dislike this issue. It shakes up the normal formula and gives us something (relatively) new. All the drama now is internal, this is all from the permanent cast, though honestly as you'll find out the word permanent means little to Kirkman. The drama was nice but at times goes a bit over the top. Rick seems to go completely insane by the end, he goes from reasonable to lunatic in a few pages. Also there's the fact that this was certainly not a cliffhanger. I didn't feel the urge to run out and pick up volume 5 because of 4's resolution. I knew Kirkman would keep things interesting but the end just didn't have that Lost factor when the credits roll and you're left saying what!? In my mind all I could think of was the next issue being about whether or not anyone would really ever trust Rick again. Lame.

Personally I think the best way to end this issue would have been with *spoiler incoming* a helicopter haphazardly flying over the prison or in the distance. That would have been an awesome dramatic conclusion and make Rick rethink what he just said about nothing ever being the same… oh that and it happens within the first half of the next book. Speaking of which, I'll get on to Volume 5 next time, and the introduction of one of my least favorite characters. So till next time Govn'a.

Running Review of The Walking Dead: Volume 3

Well, I'm finally back at it with TWD. So buckle in, it's time to drive through the zombie rampant pages of Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars. Or as I like to call it Volume 3: Send in the clowns.

Of course we start here with our rag tag group heading into the prison yard to start the clean up. They make quick work of the lurkers and set up a perimeter. The next day they get into the prison to wipe out some more of the undead when a wrench is thrown in their day, a door that is handcuffed shut. Rick and Tyrese exchange some campy dialouge to sell kirkmans clever ruse "oh what do you think we'll find behind this door Tyrese" "You trollin? More zombies duhzerz" They fling wide the mess hall doors to find four perfectly alive men sitting there nonchalantly eating and digesting.

I know it may sound like I'm being a bit harsh on this scene but honestly I love it. This is what TWD is all about, these situations that build to tension and drama. The men are all very polite and offer food to the new visitors, but there is a bit of a mix up. The men think Rick and his crew are a rescue team, and Rick being the ignorant small town bumpkin he is thinks the guys are prison guards… In prisoner jump suits (granted, there would be any number of reasons to want to change clothes). When the truth comes out the prisoners are disappointed and the regular cast is terrified.

This sets up a great scenario: what do you do? There is this prison that is a terrific spot to start a new more permanent life, but there were some other guys there first, namely; a drug addict (now clean), a thief (armed robbery), a tax evader (right…), and a murderer. They all seem like sane normal fellows, but this is a zombie-apocalypse, and you are never very far away from someone who is pants on head stupid.

We get our first glimpse of this with Tyrese's daughter Julie and her boyfriend whats-his-face. I touched on this in my last TWD review, this part is like nails on a chalkboard for me. While earlier in this very issue the teenage wunderkin (the boyfriend) had expressed an angsty anger and want to be a more crucial part of the team he and Julie decide the best way to achieve this is by mutual support, hard work and suicide. Yes, they bump uglies then shoot each other, well, he shoots her. They were supposed to pull the trigger at the same time but he was a bit… premature.

Tyrese is the first to arrive on the scene followed by Rick then… no one, curiously. After hearing a single gun shot in the middle of the first night in the prison with hardened criminals inside and zombies outside no one else thought to get out of bed!? Just the wind? Tyrese holds his daughters body then kills stupid McTardo boyfriend. The interesting realization they have after this encounter is that despite not being bitten Julie still turns into a zombie.

This is actually where the title of the series comes from. Rick realizes that the zombie bite only kills you, that no matter what, they're all infected. They are all the walking dead. It manages to feel heavy even though the cynic in me said "well duh" you can really feel how hard this hits Rick.

This shocker sends Rick on an epic journey to take care of some "unfinished business" and while he was gone nothing bad happened… oh wait…

So after they had found the prison Rick decided to go back and collect Hershal and his farming family fun factory. Hershal and his crew move to the prison and he is still recovering from his loss of children, when he finds out his little twin girls have been decapitated. Of course the big black prisoner who earlier confessed to being in prison for murder is shoved in a cell and locked up, and nothing else bad happens while Rick is gone… oh wait.

So Rick finally reaches his destination, the outskirts of Atlanta, where he digs up, talks to, then shoots Shane (who was a zombie, duh). Then proceeds to walk away in bad@$$ fashion saying he's "Not going to bury you again you s.o.b.". Totally awesome, keep the change ya filthy animal moment. While this is going on the surprisingly not disturbed after the death of his daughter and his own subsequent murdering of her boyfriend, Tyrese suggests they clear out the gym. Basically they get overwhelmed and Ty is left for dead. Cool beans.

So this is what Rick comes back to: the two youngest girls of the guy he just brought here swearing up and down that is was safe, were killed by someone, and Tyrese, his trusty number 2 was thought dead. Well as I'm sure you figured out Tyrese was not dead, just chillin in the gym with all the zombies he killed. The twins that were decapitated, however, were dead.

That night Andrea has a discussion with the fuzzy old man Dale, her lover… yeah… and there is a bit more foreshadowing. Dale mentions to her how the prison might not be so safe and so worth the effort. That there might be a group of crazy survivors that want it more. Food for thought, to be sure.

Cut to the next day, Andrea is taking care of laundry when in walks Thomas, he was the inmate convicted of tax evasion. Turns out he was also in there for being a little lier because he pulls out a knife and proceeds to try to fillet the poor girl while shouting things like "die b*tch" and "you disgusting wh*re". Their fight stumbles out into the court ward where Rick realizes who the real killer is then proceeds to BEAT HIS FACE TILL HE BREAKS HIS HAND. I'm not exaggerating, I cannot believe how messed up his hand was after this, bones splintering out and everything.

Rick lets him live (for now) and declares that if you kill, you die (see, he won't be alive for long). Most everyone agrees except Rick's wife Laurie, who is militantly opposed to everything he does at this point. Patricia, one of Hershal's bunch decides that Thomas was a cool guy and sets him loose, of course he instantly goes into rage mode and tries to strangle her spouting the same wh*re and b*tch stuff. Unfortunately for Darwinism Patricia survives as she is saved by Maggie (Hershal's daughter that Glenn is… ahem… with) who washes out Thomas' dirty mouth with a judicial application of hot led.

Everything starts to settle down at this point, and it looks like smooth sailing and no cliff hanger… but then! Dexter, the man they wrongfully imprisoned, accused of murder, and released without so much as a "my bad" had his druggy buddy sneak to the riot room and stock up on some guns and body armor. So the Volume ends with Rick at the business end of a shotgun and Dexter telling them they have to leave. Now.

All in all I liked this volume, it had some really great characterization for Rick, you see him reach this breaking point, and honestly you think he's hit rock bottom. Laurie just got annoying, even saying at one point she hates her husband (talk about projecting your guilt lady). True, there are several pants on head stupid moments, but at least they lead to some hard and heavy conclusions (they're all infected, you kill you die).

My only major gripes were with the teenage suicide (so they could be together forever... ugh) and the way that Thomas was written. He attacks any woman who comes within earshot, but doesn't seemed bothered by them at first? He controls his clearly uncontrollable rage? He would have sooner gone to an asylum for the criminally deranged then a prison. Honestly he was just a poorly written character and luckily only has to be put up with for a handful of panels. This issue follows the traditional format of pay-off, build tension, then end on a cliff hanger. It works well and the story continues to engross. Lets see how our survivors fare in Volume 4.

Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness (Volume 3)

Volume 3 of the Scott Pilgrim Saga (sure, I can call it a saga, apparently now-a-days you can get away with calling just about anything a saga) brings the action and the awkward. This book revolves mainly around Scotts ex that he was depressed about for a year, Envy Adams, who happens to currently be dating Ramona's 3rd evil ex.

Todd (3rd ex) is a great character. He is vegan so he has psychic powers. The book doesn't even try to explain it, you just have to go with it. With Todd's ridiculously arrogant attitude it really works though. O'malley lampoons vegans so well you can't really tell if he loves or loathes them, which is parody at its best.

This book plays heavily with flash backs. They are neatly woven throughout the narrative. In book two we were treated to these scenes in large chunks for the most part. but in Volume 3 the come fast, maybe 2-3 pages of flashback then its back to the present. I found this to be a very nice way to keep the reader engaged.

Ramona is fleshed out a lot more in this book, she actually gets quite emotional. At one point she even pulls out a giant hammer (with +2 against girls) and goes toe to toe with Envy Adams. Alright, it was because Envy was getting on her nerves, but at least some portion of it was for the pain she caused Scott. It was just good to see that she does care for him, and that it's not just a one way obsession.

Knives Chao is now dating Young Neil, Steven Stills roommate. He genuinely cares for Chao but all she really wants at this point is to make scott jealous, though by the end of the book it seems as though that might have changed, if only a little.

One thing that became obvious after reading Volume 3 is that the film Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is going to have a very different timeline. I figured that would be the case, and I still have confidence that it will be awesome (after all, it couldn't be a 6 hour movie). It is going to be a film adaptation of the book, its basically Edgar Wright interpreting the comic (and O'Malley was there to help). Things take their time in the comic, for instance, Scott fights Todd 3 times over several days. I doubt Edgar would want to do everything as a montage so (according to the trailer) it seems as though its been compressed to one fight (in the trailer, when Todd does the awesome 'dust' line he says Scott will be dust because he's going to pulverize him in 2 seconds, whereas in the book its pulverize you tomorrow). So I expect things in the movie to move fast and furious, which will be awesome.

So Volume 3 ends on a bit of a good note with the 3rd evil ex down. Scott wanted a bit more closure with Envy, but he seems like he'll be able to make it along just fine. He remains ever-likable and flawed, but this issue also showed us how damaged he was/is. Ramona also remains quite a mystery. Several more clues are dropped in this book that there is a large possible devious backstory to her. Also, as a nice nod we're given a brief glimpse at who appears to be Gideon, the final ex. Book three had good energy, action, drama, and of course comedy, so with that we move onto Volume 4.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (Volume 2)

Well the excitement continues to build. Yesterday I purchased the Scott Pilgrim Vs The World The Game. I'll do a full review of that once I finish but my opinion thus far… It is amazing! The folks at Ubisoft really capitalized on the retro feel and graphics, the soundtrack is great 8-bit, the gameplay is classic scrolling arcade with RPG elements and the over-world map made me Nostalgia hard.

A lot of people are complaining about the fact that there is no online co-op and while it is a bummer they didn't include that, it doesn't change my opinion at all. But I'll get into that in my full review. For now let's continue on with Scott's printed adventures in Volume 2: Scott Pilgrim Vs The World.

This book begins with a flash back. It's neat to see Scott in High School, and his first meeting with Kim Pines, the drummer of his current band the Sex Bob-ombs (yes, Mario reference). In the flashback we see Scott's "history of violence" as the first thing that happens when he arrives as a transfer student is get in a fight.

He makes quick friends with a girl who starts crushing on him but he falls for, wait for it, his english project partner Kim Pines. That's right, this flashback not only establishes Scott as a fighter, it shows that he and Kim P have a history. This begs the question of the fall apart, how this will affect future events, and why is Kim so bitter. Also, the other girl in the flashback leaves some questions un-answered…

So Scott has to fight pretty boy Lucas Lee this time around, and uses his brains rather than his fists. In classic literary style Scott tricks Lucas to attempt an insane skate boarding trick based. Pride gets the best of ol' Lucas and he fails. Hard. Hard enough, infect to dissipate into coins. Before the fight is the really interesting part though, as Lee basically contradicts everything Ramona told Scott. He says that Ramona cheated on him, broke his heart, and left him for the first pretty boy that came by (R. said the exact opposite). Lucas also explains the "League of Exes" and how he almost didn't make it in, but did because he was an important part of Ramona's past (because of the cheating thing). This could lead to an interesting development, perhaps the evil exes are really more of a psychological threat then a physical one. That often proves true in real life, and it would be a fun play on standards in Scott's world.

Another great scene has the recently heart broken Knives Chao chopping and bleaching her hair and picking up a pair of (what else) knives. She proceeds to *attempt* to kick Ramona's booty at the local reference library. The fight scene is fantastic and it was fun to finally see Ramona in action. Looks like she isn't the only one with homicidal baggage.

What started out as a very normal story is quickly taking a turn toward the surreal and fantastic and it's absolutely great! The quirky referential humor is pitch perfect and the story is continuing to flow at a brisk pace. This book certainly hasn't come down with "Manga syndrome" and I don't see it waring out its welcome at only six volumes, we're 1/3 of the way through it! Next up is Volume 3 Micro review, let's see if we can get some questions answered in Scott Pilgrims most exciting adventure yet!

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (Volume 1)

I'll be honest, I'm way to excited for this movie. Like honestly, there is almost no way it can live up to the hype I've generated in my head (even more than Kick Ass). This is set up to be my favorite Comic-to-Movie ever. So yeah, to excited...

If the trailers are any judge (which lets be honest, they usually are NOT… but lets go with it) Scott Pilgrim is well on its way to becoming the most pixel perfect translation of comic to film ever. Now I'm sure they will have to cut a few corners here and there, adding and subtracting, but the fact that Brian O'malley was on hand for most of the filming bodes well. So in anticipation of this hopefully awesome film I decided to toss up a few cliff notes on the books.

The Scott Pilgrim Comic (yes, I'll refer to it as a comic, not a manga) runs a brisk 6 volumes and actually just recently concluded. I know what you're thinking, that means they were done filming before the books were finished. Luckily as I said just one paragraph prior, the creator of the series was on set for most of the pre-production and production, so the story was in good hands.

Volume 1 picks up with Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life. This book is really a lot of set up. We meet Scott, his roommate, friends, bandmates, his "girlfriend", and Ramona. Several future events are eluded to such as Scott's previous jobs and girlfriends. This is all just a window into Scott's very normal, slightly self absorbed life. We get to know him as a character.

Things start getting weird when he begins dreaming about a girl on roller blades, Ramona Flowers. Eventually he meets her in real life, scores a date, and she tells him he has an inter-dimensional gateway in his head that's a wicked short cut. This quirkiness is very reminiscent of FLCL and I absolutely loved it.

When I picked up this book I figured Scott would be the all around righteous hero who must fight for Ramona Flowers love. Instead what I found was a much more realistic twenty something slacker who was dating a high schooler (to both cheers and jeers). O'Malley wrote Scott to be an under achiever and honestly in most cases it would be an uphill battle to are about Scott.

He's basically leading on a teenager while falling for Ramona and then ends up in a tight spot. What's really cool is that all the characters are so likable. Knives Chao (Scott's other high school girlfriend) comes on a bit strong, but you can tell she earnestly cares for Scott. Poor Mr. Pilgrim thinks he likes her, until he sees Ramona skating through his dreams. He doesn't want to hurt Knives, which is fairly obvious, so he tries his best to work awkwardly around the situation.

Scott is a flawed character in many ways, but also redeemable. O'Malley did a great job writing him through his mis-adventures in Volume 1. At times the quality downgrades a bit to almost "web comic" humor, but it still works. The book keeps up a brisk pace so when I say downgrade its really more of a jog, honestly still funny stuff. So onto Volume 2 we go!

A Running Review of The Walking Dead: Volume 2

Ugh… No thats not a spurt of zombie non-sense, its exactly what I said when I opened Volume 2 of The Walking Dead. At this point Adlard had taken over and his characters are ugly. I'll try to avoid criticizing his work to much because I touched on it in the last review, and it is passable, but now we move away from greyscale to stark black and white contrast.

This contrast does not lend itself well to an already bleak world. We are left with characters who are almost unrecognizable and indistinguishable at times. Angles are often very awkward and there are even a few times when peoples eyes (not zombies) seem to wander in two different directions. Not a fan of this Adlard guy, but as I said before, I am here for Kirkman's story.

So Volume 2 picks up at Shane's funeral. We see Lori lingering behind and she spits on his grave. She's miffed because she gave into Shane and they made whoopee outside Atlanta. Also a big shocker comes in the form of Lori admitting that she's pregnant. Dun dun duuuun. Now that's a Jerry Springer episode right there: Lori's husband was in a coma and she had sex with his best friend, now her husband is out of the coma and the other man is now a zombie. Who's the father?

So Rick is happy, but also secretly upset because he wants to trust his wife but he has a nagging feeling (read: everyone in the camp told him) that maybe Lori wasn't quite so chaste in his absence.

Since Shane is dead Rick is made the official leader of the group and he decides to go with his gut instinct and leave the unprotected zombie infested outskirts of Atlanta, and mild intelligence perseveres. On the road we meet Tyrese, who ends up being a pretty awesome character, and his daughter and her boyfriend, who end up taking Shane's place as pants on head stupid (though there are many of those throughout TWD).

We get some vague foreshadowing of something wicked between Tyrees' daughter and her boyfriend, and let me tell you, this plot point develops in to a mecca cum laude of full lobotomy stupid. I guess Kirkman was going for a Romeo and Juliet thing, but honestly it falls completely flat. Though it will serve as a very dramatic realization, but more on that in the next volume.

So our rag tag group of head hackers find a lovely gated community. Everyone shacks up in one house to be safe with plans to clean out the neighborhood tomorrow. I always loved the scene that morning where the characters are all chatting with their significant other, one comments that its warming up and that the ice is melting off the window. The next panel shows the gate to the Wilshire Estates as snow drops from a sign that was covered, it reads "All Dead DO NOT ENTER".

Rick sees the sign just in time to yell about not firing a gun, when Alan fires his gun. Alan's wife has been an incredibly unlikeable character up to this point and Kirkman tried to make her turn around in an attempt to make her death more dramatic. Fail. In one of the most hilariously awkward scenes in the series she walks in on Dale and Andrea having pre-marital relations (of which she very vocally disapproves) but in this case she just shut the door and for two panels has the same disturbing little smirk. Not to harsh on Adlard anymore but it looks terrible.

So she gets chomped on, Alan loses it and basically shuts down, despite having two kids to care for. They flee the Wilshire Estates and make their way down the road. Feeling the urge to eat they decide to go hunting, while out Carl gets shot. Now I know what you're thinking "Oh snaps! Zombies with guns!?" nope. Carl was shot but the slightly lovable moron Otis, who is living at a farm nearby with a kindly old man who can patch Ricks kid up straight away.

So Carl survives and Rick and the gang make nice with the farm folk. That is until the farm folk reveal their pants on head stupid secret. They're keeping the zombies alive in a barn. Yes, thats right. They won't kill them because they think they're just sick. Honestly, a zombie they catch has NO SIDE, his ribs and everything are out. I can buy a guy not wanting to kill his son, who looked good and whole… but complete strangers…

Well of course everything goes wrong and the zombie funk hits the fan when the farmers other two kids get killed by the zombies he was housing. Rick is a pretty vocal guy by this point and basically tells him its his fault. They are forced to leave in a very "I quit, you're fired" way. The last image of this book hovers on a prison that Rick and company stumble across. With a few zombies visible in the yard Rick declares this to be their new home.

Overall Volume 2 is good. There are a few zombie attacks that require the reader to suspend their disbelief but as I touched upon earlier, that is generally expected in any zombie book. Zombies are usually brushed off as only a threat in large numbers, and since every attack and death can't be perpetrated by a huge group, certain liberties must be taken. In most cases its just buying that a person is that slow, deaf, and dumb to get bitten by a zombie when their back is turned.

I remember closing Volume 2 the first time I read it and being very excited for what was to come. They were finally going to buckle down and do the intelligent thing. This prison stood to be home for them for a long time, a safe and secure place that they could clear out slowly over time, room by room. I was so happy that these characters were actually attempting to be smart.

So while this Volume had its share of stupid people, it ended on a good note. Of course, this is a long running series, so they can't stay at that prison forever right? Oh just wait and see what happens in the next major story arch… But that won't be here for at least 2 more volumes. So up next, Volume 3! How to be a good neighbor.

A Running Review of The Walking Dead: Volume 1

Yes, the title is clever and ironic. The Walking Dead is not your typical Zombie book. It's a sprawling epic and this will be a "running" review of the books. Upfront I will admit that I don't make it to my local Comic shop on a weekly basis anymore, so I won't be reviewing this issue by issue, but rather by volume. The nice thing about that is I'll be ale to write longer and more in depth reviews. Also, I'm going to SPOIL the hell out of this story, I've read up to a certain point so I may bring up future events to show how they reflect on characters actions and motives.

I think what I'll try to do is first do a brief spoiler free review and then a spoiler filled analysis. So with that out of the way lets get on with it!

The Walking Dead is Robert Kirkman's zombie vehicle. He begins with a brief description of the state of zombie books, why thinks they're good, where they fall short, and how his book is different. I'm not going to sum up the whole preface, but its worth a read if you pick up Volume 1. Essentially what he is saying, though, is that Zombie stories tend to stop just when the story is getting interesting. There's been an apocalypse, we follow several main characters through it, many die, then the story ends. But what happens to the survivors after the outbreak; days, weeks, months, even years. This is the story of Rick Grimes surviving in a harsh world, and it's a long story.

Tony Moore did the art for the first 6 issues (first volume) but was later replaced by Charlie Adlard at issue 7. Apparently this was due to schedule conflicts. Before I get into the story I will get this out of the way because when I started reading this was my biggest gripe, and the biggest among many fans I believe.

Moore was a huge talent and the first volume of TWD really shines. Characters and environments are detailed, the zombies look fantastic, the action moves fluidly. The art was the reason I was drawn to TWD, luckily the story is why I stayed. I can't express through words the disappointment I felt when I finally picked up volume 2. I was so excited to see what happened after the cliff hanger ending of V1.

Adlard's art compared to Moore's is terrible. Adlard uses heavy black, minimal detail, and uses odd and awkward positioning. While Moore had lovely greyscale, Adlard uses stark contrast. Where more had detailed and diverse characters, Adlard had eerily similar slates. To the day (Volume 10) I honestly still have trouble telling female characters apart.

Moore Vs. Adlard

I almost dropped TWD after the artist swap, but honestly by that point the story had me hooked. I knew this was going to be a long story and I wanted to get every detail of it, so I kept reading. At this point I can say Adlard's work is passable, I'm more interested in the story anyway. Also one good thing about the lesser detail is that the gore is majorly toned down. I know a lot of people will be bothered by this, but me, I'm not a fan of gore. This is extremely unfortunate because I love zombie stories.

Our story begins with officer Rick Grimes and his partner Shane in a shoot out with a crazy person. Rick makes a quip about not caring they opened a prison nearby, though he didn't expect their refuse. This is a delightful bit of foreshadowing I had completely forgotten about. Somewhere around Volume 5 or 6 our motley crew will hold up in a prison, but more on that later.

Unofrtunately for Rick he is better at talking during a shoot out then dodging bullets, and he takes one to the chest. This happens in one page, and when you turn it BAM Rick is in the hospital waking with a shock. He stumble around for a bit then comes across a zombie, runs away, comes across more zombies, runs. This continues until he runs into Morgan, a kindly man who has remained in the town along with his son.

Morgan proceeds to fill Rick in on how the world has gone to hell. I want to take a break and explain exactly how great this opening sequence is. Kirkman has TWD planned as a long, long story. So he easily could have spent an entire issue building up to Rick getting shot and the whole zombie apocalypse. Nope, we get literally just one page before we're in zombie town. Simply put, this is perfect. We don't need back story and exposition, we don't need to establish Rick's relationship with his wife and son. You can see it instantly because the first thing he does is go for them.

Back to the story, Rick heads from his humble little town to Atlanta where he is sure his wife Lori would have taken his son. He gets about 50 feet into the city (on horse no less) when he suddenly realizes going into this incredibly deserted, quite and destroyed "Government Safe Zone" was perhaps a bit rash. Of course he realizes this to late, his horse gets eaten and he gets rescued by Glenn.

Glenn proceeds to tell Rick about how the governments safe zone ended up being an all you can eat buffet for the recently deceased. Rick loses it at this point, thinking Lori and his son Carl are dead, but Glenn tries cheering him up by telling him about a group of survivors. In a bit of a cliche on the next page we find that, surprise! Lori and Carl are among the handful of survivors, along with Shane, Ricks partner who was with him the day he got shot.

The rag tag group of survivors are living off of supplies that Glenn snatches from the city. They only have two guns, and no perimeter fences. Rick, being the not "pants on head stupid" guy that he is suggests they find a better location for camp. Shane doesn't approve because he believes that, wait for it, rescue is coming and the best place to be is by a city.

Rick doesn't quite agree but he's not dense and notices that Shane may be starting to lose it. Plus he was previously warned by another survivor the Shane has the hots for Lori. One gripe I did have was after a busy day of getting guns and teaching people to shoot the group is all sitting around a campfire sharing stories and staying warm. One of the girls, Amy I think (doesn't matter, zombie fodder anyway) gets up to go to the bathroom and BAM, bitten by zombie.

I know, I know, successful zombie attacks are usually a stretch but this was ridiculous. She was at the trailer door in the first panel with a zombie at the other end, then in the next panel the zombie is playing her neck like a harmonica. It was just a bit much to swallow (I bet that's what the Zombie said! Hey-oh!). The obligatory night attack scene follows and when the dust settles one more member is left wounded. I can't recall his name, but he seriously tries to play the bite off as a scratch. His bone is showing, and I mean flesh and all completely stripped away. But no no, its just a flesh wound. He starts to turn and asks to be abandoned, so they leave him near the city.

After this Shane is even more edgy because if they had listened to Rick, the smart non-insane one, Amy and guy 1 would have been just fine. Rick decides the best thing to do is go hunting alone with his mentally unstable former friend (oh Rick… You had been doing so well). Of course as soon as they're out of earshot of the camp Shane points the gun at Rick and threatens to kill him. Luckily for Rick he had insisted his son carl learn how to use a gun and carry with him. From out of left field Carl shoots shane in the throat. Father and son hug, and Shane is left to bleed out.

That's the end of volume 1. It has its moments, but it really serves to set up the world they are in. It begins this slow evolution over time that the zombies are not the real threat, its other people, in later volumes its even Ricks own mind (but more on that later). There's no underlying message about consumerism, though most zombie stories, this included, have that aspect. This is honestly just a narrative. It's a great start and got me hooked on the series.

There are a few facepalm moments, but those are to be expected in any zombie books. Thats really one of the key ways to make tension. Between the awesome art and engaging story Volume 1 gets a must read from me. Do yourself a favor and pick it up… If you like Zombies, can handle gore, and don't mind an early artist swap. At least you're getting warned about it! Next time, the jarring change. Will Volume 2 be able to hold up with the dramatic change in art? Tune in to find out.