THE WALKING DEAD Breaking Bad Habits In Comic Zombieland
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THE WALKING DEAD Breaking Bad Habits In Comic Zombieland....
by T.M. Maple Leaf
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It May Seem Like 'THE WALKING DEAD' Is Over-Rated, As It Balances A Monthly Series From IMAGE COMICS, NOVELS, Video Games, & One Of The Highest Rated TV Shows Of The Season...
......But,....... IF YOU'VE EVER READ THE ORIGINALS, YOU KNOW ......
With Drama, Shocking Twists, & Page-Turning Suspense,
Mixed With True Emotional Highs & Lows, There Is Much MORE To THIS,
the Annual BESTSELLING GRAPHIC NOVEL For 3 Straight Years!!!...
As Stated In The Title To This, THE WALKING DEAD is Indeed Breaking Bad Habits in Comic Zombieland Which Have Festered For Some For What Seems Like Forever....
[...and IS forever in the case of most people's lives reading this...]
During most of the life-span of those over a certain age there existed, until recently, a long-standing pre-conceived notion the medium of comics contained mostly content befitting general-rated enteratinment, no more than 'laymen' reading, simplistic & uncomplicated....
We can hear your cries of "How Could They Think...?", "Didn't They Know About...?", & "They Must Not Have Read...!" already, but the truth is....it's not their fault...mostly...
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Who Would Have Believed One of the Most Unbelievable [read 'unrealistic'] Notions of Graphic Fiction, OK...lets say fiction, That Of 'The Dishelvelled, Deteriorating, Back From The Dead, Now Haunting Humanity-Challenged Humans While Walking In A World Of Disarray & Disorder' Genre Mainly Kickstarted By The 1968 'Night Of The Living Dead' movie, and given hefty boosting from both the'28 Days Later...' film* and 2003's 'THE WALKING DEAD' on-going monthly title from publisher IMAGE, would lead to the decaying of some previously heavily cemented beliefs about North American SEQUENTIAL ARTWORK and the enjoyment of it...
Not only did a TV SHOW do justice to it's original comic-based material, opening the door for other 'live-actioners' to come ['ARROW', Marvel's 'S.H.I.E.L.D', Image's 'THIEF OF THIEVES' & 'POWERS'**], it lead to behavioural changes the graphic arts medium has been trying to trend for at least half a century, especially so since the demise of it's own real-life horror [dog & pony] show, THE COMICS CODE , a staple ball & chain of stapled four colour entertainment since 1954....
Now almost eleven years [and 130+ issues-you'll-want-to-read-without-spoilers-if-possible] later, its influence is almost unheard of....
THE WALKING DEAD has all but eliminated the stigma of 'child-like' which had stuck to the medium throughout most of the 20th century, allowing it to flourish to new standards, opening new storytelling windows to look through for previously boxed-in-readers....
Sure, comics had 'grown up' in the 1980s, with true applause trickling in from the mainstream arts world, yet it would be painstaking years later before a certain TV-SHOW made the world actually stand up & take notice of all its potentials....
Obviously many regular titles and publishers have contributed to a matured definition within the pages of the mixture of layered art with words, notable being VERTIGO COMICS, but none on such a wide-scale-assault as IMAGE COMICS 'THE WALKING DEAD'...
Almost singlehandedly it's responsible for, in a short time, multiplying the readership for, accessablilty of, & acclaim towards the truely great masterpieces available as well as those yet-to-come in both the graphic novels & the comics worlds....
An unlikely occurence as any, 'ZOMBIES' have made it easy to jump into the artistic merit & diversity of a form of expression now unburdened by its previous donkey-like saddle....
[.....The TV SHOW is almost 50% NEW Content From The Darker Comic, or Vice-Versa.....]
[........so YES, you CAN ENJOY [and not ruin] BOTH......]
Volume One is The Beginning -- Volume 3 is approx When Season 3 Begins
Volume 5 Introduces 'The Governor' [much differently] when RICK himself 1st meets this complicated leader & misleader......is shocked
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Try 'WALKING DEAD #1' for only $1 @ Image Collections,
ALSO: READ 'Thief Of Thieves'[$1] and READ 'INVINCIBLE'[$1], both by Robert Kirkman!
[.....while supplies last...]
* [pink, very Zombie-ish, yes?] Strangely enough, the similarity of the beginnings of '28 Days' & 'THE WALKING DEAD' are said to be a coincidence...
**Yes, we know 'POWERS' the excellent outside-the-box cop comic is no longer there, but it did begin as an IMAGE title.
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THE NEW Justice League series [with art by fan-favourite JIM [Wildstorm, BATMAN:HUSH] LEE pulls apart the DC Universe by laying the enticing ground-work for the whole reinvinted 'DC-New-52', pushing 'DETECTIVE COMICS'* forward into the 21st Century....
And yes, the 'DC-NEW-52' version of SUPERMAN [written by GRANT [**] MORRISON] is very unique, well-thought-out, & defiantly re-done for the 21st Century....
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WHILE SUPPLIES LAST....Pick up FOR ONLY A DOLLAR either ....
JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 [...the making of the team!..] &/or the...
New ACTION COMICS #1 [...first story of the 'DC-NEW-52' SUPERMAN...]
.....or even BATMAN #1 [featuring JOKER[?] fighting alongside?!?]
...as all are DC ESSENTIAL READS!!!
* as no-doubt you knew, 'Detective Comics', as DC's [and North America's] longest-running comic, also named its publisher [DC=DETECTIVE COMICS]
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ASKS........ Where the heck did all the WESTERN COMICS go?.
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SAGA Rockets Sales-wise...
as Romance / SCI-FI / Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Mashup
Pleases Readers To No End...Of The Galaxy!
2012's Break-Out Hit Series 'SAGA' by publisher IMAGE is fast becoming 2013's go-to 'must-read', as its content-heavy storytelling, by Y the Last Man's writer [along with RUNAWAYS, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD, EX MACHINA] BRIAN K. VAUGHAN pushes buttons, driving an intergalactic war with solid characters of all clans through a fully shocking, yet satisfyingly worthy mature read for those comfortable racing in the pot-holed speed lane....
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SAGA - FABLES
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