Comic Reviews: The Walking Dead 1&2

Volume 1

15 years ago, zombies were the black sheep of the horror world.  You typically had to raid the video rental shelves for Italian movies from the 70s to see anything you hadn’t already seen a dozen times.  The list of really good subgenre films could be counted on two hands, and that was including some fringe titles like Dead Heat.  Fast forward to today, and frankly, the walking dead are kind of played out.  Too many movies, too many comics, too many TV shows.  More important, too many bad ones.  Still, when it first hit the stands, The Walking Dead was a breath of fresh…well, it was welcome.  The series was everything this zombie starved fan was hungry for.  Like the author, I had always wanted to follow the characters (those few who might survive) after the credits began to roll.  What happened to those folks on the helicopter at the end of Dawn of the Dead?  What was up with that island in Day of the Dead?  What happened to New York City after Zombie?  What would have happened to the badass reporter in Nightmare City (among other names) if he wasn’t hooked up with that idiot woman who kept complaining that everyone deserved it?  Would he have found more explosive TVs to throw?  Well, that’s what this comic was created to explore; the ‘and then…?’ factor.  Awesome.

Re-reading the first trade all these years later, I totally see what I saw in it at that time, though to tell the truth, it’s not that great.  That said, the ending is awesome, and from what I understand, that amazing moment is totally botched in the TV series, which is too bad.  It’s a defining moment in the comic, and should have been in the show as well.  It’s also weird reading it, and remembering all these characters I know won’t make it very far.  I forgot about that couple and their kids.  I forgot one dude even had a kid (shows how long she makes it).  I know there’s a lot of nasty death on its way.  Unlike many later story arcs, much of the death in this one is caused by the undead.  What makes the comic work is what makes the best zombie movies work, the drama of people in a horrible situation.  Zombies are like a natural disaster.  They don’t have a plan, they don’t have a goal, they’re not evil, they don’t want to hurt you.  They just feed on whatever is in front of them, moving without thought for self or for the future.  It is this relentless, mindless danger that makes them far more spirit crushing than many classic monsters and villains.  You can kill a dozen, a hundred, but there are always more, always coming, always lurking, like living under constant threat of bombing.  You just never know when or where, only that eventually, they will strike.

The first arc is not amazing.  Heck, the opening feels familiar for good reason, it’s been done several times (Day of the Triffids and 28 Days Later to point out two).  Heck, I even used it for an abandoned zombie novel I’d written back in the mid 90s (at the time, I was totally lifting it from the Triffids film).  And several of the relationships are pretty standard, with expected twists.  But, by the end, you start to get a sense of the left field attacks Kirkman will wage on you as the series continues; setting you up, making you feel comfortable, then kicking you in the nuts.  I’m not sure if I’m going to be reading the rest of the series (up to what, volume 18 so far?) after this or not.  But I’m tempted, even though I’m honestly kind of done with zombies for a while.

The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone By
Author: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Tony Moore
Publisher: Image
ISBN: 978-1-58240-358-8

Volume 2

Starting with a not too surprising revelation, the story picks up with the aftermath of the disastrous attack on the camp.  Our survivors must move away from Atlanta if they are to avoid the city’s roving hoards.  They meet up with new folk, run afoul of a dumbass with a gun, and find sanctuary…maybe.  The harshness of survival and the fragility of life are forefront.  And we’re still at the point in the series where the zombies seem like the real enemy.  There are hints of the human ugliness to come, but on the smallest of scales so far.  And we see the first real cracks in Rick’s armor, which author Kirkman will spend the rest of the series (as far as I’ve read) systematically destroying.  The relationships that form are interesting, as people try so hard to get a little happiness and human connection.

I’m getting a little of that feeling I had when first reading this series all those years ago, before zombies were so overplayed in books, comics, and movies.  This really is the series I dreamed of in the 90s, when I was consuming every zombie thing I could get my hands on (what little there was).  This is the kind of thing I wanted to do in a roleplaying game, when I still regularly played.  The ongoing story of survival in a world gone so horribly wrong.  And by volume 2, it feels like Kirkman is getting a better handle on things, on how the story will go and how the characters will interact.  Plus, there’s that last couple of pages, that set up the multi-volume arc that is about to begin.  That’s when the real horror, the human horror will become more obvious, when the zombies become what they’re best at being, the quiet, menacing threat that lurks in the shadows.  And when the real villains of the series step forward.

The Walking Dead: Volume 2: Miles Behind Us
Author: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Charlie Adlard
Publisher: Image
ISBN: 978-1-58240-413-4

-Matt

Matt’s Week in Dork! (4/22/12-4/28/12)

    Kind of a quiet week.  A lot of reading, and some writing.

I Worship His Shadow:  “Life’s a mix-up.”  The first Lexx story introduces the players, Stanly, Zev, Kai, 790, and the Lexx, and it sets the tone for the whole mad endeavor.  Kind of like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy mixed with some of the darker Heavy Metal comics.  It’s funny, but deeply grim, with a taste for the absurd and an occasional mean spirit.  Not for everyone, but a treat for people with bent tastes and a willingness to embrace weird.

Super Nova:  “Who’s Poet Man?”  “A poet perhaps.”  The second Lexx story sees the crew visit Kai’s long abandoned homeworld in an attempt to find a way to bring him back to life…full life.  Things start out weird and get very dark very quickly.  Tim Curry doesn’t really add much to this movie, though I’m sure everyone was very glad to have a ‘name’ actor on board.  Mostly, he just hams it up.  The folks who wrote Lexx sure had some sick stuff going on, which I totally dig.

What’s Up Superdoc!:  The British seem to have two major comedic styles; the dry, intellectual, and often quite cutting type; and the aggressively broad and stupid.  This movie falls into the latter group.  Making Bennie Hill look like The Office, it has all the subtlety and wit of a Stalin speech.  A couple attractive women are the rare rays of light in an otherwise murky wasteland of low brow humor.  If it had been made in the United States, Charlie Callas would have come spitting and sputtering by at least once.

Eating Pattern:  The third Lexx story takes place on a garbage planet, where the ship is looking to get some much needed food.  Kai seems to be really and truly dead.  Zev gets into some trouble.  And Stan gets himself goofified by a super-hot girl in a crazy outfit who is almost certainly more than she seems.  As usual, there is a profoundly grim humor with some awful brutality.  Lexx has a kind of nihilism mixed with the jokes that some might find off-putting.  People do ugly, ugly things to each other (and themselves).  Of the four movies that make up the first ‘season’ of the show, I think this is the best.

Dawn of the Dead:  “Say goodbye, creep.”  Society collapses in the face of a wide spread disaster.  In the chaos, a handful of people make it to one of those new fangled ‘malls,’ where they hold up and wait to see what happens next.  George Romero’s follow up to Night of the Living Dead takes on the growing consumerism of the 70s, while ramping up the gore and violence.  Probably more than either the first or the third film in the trilogy, this movie defined the subgenre, spawning countless Italian rip-offs and remaining the gold standard for 30 years.  Before Shawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, and the remake of this film helped to rebirth zombie movies, this film was THE epic of the genre.  The effects aren’t always that great, the acting is sometimes iffy, and man the woman is a fickle bitch.  But it takes its time, builds up the tension, and gives us some characters to care about.  So, when things go down, it means something.

Planetfall:  I haven’t watched one of these sort of films in a while.  Not gonna lie, it’s rough.  They managed to do a lot with a little, and sometimes it’s OK.  The acting feels like local theater.  It’s not subtle enough for film.  Still, it’s a fun effort.  Not good.  But fun.  This is real, LOW budget stuff.  Not a million, but a couple thousand.  So, don’t expect even TV episode quality.  But it has more heart than a given Asylum film.  It’s the kind of movie I’d like to make (though I hope my script would be better).  It’s people, working for little or no expectation of reward, having fun, and making something together.  And as such, it’s worth a watch.

The Young Nurses:  “You’re gonna lose!!!”  I don’t know when a harpoon murder seems likely.  I know I wasn’t expecting the two featured in this movie.  Somewhere around half way in (around the harpoonings in fact), I realized I had no flippin’ idea what was going on.  Something about drugs, a guy who wants to sail, and hippies or something.  Just a lot of head scratching on my part.  Awkward nudity, more awkward dialog, Dick Miller as a racist cop, and a random stripping to swim in the ocean.  Corman!

Giga Shadow:  “As a mindless servant of death for His Shadow, I was not prone to curiosity.”  The final ‘movie’ that makes up Lexx’s first season, this one mostly ties up the various issues from the first three films.  Had Lexx not become a regular show, this would have been a fine ending.  Not especially strong, it will probably only make sense if you’ve watched the first three.

Safe:  “It’s a nice drive…if you like trees and s*%#.”  After seeing the trailer, I assumed this was going to be another one of those easily forgettable ‘lesser Statham’ movies, like The Bank Job or The Mechanic.  Watchable, sure, but not especially good.  It turned out to be much more entertaining than I expected.  After the Crank films, everything seems tame, but at least they let Statham get some asskicking done here.  Lots of fist fights, gun fights, and dinnerware fights.  Though there is too much shaky cam, when the camera isn’t shaking, there are some really well shot/conceived sequences (one with excellent use of car mirrors).  A great bunch of character actors, including the venerable James Hong, Robert John Burke, and an especially expository Chris Sarandon, are nice additions.  But truthfully, it was just great to see The Statham destroy a bunch of people.

    I cracked into my Magnum P.I. season 1 box set.  Oh, the mustache.  It’s glorious.  Another show that actually lives up to my childhood love, thankfully.

    I also watched a few more episodes of The Tomorrow People and Boardwalk Empire.  Both fine shows, if totally different.  And I rewatched a few Kolchak: The Night Stalker episodes.  Man, I love that show.

    Only one comic this week, Aliens Omnibus 1 (see my review here).  But I actually did a lot of reading.  Some stories from Cthulhu’s Reign, for one.  And I started reading some other stuff which I haven’t finished.

    Mostly, I spent this week writing.  I’ve had a bunch of stuff on my mind and have been getting a lot of it typed out.  Not sure if anything will come of any of it.  But, it’s always good to get it written.

-Matt

This makes a lot of sense.

Dork Art: Let Them Eat Brains/Dawn of the Dead

One of these days I'm going to get to one of Mondo's Mystery Movies or Rolling Roadshows.  Until then, I'm just going to have to live vicariously through Twitter feeds and blog posts.  Last Saturday, MMM IX was revealed to be Dawn of the Dead with special guest George Romero and 200 zombie extras.  The best part is how Mondo lured these zombie extras to the secret Highland Mall screening--a casting call for a film called Let Them Eat...Brains.  And each of those extras received an exclusive Mondo print for the fictional film (seen above).  Check out these photos from Mondo's blog.  Super Cool TNT.

--Brad

A Fistful of Horrific Music! (Matt’s Picks)

    As we settle into the horror filled month of October, I thought it would be a good time to pause and listen to some of the creepy music that can so often be key to the success of a horror film. 


5.  Hellbound: Hellraiser II:  The music from this film is oddly epic, but also extremely creepy and weird.  One of my personal favorites is the music that accompanies the introduction of the Master of the Labyrinth.

 
4.  Dawn of the Dead:  If for no other reason, the use of this creepy piece of canned music makes such a lasting impression that years later just the first few bars touch off a thrill of grim humor and horror.

3.  The Thing:  A fantastically moody score drives the horror through the long cold night.

2.  28 Days Later:  Building to a strangely grating climax, this music perfectly sets the stage for the realization of apocalypse.

1.  The Omega Man:  Sad, jazzy, haunting, with a touch of 70s funk, the music of The Omega Man is the music of my End Times.  The perfect music for the Last Man.

-Matt