The Walking Dead Vol. 5: The Best Defense by Robert Kirkman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Walking Dead Vol. 5: The Best Defense
Book Review: Unraveling at the Seams...
Summary: 3 Stars
I guess you could consider me a fan of "The Walking Dead" series by Robert Kirkman.
I was introduced to it a couple of months ago, while recovering from surgery, and I immediately found myself enjoying being immersed in a world populated by zombies and unlikely (and sometimes unlucky) heroes.
Up until this volume the characters stayed consistent and true to their nature, regardless of their appeal (or lack thereof in some cases) and, though there were times when those natures seemed to conflict with their established pattern, in this volume the characters begin to step outside of their normal established boundaries to such extent that they are almost unrecognizable to the reader.
A sad fact further demonstrated in this issue's artwork, which feels as rushed as the story does and, in some cases, appear darker than the storyline.
[Possible Spoiler Warning]
As an example, an established character, in this volume, requests a relationship beyond the ordinary one that we'd commonly experience. And, while this character's suggestion for such could plausibly occur, I felt that the character in question made such a strange request to the wrong individuals.
As the writer of the series, I would've have kept the character's previous feelings and relationship in mind prior to such a strange request, as well as, keeping in mind the reality of a person's (real or imagined) psyche and their inability to lose the person that they previously had a relationship with.
As such, rather than the character approaching two unlikely individuals in the hopes that such a strange request and proposal would be accepted, that character would, in fact, realistically propose the strange request to the person that they had been having a steady relationship with, only a couple of weeks prior, in order to try and keep the person that character has grown to depend on.
Because of situations like the one previously mentioned and others similar to it, as well as, the "superhero" elements that are beginning to surface, I found myself skimming this volume rather than voraciously devouring it like the ones prior to it. And though I will continue to read this series in hope that this is not a trend that will follow in future volumes, I find myself shuddering... not in fear of the walking dead, but from the possible loss of my hard earned dollar.
Book Review: Strayed A Bit . . .
Summary: 3 Stars
Volume 5 (comic books 25-30) strayed a bit for me. We're introduced to a new bad guy, and it just seems like a character we've seen before - the cruel governor of the hopeless town that rules with an iron fist. The man in white in Godfather 2, Gene Hackman's character in The Quick and the Dead, every bad guy in every Zorro movie...
And some of the characters seem... off. Not reacting in ways those characters should be. Rick Grimes wife, the young guy who goes on the search mission with Grimes... off.
Not the best of the bunch, but still a part of the best thing to happen to the zombie genre in 20 years.
Book Review: A truly great series
Summary: 5 Stars
This series has been a favorite of mine as it goes beyond the initial pandemic of a zombie outbreak and takes a view at the social structure that evolves afterwords as the survivors cope with being in the minority isolated in pockets fighting for supplies and sanity in a world where the majority wants you for dinnerBook Review: Dead Man (Sleep) Walking
Summary: 2 Stars
So Bob Kirkman's Dead keep Walking. And my mind keeps wandering.
Why is that, do you suppose? Why does getting through this fifth installment of The Walking Dead feel like such a chore?
If the best Defense really is a good Offense, then this fifth installment really doesn't have it: "Defense" is lacking the zombie mojo to take the reader by the throat, sink its gory husks deep into his neck, and shake him around until he begs for mercy.
Look: maybe it's just that the Zombie genre is getting a little long in the tooth. We've seen running zombies, we've seen zombies that talk, use tools, file taxes, combat global warming. Maybe we're just glutted, or the appetite is starting to discriminate a wee bit.
Maybe it's just that the collection of characters here are just too formulaic and dry to have fun with. We're still puttering around with patriarchal cop Rick Grimes, his nag of a wife (who would have been zombie chow had I been Rick, say, well about 4 issues ago. Divorce is a good thing, even better in the post-Apocalypse), former NFL quarterback Tyrese for a little anger-management flavor, the friendly-old-dude/veteran Dale (is it just me, or is Dale a kind of whitebread 'Dumb Donald'---you know, the guy with the pink-knit hat that looked kinda like a squid from "Fat Albert"?), and a bunch of other characters I couldn't care less about.
And they haven't really changed. One of 'em has shaved his head, Dale occasionally removes his head-warmer, Rick's grown whiskers, and they all know how to strip a submachine-gun now, but other that that, they're still as bland as they were the day the realized Grandma wasn't staying in her casket.
Maybe the characters are played out: maybe they're just *not* that interesting.
Or maybe the premise Kirkman started with---back when he had far-better artist Tony Moore riding shotgun---the idea that he was going to run ordinary folks through "Extreme Situations"---maybe that, just maybe, that bold & exciting idea has been a little too toned down, reined back, to the point where what's happening right now feels a tad too---well, comfortable. Familiar. Boring.
Because that's what #5 is: boring. Frankly, I miss the few delicious, bumpy minutes when the prisoners from #3 were in charge, particularly the psycho guy with the penchant for taking heads.
Because for now, yes, "Walking Dead" is really the only game in town when it comes to serial encounters with the guys that see *us* as their Mickey D's quick-chow. But it's not that much of a game.
Think I'm being harsh?
Consider #5's Big Bad, the Governor, who gets about 5 seconds to play around as a real live honest-to-God human being before collapsing like a poker-card pagoda of bad clieches. The originality: a Tom Savini-lookalike who rigs up gladiatorials between humans and zombies! The horror!
I'll keep reading, because, as I said, I'm about as hungry for good zombie-chow as the next brain-eater. But until something really exciting happens---something *really* extreme, that pushes these bland characters beyond the expected---"Walking Dead" is just dead on its feet.
JSG
Book Review: The New World
Summary: 4 Stars
Most of the folks here already know that The Walking Dead saga is a compilation of stories by Robert Kirkman that expand on the story that is well know to any zombie movie fan. The main story. The one started in earnest by George Romero in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead [and was later remade in 1990 (the version that I prefer) by Tom Savini (with Romero oversight)]
The Walking Dead Volume 5 continues the story of Police Officer Rick Grimes and his band of normal-world-refugees as they become more settled into the new home that they found in Volume 3. Volume 5 begins after many months have passed since The Walking Dead epidemic started, and all of the characters are now reluctantly beginning to accept that their home is not the only thing that's new. Their entire existence is new: New families. New friends. New daily routines. New rules to live by. New world.
And venturing out into the new world is dangerous. The confines and security provided by the character's new home are less than safe. But outside the gates await unfathomable chaos and horror; hordes of the undead, along with survivors in desperate situations that will do the unthinkable to stay alive (or entertained).
I'm not a regular comic book reader. But I was drawn to The Walking Dead by the volume releases that bring the convenience of being able to get several chapters of the story without the month to month waiting for each issue. And I am now hooked.
The volume releases of The Walking Dead are like reading a screenplay with storyboards of a version of Night of the Living Dead that began simultaneously, but in a different part of the country. Yes, it's kind of a rip-off of a story (stories) already told, but the key is that it's done very very well. The zombies are true to the original Romero creation: slow and stupid as opposed to the 28 Days Later (2002) or 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead fast and thinking zombies.
Each volume takes under an hour to get all the way through, and they leave you wanting more. So it's bittersweet to now be caught up to where I'm through all of the released material, and now have to wait for the subsequent volume releases.
Volumes 1, 2, 3 & 4 are all also available individually. A hard cover edition of volume 1 & 2 is out and a hard cover edition of volumes 3 & 4 is scheduled for early 2007. Volume 6 is scheduled for release the last week of February 2007; I have no info on a hard cover release of volumes 5 & 6, but I'm sure that it will happen if you prefer to wait.
So anyone in need of a very well done zombie fix that you don't put into your DVD player should absolutely get down with The Walking Dead sickness. Add it to your cart, but be sure to start with volume 1 and read them chronologically.