The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye

Sometimes, I want a story to stay true to the original material. Reading Kick-Ass, and then seeing the movie, I was disappointed by every change the filmmaker made. He took a deep, dark, and unique comic, and turned it into a semi-generic superhero story. However, as someone who first watched seasons 1 & 2 of the AMC TV series, and then read the first 3 volumes of The Walking Dead, I can say, I love both series equally. The comic is different form the show. Very different. Different characters, timelines, and scenarios happen. There are characters and incidents that happen in both, but often in a different context, or with different characters altogether. For me, this has made reading the comics a true joy, as the show doesn't spoil the book, and vice-versa. Art in this book is great, it's obvious they have fun drawing out the zombie battles, but it's the writing that stands out. Making these survivor characters into fleshed out personalities, and showing how people break down at the end of the world, is heart-wrenching, inspiring, and terrifying, all at once. A great read.

I was a fan of the TV Show, and I watched up until the last few season. It became ridiculous after a while. This comic has given me a fresh perspective on the story, and I love the pacing. It really is cutthroat.

Honestly I love twd, and these comics are really well made and shipped!

What happens when the world we know is gone, possibly forever, and every day is a constant struggle for survival? Would we still fall in love, write poetry, decorate things, take time to read a book, or make plans for the future? How would a world gone mad affect the contemporary family unit or a religious organization? These are the types of things looked at in detail in "Days Gone Bye", the first volume in the Walking Dead series of graphic novels. Most contemporary media dealing with the subject of the apocalypse focuses on what occurs immediately before or after the great event that ends civilization (in this case, an infestation of zombies taking over the planet). The Walking Dead, however, is more of a long term project, focusing mostly on characterization. While there is certainly both action and horror present, these things are a vehicle to display the characters and how they react to the situations they find themselves in. The artwork is very good, and a welcome change in a genre that is mostly saturated with Japanese Anime style art. The main artist, Toni Moore, has gotten facial expression down to a science. It is readily apparent when any given character is sad, or joyful, or full of fear. An absolutely priceless facial expression is on the first page, in which an enraged (and probably drunk) escaped convict is screaming about never going back to prison. He has a very "I'm a crazy country bumpkin, don't mess with me or I'll chainsaw you" look about him. My one gripe is really about all graphic novels in general, although it definitely applies here. The use of emphasis on words is always completely off in comics. Either too many words, or the completely wrong words, are bolded (indicating emphasis on that word), which throws off the flow of the dialog. The story revolves around Rick, a police officer who awakens in a hospital after being shot on duty. The world has somehow become zombie infested, and he's all alone. This chapter of the saga is about Rick's search for his family, and his decisions on what to do next once he does actually find other living people. Several subplots pop up, mostly having to do with the backgrounds of the various minor characters, and hopefully they are explored further later on in the series, as these are all characters you can imagine actually being people you know and care about. If the first installment is any indication, this series is just going to keep getting better. Highly recommended to fans of zombie mayhem and standard drama fare.

... in the best sense. Volume 1 of the Walking Dead would make for a perfect zombie film in and of itself. The fact that there are already another 7 anthologies awaiting the readers seemed frankly too good to be true (I've rarely been happier to be wrong). When I read Robert Kirkman's forward to this first volume, I remembered the feeling of seeing the credits roll after my favorite movie ended, that agony of having to leave characters and places without knowing if I would ever get to see them again (this is admittedly not so much a problem for the youth of today in this age of infinite Disney sequels). The Walking Dead is an answer to that pain... Kirkman's goal is to spin a story that tells you What Happens Next. And unlike the eternal sequels we have come to expect from Hollywood, these stories aren't endless iterations on the same theme... they instead show the evolutions of each of the characters in this world after civilization's fall. Kirkman's writing is sharp and believable (at least it covered how I think people would talk if being chased by zombies). The relationships are vital and poignant, thus capturing another crucial element of the zombie genre. Tony Moore's art in this first volume is extraordinary. The story is told as much from the images and expressions of the characters as it is in the writing - Kirkman and Moore created an amazing tapestry in these first 6 issues. I was genuinely moved. Now to grouse a bit. Moore only drew the first 6 issues, contained in this volume. Other than the covers of the ensuing anthologies, that's all you get of Moore, which was a bit of a rude shock when I opened Volume Two - Charlie Adlard took the reins in Issue #7. Adlard has made the series his own, and done a great job of it, but I still miss the look and feel of those first 6 issues. That said, I think that the comic has transformed from a great idea into a worthy epic part of the Modern Zombie Canon (Simpon Pegg even pens the after-word of one of the later volumes). Now you'd better stop reading and click the "Buy" button. It's time that you met Rick.

I would recommend this book to anyone very thought-provoking I love the philosophy behind and and that what we should be situations I can't wait to see where it goes

Okay so I started reading this after watching the show for the first time, I had actually recently finished the show, but reading this is so much different for one, Daryl is not here which is crazy because Daryl lasted longer than almost every character in the show, and then Shane died before they even met Hershel, but besides that I loved every part of it

Oh yeah........I'm in. "The world we knew was gone." As it begins, the gunslinging Officer Rick Grimes, hurt in the line of duty, wakes up alone....well almost alone....in the hospital. No wife and no best friend-partner watching over him; no nurse or anyone answers his call, and then he finds some of them and knows the world is not the same. THE WALKING DEAD comic graphic novel was a fast way to introduce me to the story that family and friends have recommended to me for years....and now I'm hooked too. Confession......I've spent the last nine days binge watching all eight seasons of the AMC series and have found THE WALKING DEAD to be a very addictive character driven story of survival. Yes, there's a ton of blood and gore and evil types that do even worse deeds than the walkers, but great entertainment nonetheless as a catastrophic epidemic sweeps the country causing the dead to feed on the living. Noted some differences comparing novel to series even in this first volume. Can't wait to read and watch more!