Dissecting The Walking Dead - Walk This Way!

[BooMan]

The Walking Dead premiered in 2010 with a heavy burden on its decomposed shoulders—its unspoken challenge was to captivate the fanatical followers who all but worshipped Rick Grimes' Eisner Award winning graphic novel of the same name . Capturing the Zombie-loving subculture's devotion is no easy task, particularly when you aim to capture the artwork and storyline of comic book legend and toss it onto the small screen. Nonetheless, with the help of George Romero and Kirkman himself, the producers did it, almost perfectly. Books are a great gift for thrill-seekers living in a world in which rot and ruin are too commonly seen to evoke response but The Walking Dead has managed to enliven the visual world of decay enough to animate corpses as effectively as the imagination can.

In the pilot the show's hero, Rick Grimes, comes across the now renowned 'bicycle girl.' This walker has been severed in half and lies in a vomit of her own entrails and helplessness. Despite the despair of her situation, her animalistic grunts of rage cannot be stifled, evoking a stunned revulsion in the viewer. Bicycle girl set the bar of zombie aesthetics high enough to draw gasps from even the most seasoned horror aficionado. The secret to the sensation lies in special effects guru, Greg Nicotero's dedication to his art. He casts every zombie individually and puts the actors through a gruelling education in performance as a flesh eating revenant. Decades of creep-shows have given fans an untouchable feeling of comfort when faced with bloodcurdling imagery but Nicotero's team have managed to surmount the audience's blunted responsiveness. The Walking Dead books are a great gift for die-hard fans seeking a new perspective on this stellar series.

The post apocalyptic world of the series is made dynamic through the inclusion of everyday authenticity. Morality, faith and barbarism are all examined under the microscope of calamity. The emotional attachment between the living and the dead adds depths of profundity seldom seen in the genre.

At the end of the second season, the camera pans across the West Georgia Correctional Facility. This scene is meaningless to those who are ignorant of the graphic novels. Comic fans viewing the same scene are made aware that the core tale of The Walking Dead is yet to come, and happens within the walls of the prison. The Walking Dead books are a great gift for cable buffs who remain unaware of the subtleties and undercurrents the original tale adds to the show.