The first volume of “The Walking Dead” trade paperback series is one of the most important in comic book history, mostly due to Robert Kirkman’s amazing writing that manages to combine Sci-fi and horror elements with a hearty helping of the type of grit and realism that made George Romero a household name.
Artist Tony Moore, responsible for the penciling in the volume did a fantastic job as well, combining with Kirkman to make the black and white full of intrigue and color.
However, many would say that Volume II of the series “Miles Behind Us” is where the comic truly begins to become revolutionary. With Charlie Adlard handling the pencils this time around and Cliff Rathburn taking care of the gray tones, the look of the comic is still similar to the first, but has much more polish. Adlard’s pencils closely resemble Moore’s, just with a bit more emotion, while Rathburn is able to bring out the darkness inside each person with shades of gray that almost bring them to life.
Unlike the first trade where Rick Grimes is coming to grips with the entire disaster that has befallen the world, this time around, Grimes and his friends are trying to make the most of things and trying to survive, constantly on the run for their lives. With so much more going on emotionally, Adlard and Rathburn do a seamless job of capturing each characters slow descent into madness, which Kirkman’s stellar writing helps foster.
Managing to tell a horror story that has more to do with the people involved than the zombies, Kirkman makes them the real sources of terror. That essentially is the reason why the trade and the series end up unlike any other horror comic ever produced.
As seen with Shane Walsh in the first trade, every character is beginning to feel the effects of the disaster in Volume II. Some characters are dealing with loneliness, while others can’t seem to cope with the loss of loved ones. Others, because of the accident, are beginning to change into completely different people. However, a small few are beginning to truly live for the first time. But who can be trusted? Who will be the first to betray the others? Who will die? Each one of these questions is constantly running through mind with each flip of the page.
With the addition of several key characters in this trade as well, the questions begin to mount. Unlike the TV series on AMC, which has several “extra†characters, which don’t contribute to the story in any real way, each character in this volume has their own unique view on the world. Each is able to round out the human perspective that the comic book pushes, that no one is safe from this epidemic, and only have scarce time left in order to live, making it a human drama that pushes the envelope in every way possible.
As a result, after reading this trade, you’ll even begin to question how you would respond in a situation such as this, making the total package a success.
What was that? A comic book that will make you think about yourself and your life, that’s about zombies?
That’s right.
The trade also manages to be a quick read, taking less than an hour and a half to finish. When finished, it’ll leave you like a literary zombie, hungry for more.
Because of that, Volume II: “Miles Behind Us†proves that this series is going to be around for a very long time.
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