Chloe and I have started watching AMC's The Walking Dead together. She's been wanting to watch it for a long time, and she was out of her mind with excitement when I told her she'd be allowed to watch it with me. We watch it on Fridays after I get home from work; we just wrapped up the first season, and we're both stoked for season two. It's been close to a decade since I watched these early episodes. In a way The Walking Dead has framed the last ten years of my life; the seasons serve as markers for major events. But enough of that. This post is supposed to be about reading, so I'll get down to it. I've picked up the graphic novels on which the TV show is based, and though comics aren't quite my thing, I've been enjoying the hell out of them. The graphics vary sharply from the television adaption; it's nice to see another story-line of how things went down. Here are the first six volumes:
Days Gone Bye (Issues 1–6) Rick Grimes, a sheriff's deputy from Kentucky, is wounded in the line of duty and emerges from a coma to find the world overrun by the undead. He returns home to find his house ransacked and his wife and son gone. Rick travels to a military evacuation zone in Atlanta to find his family, but finds Atlanta has also been overrun. He is rescued by Glenn Rhee, who takes him to his small camp of survivors. Among them are Rick's wife Lori and his son Carl. Zombies (called Walkers, Roamers, and Lurkers in most of the series) eventually attack the group. Following the attack, Shane Walsh, Rick's friend and former police partner, tries to murder Rick, having had a one-night stand and become obsessed with Lori, and Carl shoots Shane to protect his father.
Miles Behind Us (Issues 7–12) Rick becomes the group's leader. He and the remaining survivors leave Atlanta and travel across hostile territory in search of a safer refuge. The group meets Tyreese, his daughter and her boyfriend. Everyone takes shelter at Wiltshire Estates, a gated community, but are forced to leave when they stumble upon its zombie infestation. The group eventually finds shelter at a small farm after Carl is shot. The farm's owner, Hershel Greene and his family, are in denial about the walkers' nature and have been storing deceased loved ones and neighbors in their barn. Rick's group is asked to leave the farm and stumbles upon an abandoned prison, which they decide to make their home.
Safety Behind Bars (Issues 13–18) The group begins to clear the prison yard and one cell block for living quarters. They meet some surviving inmates when they break into the prison's cafeteria. Rick invites Hershel and his family to come live in the prison and they accept. Two of the group members commit suicide and someone begins to murder other group members. This inmate, a convicted serial killer, is eventually captured and killed. Other inmates stage a rebellion.
The Heart's Desire (Issues 19–24) The group manages to quell the inmates' rebellion and secure the prison. A katana-wielding woman named Michonne arrives at the prison seeking refuge and causes tension among some of Rick's survivors. When another member is bitten on the leg, Rick attempts to save him by amputating his bitten leg; however, despite receiving medical treatment from Hershel, the man dies. Rick and Tyreese get into a fight and the community decides to have a council with four co-leaders instead of Rick as sole leader.
The Best Defense (Issues 25–30) Rick, Michonne and Glenn observe a helicopter crash in the distance and leave the prison to search for it. They find a small town called Woodbury, where a large, well-armed and organized group of survivors has taken refuge. Woodbury's leader is a man called the Governor. The Governor captures Rick's group and interrogates them. He mutilates Rick by cutting off his right hand and rapes and tortures Michonne.
This Sorrowful Life (Issues 31–36) Rick, Glenn, and Michonne manage to escape from Woodbury with the help of others from the town. Michonne tortures the Governor before she leaves. They arrive back at the prison safely, but find that hordes of zombies have broken in. Rick's survivors fight them off. Rick informs the prison's residents of what took place in Woodbury and tells them to prepare for battle.
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