As I’ve mentioned earlier, the last scene is a long one. In these panels, Karter is getting ready to head out after getting the page from Henri and the last panel (one you can’t see yet) is one of my favorites so far in the book. Usually, I show black & white panels or fully rendered panels in my art previews; this week I did something a little different and I’m posting the flat colors instead. “Flats” are the first step of the coloring process; before I can go in and add shadows or highlights, I need to first lay down large blocks of a bottom layer of color. Usually, these are a darker shade of mid-tone. Some artists flat with a mid-ton, others flat with their shadow color and work “brighter” from there. Just a matter of personal preference, I suppose.

I’ve been putting a lot of thought into The Walking Dead television show lately and had a great conversation about it with a friend yesterday. After a lengthy session of abusing the show, I’ve come to the decision that it’s pretty terrible. The comic book is so much better and treats the audience with more respect, assuming they have a bit of intelligence. First off, where the hell are the black people? This is Georgia yet in the party of survivors, Asians are equally represented with blacks (one vs. one). And to boot, the one black guy there is the very definition of a “token black”, as I actually forgot he was in the show for 3-4 episodes because he didn’t have any speaking lines. Even the zombies aren’t black, for crying out loud. Hey, Robert Kirkman and TWD producers. I hate to break it to you but 30% of Georgia is black. Come on.

But that’s not even the worst part (spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the last episode or read the comic). The worst part is how they’re changing the series away from the comic book. In the comic book, Shane is killed off in the first 5-6 issues because he’s an annoying prat. He’s a pain in the ass, no one likes him (including the readers/viewers) and therefore, is expendable. He serves no real purpose in the group. He’s filler material to get the comic/show going. So the comic book kills him, just like it should. In the television show, Shane is still alive and well and annoying the shit out of audiences across the country as the producers use him to generate a lame brand of teenage high school drama where Rick and Shane come to blows over who gets to play Baby Daddy. It’s handled wonderfully in the comic (Rick says that he doesn’t care whose baby it is, he will raise it as his own no matter what) and that’s that. On to the next crisis. It’s a cheap ploy and it baffles me how the comic got it right the first time and how the show continues to get it wrong.

The second major problem is that the show killed Dale while in the comic, Dale lives for 90 issues. Unlike Shane, Dale is an important character. First, he’s immensely likable. The audience connects to him and his goofy hat. Second, he’s the moral compass in the group. In a survivor tale, these characters are indispensable, as they constantly question the morality of the group in an attempt to retain their humanity through trying times. Dale is perfect at this. The audience loves him and story-wise, he has a job to do. Therefore, he sticks around for 7-8 years in the comic book. Yet in the show, the producers kill him in the LAMEST WAY POSSIBLE in season two. Really, caught in an open field as a zombie sneaks up on him? Double U-Tee-Eff, Kirkman. It’s like you’re trying to piss me off. In an apocalypse tale, there are a few assumptions made by the audience, assumptions that need to be respected by creators. First, if a character made it through the first wave (you know, where 99% of the population dies), they aren’t idiots. They won’t do stupid things that makes the audience scream “WHY?!?!” Second, they will be quickly ingrained with fundamental tactics of herd survival. This means “don’t leave the group” and “always be on alert when no one else is around” and “don’t wander into a field at night for apparently no reason”. And third, zombies aren’t sneaky. They shuffle. They moan. They lose bits of themselves while walking. Have the producers of this show ever walked through a grassy field? It’s loud, man. And Dale would not let a zombie sneak up on him when the visibility in every direction is about ten freakin’ miles. Ugh.

In case you can’t tell, I’m terribly frustrated with this show. Compared to the comic book, it’s utter trash. I can’t recommend highly enough that anyone who has been following TWD and hasn’t read the comic book to stop watching the show and head over to iBooks or the Kindle Store and buy the first volume. You won’t regret it.

Share this page: