The Walking Dead - TV Series

[Proudhuff]

Unfortunately everything in that episode DID happen in the comic so no surprises!

MiniminiHuff has stopped watching 'not enough zombies' while the Memsahib has stopped as 'There's too much gore' , so its me and tha cat now ( and he looked bored, except for the chicken bit) sheeesk.

[Tiplodocus]

It's not gore that puts Mrs Tips off, it's just anything scary. Though I'm sure the gore would also put her off if I ever managed to remove that first blocker.

[Dark Jimbo]

Finding this pretty slow going. I'll keep watching, but if I miss an episode for any reason I can't imagine I'll be too bothered. In fact, I did miss the third or fourth episode, but picked it up again the week after to find absolutely nothing of note seemed to have happened in it except that Glenn had boffed the farm chick. Like in the first series, I just don't really care about that many of the characters, and the few I like aren't getting anything good to do.

I'm also working my way through my Deadwood and Battlestar Galactica boxsets at the moment - average one episode a week - and Walking Dead is coming off awfully badly in comparison.

[Mardroid]

I'm still enjoying it although point taken about not a whole lot having happened except 'Glenn boffing the farm chick'. I missed that episode too.

I ended up missing a chunk of this episode though as a mate called and chatted away... sigh. I was tempted to just put the phone down, but... well.. that'd be rude. I think I might switch my phone off when I'm watching stuff like this though.

Oh, that kid seems to be pretty lively all of a sudden. How long have they actually been at the farm in their 'real' time?

One criticism I have: I think Shane is being portrayed a bit too nasty. I know he is a kind of counterpoint to Rick much as he is in the comics, but I think they may need to tone that down a tad.

[Goaty]

Hope you all enjoy last night episode? Good news, that next episode is next week not three months later!

[Mardroid]

Hope you all enjoy last night episode?

Yes I did. [spoiler]And what a gutshot ending, it had!  I thought that the girl may turn out to have been kidnapped by the hillbilly's older brother. That was quite a shocking surprise.[/spoiler]

[Proudhuff]

Yip, great ending, I'd about gave up halfway through but a second bottle of Stella helped get me through the Deadenders bits... 

they were obviously saving up the budget from all those weak episodes to spend of that [spoiler]zombie massacre[/spoiler], and the [spoiler]wee girl bit [/spoiler] was wondefully done, I'd expected a [spoiler]happy ending [/spoiler] there, but that tied up so many plot threads and had some emotional punch unlike the ongoing debating society stuff.

As for the comic, its now on a three week cycle and issue 99 has one page of zombies and the rest talking heads, hopefully issue 100 will be what Capt kirk has been promising for the last ten issues.

[SmallBlueThing]

I really don't understand the problem with the lack of zombies in The Walking Dead- both comic and TV versions. Is it really so hard to understand that "the walking dead" refers to Rick's merry band as much as it does to the zoms? It's even been spelled out in huge massive 148pt text at the end of one of the early volumes. It's the characters the readership is interested in, the apocalypse was just the means to get them together.

However, I have noticed that the three weekly schedule seems to have had an effect on Charlie Adlard's art- with #99 looking decidedly dodgy in parts. The sooner they get back to the monthly routine, the better, I reckon. But, knowing Kirkman, I am EXTREMELY concerned as to where we will be at the end of #100. I wouldn't put it past him to stop the series then and there, unexpectedly, to concentrate on the more-lucrative tv and videogame versions, despite claiming the comic "is not even halfway through yet" an issue or so back. The letter in the back of #99 guessing where he was going to take it post #100 was slightly annoying, if only because I was thinking along similar lines- and its printing suggests quite strongly that it's bollocks.

Oh well. Two weeks and counting...

SBT

[brendan1]

I really don't understand the problem with the lack of zombies in The Walking Dead- both comic and TV versions. Is it really so hard to understand that "the walking dead" refers to Rick's merry band as much as it does to the zoms? It's even been spelled out in huge massive 148pt text at the end of one of the early volumes. It's the characters the readership is interested in, the apocalypse was just the means to get them together.

However, I have noticed that the three weekly schedule seems to have had an effect on Charlie Adlard's art- with #99 looking decidedly dodgy in parts. The sooner they get back to the monthly routine, the better, I reckon. But, knowing Kirkman, I am EXTREMELY concerned as to where we will be at the end of #100. I wouldn't put it past him to stop the series then and there, unexpectedly, to concentrate on the more-lucrative tv and videogame versions, despite claiming the comic "is not even halfway through yet" an issue or so back. The letter in the back of #99 guessing where he was going to take it post #100 was slightly annoying, if only because I was thinking along similar lines- and its printing suggests quite strongly that it's bollocks.

Oh well. Two weeks and counting...

SBT

I think Kirkman knows that he needs to keep writing the comics in order to have enough material for all the other "more lucrative" platforms.

Or perhaps that should be "I hope".

[SmallBlueThing]

Yeah, me too. Im absolutely sure there will be a #101, but with a series like walking dead, "absolutely sure" becomes a relative term, existing as it does on massive, horrifying shocks.

SBT

[Professor Bear]

Well, most people coming to the comics do so through the trade collections, as something with "#99" on the cover will hardly make the average punter think he's getting the early part of a story - if anything, high cover numbers would turn casual browsers away.
If digital availability isn't profitable enough and they want to really push the physical comics as individual monthly sales, I guess having #100 as the last issue of "volume 1" isn't a crazy idea (if only because Kirkman hints they're near a "halfway point" for the story), though with the tv show off the air I don't know what they'd be capitalising on to launch volume 2 - the videogame?

[Proudhuff]

Is it really so hard to understand that "the walking dead" refers to Rick's merry band as much as it does to the zoms?
SBT

I for one not only understand it, but am a bit yawnsville everytime its repeated, yes we get it They are the walking dead and it affects every decision they debate... endlessly, if there wasn't the threat of zombies outside and this comic was repackaged as the life and loves of a small Cul-de-sac of people starting up trade talks with the next village(which it has been for a while with little else) few would buy it.

and while I'm at it    petrol? how much do they have? no-one every sooks it out of other cars, and how are they all so healthy looking? and don't get me started on their salt intake...

[SmallBlueThing]

If apocalyptic zombie fiction isnt your thing, there's little point going out of your way to 'get' walking dead. Such fiction is insanely popular at present, and has been for the best part of a decade (if not more), so is unlikely to go anywhere just yet. It's not just comics and movies, entire publishing houses have been founded on our maggoty friends, and if you pick and choose carefully, there's a hell of lot of top quality literature out there that smells of walking pus-brained bags o'shit. Very little of it uses the stenches as anything other than scene setting macguffins, even when its glorying in the brain-freezing horror of the imagined situation. That's why i think it's so popular- it's literally the worst thing imaginable, that also indulges our shared desire to survive, or not.

The comic addresses the points you raise, about petrol and salt, so im not sure what you mean. Kirkman is aware of all the perceived criticisms, and seeks to address those that arent reliant on a certain (cont)

[SmallBlueThing]

(cont) (i hate my phone- had the second part of this all typed in, and it died) (basically: )
Suspension of disbelief
Inherent ridiculousness of the flesheating zombie
Walking dead being the highest-profile zombie thing since dawn of the dead, but that's no reason to expect it to be a standard zombie-chomping horror narrative.
Subgenre is full of different stories, this is another take.
Etc.

SBT
I really do hate my phone

[Proudhuff]

If apocalyptic zombie fiction isnt your thing, there's little point going out of your way to 'get' walking dead. Such fiction is insanely popular at present, and has been for the best part of a decade (if not more), so is unlikely to go anywhere just yet. It's not just comics and movies, entire publishing houses have been founded on our maggoty friends, and if you pick and choose carefully, there's a hell of lot of top quality literature out there that smells of walking pus-brained bags o'shit. Very little of it uses the stenches as anything other than scene setting macguffins, even when its glorying in the brain-freezing horror of the imagined situation. That's why i think it's so popular- it's literally the worst thing imaginable, that also indulges our shared desire to survive, or not.

Fair enough

The comic addresses the points you raise, about petrol and salt, so im not sure what you mean.

I know they have been mentioned in the comics but it would, in my mind become a greater and greater problem as time passed, my gripe is petrol seems endless in both comic and TV, and Capt Kirkman dissed bikes! the obvious answer to walkers etc. Sweating in that heat would make salt a big trade comodity too.

I know they have mentioned processed food running out, but I suppose its I'd rather see the practical side of the group on the majority of the pages rather than the Deadenders/relationships bit, so for me its the balance between these two elements that are currently out of whack, for me its not the gore that does it but the 'how would they?'

and be nice to your phone