Hey, here’s a deep cut pick to kick off this year’s 31 Days of Halloween Comics: a little title called The Walking Dead.
Created by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore, with Charlie Adlard taking over art duties starting with the seventh issue, the comic is a juggernaut for a reason. It starts simply, with Sheriff Rick Grimes walking up out of a coma to find the world has been overtaken by the undead, which they call Walkers. Over the course of 193 issues, the story expanded dramatically to include a cast of iconic characters — both heroes and villains — and became one of the best-selling comic book series of all time.
Credit that to the ongoing soap opera nature of the book, which was the whole idea that started The Walking Dead: what if your favorite zombie movie continued past the end? What happens next? How does society begin to rebuild itself, or crumble further? It’s a simple idea that Kirkman played with for well over a decade and a half, and expanded into a TV franchise that has spanned multiple TV series, as well as popular video games and even a series of YA graphic novels.
While the series has often been knocked as a grim exercise in brutality, thanks not just to the undead flesh-eaters but the humans who are often more hideous than the Walkers, it’s very much worth revisiting the early issues. Yes, The Walking Dead hit at a time when zombies were experiencing a lull. But Kirkman’s characterizations are always inviting. And Moore’s art followed by Adlard’s is expressive and engaging.
Given the perennially selling nature of the series, it’s been collected in multiple editions and is even currently being reprinted in full-color versions by Skybound, issue by issue. But if you want to start shambling on with The Walking Dead, your best bet is likely the four-volume Compendiums, which collect 50ish issues at a time.
It’s spooky season, and you know what that means: time to curl up with a comic book or graphic novel that will scare your socks off. With that in mind, we’re posting a new horror book to check out every day of October, for our 31 Days Of Halloween Comics. Awoooo! Looking for the rest of our picks? Check them out on the Halloween tag.
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