The Walking Dead (comics): Difference between revisions

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''The Walking Dead'' is a [[Zombie Apocalypse]] [[Comic Book]], written by Robert Kirkman with art by Charlie Adlard, featuring an [[Ensembles|ensemble cast]] ([[Anyone Can Die|which is constantly in flux]]) of survivors [[After the End|struggling to survive]] over the long-term duration of the zombie uprising. The de facto main character is Rick Grimes, a [[Fair Cop|police officer]] who was shot in the line of duty; when he wakes up from a [[Convenient Coma]], all hell has broken loose. Rick goes in search of his family and safety, both of which end up being more tenuous than not.

 

 

 

There is also a [[Live Action Adaptation]] television series based on the comic; [[The Walking Dead (TV series)|it has its own page]]. There is also an episodic [[Adventure Game]] series by [[Telltale Games]] set in the same universe. [[The Walking Dead (video game)|It also has its own page.]] Kirkman has also co-written a planned trilogy of prequel novels to the series, the first one being ''[[The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor|Rise of the Governor]]''. The second, ''[[The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury|The Road to Woodbury]]'', is set for release in October 2012.

 

 

 

* [[Abandoned Hospital Awakening]]: The first issue starts with Rick getting shot, then awakening weeks later to find thing have changed.

* [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]]: Michonne's blade. Starts as an [[Averted Trope|Aversion]] - it gets stuck in a skull once, when we [[Early Installment Weirdness|first]] meet her - but then cuts through anything like a hot knife through butter. Rick's hatchet, on the other hand, is as sharp as the plot needs it to be at any given time.

* [[Affably Evil]]: The leader of the cannibal gang. There's really nothing personal about cutting off your leg. After all, a man's got to eat.

** The Governor is also pretty charismatic and well-liked by his people.

* [[An Arm and a Leg]]: {{spoiler|Rick has his right arm hacked off by the Governor}}. Then, {{spoiler|The Governor himself loses an arm, among other things, when Michonne tortures and mutilates him}}.

* [[Artificial Limbs]]: {{spoiler|Dale}} gets a makeshift wooden leg after a zombie bite [[Life or Limb Decision|forces them to amputate one of his real ones]].

* [[Axe Crazy]]: Several people.

* [[Badass]]: Quite a few characters, especially if they've survived for a good while. The most notable examples are probably Rick, Michonne, Andrea, Abraham and Tyreese.

* [[Children Forced to Kill]]: Carl does this to protect his own parents.

* [[Cold Sniper]]: Andrea can be this when she has to be.

* [[Comic Book Time]]: [[Averted Trope|Averted]]. Everybody ages.

* [[Trailers Always Spoil|Covers Always Spoil]]: The "Compendium" cover shows all the characters wearing {{spoiler|prisoner uniforms}}, and Rick {{spoiler|missing a hand.}}

* [[Crap Saccharine World]]: Woodbury.

* [[Hope Spot]]: {{spoiler|The potential cure for the plague waiting in DC? Eugene made up that story just so he could have a group protecting him. He's not even a scientist.}}

* [[How Much More Can He Take?]]: Rick vs {{spoiler|Tyreese.}}

* [[I Did What I Had to Do]]: Pretty much everyone. Rick, most commonly.

** [[Egregious]] example: {{spoiler|Rick runs over the most sympathetic citizen of Woodbury to stop him from reporting their position back to the evil Woodburians. Martinez claims he was sent as a spy but is really going to bring the good civilians to the supposedly safe shelter of a county jail. Rick doesn't believe him and strangles him.}}

** And of course, Carl {{spoiler|taking it upon himself to execute Ben, when no one else was willing to.}}

{{quote|'''The Governor:''' No! Don't do a ''fucking thing'' to her! I don't want this girl to get a ''bruise'' that doesn't come from ''me''. She'll ''suffer'' for what she's done--she'll ''wish'' she was dead.}}

* [[Infant Immortality]]: Averted very hard. {{spoiler|All the child characters besides Carl and Sophia have died so far. However, their deaths are not seen.}}

** {{spoiler|And now that has been averted. Ron, an 8-year old child who was still grieving over the loss of his dad, is pulled into a group of zombies and eaten alive in full detail. While screaming "MOMMY!" the entire time.}}

* [[Invincible Hero]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] with Michonne; after a while everyone just calls on her whenever they encounter a stray roamer.

* [[It Never Gets Any Easier]]

* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: Its more of a revolving door of characters, usually a couple of characters dies or leaves, later the main group may discover some new survivors.

* [[Made of Plasticine]]: Selectively used. The combat is generally realistic, but zombie skulls occasionally get penetrated WAY easier than they ought to...the human skull is one of the hardest biological substances on earth. Rick's hatchet? Yes, that could do the job. Tyreese's hammer? Sure. Thinning out the zombies by the fence by driving ''kitchen knives'' through their skulls? Doubtful, but not impossible. Driving a ''pitchfork'' through a zombie's ''forehead?'' Pretty sure that's physically impossible, big muscles or not.

* [[Mauve Shirt]]: It's hard to care for some of the characters when you know that they ''will'' inevitably pick up the [[Idiot Ball]] and get themselves eaten or shot somewhere down the line.

* [[Meaningful Titles]]: See [[Zombie Infectee]].

* [[The Mole]]: {{spoiler|Martinez}}, at least until {{spoiler|he tries to return to Woodbury and Rick kills him}}.

* [[The Sneaky Guy]]: Glenn.

* [[Start of Darkness]]: The Governor gets this in the novel ''[[The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor|The Walking Dead Rise of the Governor]]''.

* [[Tempting Fate]]: The characters are all surprised about how smooth their escape from Woodbury is going and comment on it. After they get over the wall, {{spoiler|Dr. Stevens}} exclaims how relieved {{spoiler|he}} is that things are going so well, {{spoiler|only to be bitten by a zombie a few seconds later}}.

** In the first issue, one of the characters tells another, "Oh, bite me." {{spoiler|Guess what happens a few pages later?}}

** "''WE'' ARE THE WALKING DEAD!"

* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: As with [[Genre Blind]], the characters fall victim to common mistakes of the genre which usually just serves to [[Justified Trope|reinforce them]].

** An even more egregious example is {{spoiler|Patricia deciding to help Thomas escape}}. Most. Inexplicable. Decision. Ever.

** I think {{spoiler|Hershel keeping a barn full of zombies ON HIS PROPERTY}} was pretty damn stupid. I mean, that just can't end well.

* [[Tragic Keepsake]]: {{spoiler|Andrea starts wearing Dale's hat after he dies.}}

* [[Underestimating Badassery]]: The cannibals make this mistake when they follow their usual tactic of scaring their victims before they attack them. Unfortunately these victims include a [[Handicapped Badass]], a katana-wielding schizophrenic, and a crack markswoman.

** The bandits who tried to intimidate their way into the Washington DC gated community really didn't consider the possibility that the residents were ''far'' better armed and skilled than they were.

* [[We Can Rebuild Him]]: Averted in most cases. {{spoiler|Except for the Governor.}}

* [[Wham! Episode]]: Issue 48 may just be the whammiest episode of anything ever, essentially cutting almost all of the evolving plotlines dead in their tracks, and putting all of the rest on long-term hiatus, and killing off several major characters that the audience had come to take for granted would be the core cast in the long run.

* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: After their introduction in issue #1, it's a ''long'' time before we see Morgan and Duane again.

* [[What Year Is This?]]: none of the protagonists know what the exact date is after a year of events. {{spoiler|The date is never mentioned by the residents of Woodbury, Christmas is approximated, and even the residents of the Alexandria Safe Zone have lost precise track of the date fourteen months after Z-Day. Digital watches did not survive the apocalypse.}}

 

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[[Category:Better Than It Sounds/Comic Books]]

[[Category:Horror Comic Books]]

[[Category:Image]]

[[Category:The Walking Dead]]