Raaw-Oooh-Ugh-Blurgh Bookworms!
Y’all know I love me some zombie lit. You may not know that AMC’s The Walking Dead
I’ve never read any comics or graphic novels prior to this book. They’re all the rage these days, and I knew that I was missing out. I figured the best place to start was with a story I already loved, and I was RIGHT. I chewed through all 1100 some pages of this bad boy in record time. Granted, most of those pages were pictures with minimal text, but it makes me feel accomplished nonetheless.
If you’ve been living under a rock, The Walking Dead takes place in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Where did it come from? Nobody knows. All anybody knows is that zombies want to eat people, and that they can only be killed by destruction of the brain. Seriously. Dismembered heads are still pretty chompy, you’ve got to make sure you do damage to the gray matter. You’ve got the monster element plus the “holy crap there’s no electricity” element which all adds up to awesomeness.
I’m typically a “the book is better than the movie/tv show” sort of gal, but I am seriously digging what they did with The Walking Dead. The show and the comics diverge significantly, which means that just when I think I know what’s about to happen, I’m surprised! Sometimes I liked a character on the show much better than in the comics (Carol, anyone?) or liked a character better in the comic than in the show (Comic Lori was way less obnoxious.) There are characters in the show that aren’t in the comics and vice versa. All in all, it’s just a good crazy zombie-tastic time. I know Compendium Two is going on my birthday list!
Talk to me, Bookworms! Do you prefer book to screen adaptations to be perfectly faithful or are you okay with a a good amount of divergence?
*If you make a purchase through a link on this website, I will receive a small commission.*
Erin
I got the same thing for Christmas! My husband got it to tide me over until Season 5 continues.
Words For Worms
LOL, I intended it to tide me over, but I chewed through it in 2 days.
Megan M.
I’ve tried a few times to get into graphic novels – some of them seem fantastic and I wish I could read them – but for whatever reason, it’s just not a good medium for me. But my husband has read TWD comics and we talk about the differences between them and the show. I don’t mind when movies make changes from the original. There are things you can do in a book that just don’t translate well to the screen, not to mention the time factor. It does annoy me when a major plot component gets left out or changed and there’s no obvious reason why.
Words For Worms
I was talking with a friend the other day about This is Where I Leave You. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I liked the book a lot. She was like “they changed people’s names for no reason. WTF?” That kind of thing bugs me too. Like… Have a reason for doing what you’re doing, you know?
Rhian
Books are made into movies presumably because the filmmakers figure they’ll have a built-in audience (particularly with bestsellers). So as a viewer I feel like they almost have an obligation to me to deliver something close to the book. However as long as they capture the feeling or essence of the book, I’m not so hung up on the details. Mostly.
Words For Worms
The longer it’s been since I read the book, the better I usually like the movie. Sometimes though, if I see the movie first and THEN read the book, I don’t get as stabby and love them both. It’s so complicated.
thatashgirl
I’m working my way through the show on Netflix. Just finished Season 3 last night. Lori was soooooo annoying on the show. Andrea too. I’m not a huge graphic novel fan but I have read V for Vendetta (loved it as much as the movie) and Watchmen (loved it MORE than the movie). I should probably check this out eventually but will wait till the show is over and done with.
Words For Worms
Hahahaha oh yeah. Lori and Andrea. I was totally rooting for them to get eaten. I’ve neither seen nor read V for Vendetta. I did see Watchmen and should probably read those because I liked it. Well. I could have done without the big blue dong, but whatever.
ThatAshGirl
V for Vendetta is awesome.
Yeah and I saw Watchmen with my DAD!! Awkward.
Andi (@estellasrevenge)
I haven’t read The Walking Dead yet because I can’t stomach the TV show, but the Humble Bundle has a bunch of them included this time around, so I’m definitely going to check them out!
Words For Worms
The comic illustrations are still fairly gory, but it’s certainly not as visceral as watching the show with all the guts. I’ll be interested to hear what you think.
Monika @ Lovely Bookshelf
Cool! April mailed me her copies of this. I haven’t started them yet, but it’s nice to know there will be surprises even though I’m a huge fan of the show. Woohoo! (Love the post title too, btw haha)
Words For Worms
Hahahaha, I couldn’t help myself. Zombie noises.
bhalsop
I strongly dislike zombies in fiction, movies or graphic novels, and will not comment on that.. On the other hand, i got into graphic novels bigtime with Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series. Read them and fall in love.
Words For Worms
Oh gosh, I LOVE Neil Gaiman’s novels, I’m going to have to check out Sandman!
Jancee
Welcome to the world of comics! I can’t remember where I got to in the Walking Dead graphic novels, but I eventually was having nightmares full of zombies, so I had to stop. Maybe I’ll finish eventually!
Words For Worms
Oooh I’ve been there! World War Z was the book that gave me the worst zombie nightmares. Oye.
Jenny @ Reading the End
I think I’m more okay with more divergence the further away I am from the source material, and the “further away” can be a measure of time (how long since I read the book) or of liking (how much I liked the book in the first place). The movie of Stardust just did whatever damn thing it wanted, and I was fine with it because Stardust has always been my least favorite of Neil Gaiman’s books. And I tend to be even okay with adaptations of my most beloved books as long as I let plenty of time elapse between my most recent reading of the book and the release of the movie.
(I am currently not reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell until after the BBC America miniseries comes out. It feels like a very VERY long stretch of time.)
Words For Worms
Oh I totally agree. The more stale something is in my mind, the better I take changes in an adaptation.
Quirky Chrissy
Yeah, I read this back when I was still watching Season 1 of the show. It gave me just as many nightmares as the show.
I wish I could get back into it…but I checked out completely.
Words For Worms
Hahahaha, yeah I can see how that could happen.
Sarah @ Sarah Says Read
Compendium 1 is part of this Humble Bundle (
https://www.humblebundle.com/books) and I’m seriously considering purchasing the bundle on Friday. It’s so worth it just for TWD comics, not to mention all the other cool stuff I have my eye on or already love. The honeyman has the first two compendiums, but they’re so giant – having it digitally would be so much easier!
Words For Worms
Oh goodness, yeah. The compendiums are HUGE. I wasn’t sure how well they’d translate digitally, you’ll have to let me know!