The Walking Dead volume 1

The Walking Dead comic book volume 1, Days Gone Bye

The Walking Dead centers around Rick Grimes, a former police officer who was shot in the line of duty and wakes up from a coma after the world has succumbed to the zombie plague. Dazed from months in the hospital, and confused as to why he can't find anyone alive, he makes his way home only to find his wife and son missing. He packs up supplies from his station and travels to Atlanta in search of his family after hearing the cities would be safe (heard from Morgan and Duane Jones, his previous neighbors). Arriving in the city on horseback, Rick is overcome by a horde of zombies and narrowly escapes death with the aid of another survivor named Glenn, who has been scavenging the city for supplies. Glenn takes Rick back to his camp just outside of town where Rick's wife Lori and son Carl happen to be living, alive and well. His partner and best friend Shane had taken Lori and Carl to the outskirts of Atlanta to wait for rescue by the US Government. There they found a small group of survivors.

5. ROBERT KIRKMAN
CRE ATORMWAIT ER NUE NE NE)

TONY Moca
CENA MIER CRAY TONES

CLIFF RATHEVEN
[ADDITIONALNGRA YAT ONES}

6. INTRODUCTION

Tim not tying to scare anybody. If that
somehow happens as a result of read-
Ing this comic that’s great, but real
ly. that’s not what this book is about.
What you now hold in your hands is the
most serious piece of work 1:

50 far in my career. Im the guy that
created Battle Pope:1 hope you guys real.
izo what a stretch this forme, It's realy
not that hard to believe when you realize
that Im delving into subject matter that
ls so utterly serious and dramatic.

done

Zombies.

To me, the best zombie movies aren't
the splatter fests of gore and violence
with goofy characters and tongue
in cheek antics, Good zombie mov.
les show us how messed up we are,
they make us question our station in
society. and our socierys station in the
world. Theyshowusgoreandviolenceand
all that cool stuff too... but there's always
an undercurrent of social commentary
and thoughtfulness.

7. ‘Give me “Dawn of the Dead” over “Return
ofthe LivingDe2d' any day. Tomezombie
‘movies are thought provoking, dramatic
fiction, on par with any Oscar wor-
thy garbage that's rolled out year
after year. Movies that make you
question the fabric of our very
society are what | lke. And in GOOD
zombie movies... you get that by the
trucidoad.

With THE WALKING DEAD 1 want to
explore how people deal with extreme
situations and how these events CHANGE
them. Fm in his forthe long haul. You
guys ae going to get to see Rick change
and mature to the point that when you
ook back on this Book you won't even
recognize him. 1 hope you guys are
looking forward to a sprawling epic,
because that’s the idea with this one.

Everything in this book is an attempt
at showing the natural progression of
events that think would occur in these
situations. This is a very character driven
endeavor. How these characters get

8. there is much more important than them
‘getting there. !hope to show you reflec:
tions of your friends, your neighbors, your
families, and yourselves, and what their
reactions are 10 the extreme situations on
this book.

So, if anything scares you... great, but
this is not a horror book. And by that
1 do not mean we think we're above
that genre. Far from it, were just set
ting out on a diferent path here. This
book is more about watching Rick
survive than it Is about watching zom-
bies pop around the corner and scare
you. hope that’s what you guys are int.

A story commentary aside, at the very
least evenifyouhatethething..you'vegot
10 admit. it at least looks good. Ive
been working with Tony Moore for as
Long as! can remember. Ive SEEN Tony's
work, KNOW Tony's work, know it bet
ter than anyone, and Ive got to say. just
in case you didn't notice.. Tony really
pulled out al the stops one this one. 1
‘an really tel that he shares my immense
love for the subject matter. This book

9. Is really a thing of beauty. | couldn't be
more pleased with how it turned out. |
hope you all agree.

For me the worst part of every zombie
movielstheend Jalwayswanttoknowwhat
happens next. Even when all the
characters die at the end... | just
want it to keep going. More often
than not zombie movies feel like
a slice of a person's life shown until
whoever is in charge of the
movie gets bored. So we get to
know the character, they have
‘an adventure and then, BOOM, as oon as
things start getting good... those pesky
credits start rolling.

The idea behind The Walking Dead
Is to stay with the character, in this
case, Rick Grimes for as long as Is
humanly possible. 1 want The Walking
Dead to be a chronicle of years
of Rick's fe, We will NEVER wonder what
happens to Rick next, we wil see it. The
Walking Dead will be the zombie movie
that never ends.

11. EDI