At this point, what can I say? Robert Kirkman ties up a lot of the threads that were loose after the confrontations last issue, but no one is fooled into thinking the situation is much better. Rick is still close to losing it, as is most of his crew. There is still a ton of division in the Community, even if the first folks to cause problems might be calming down.
These issues are so important, because we need to see as many faces and personalities as we can. The zombies aren't as scary if we aren't concerned for the survivors, and Kirkman's last big kill-off narrowed our cast significantly. I do like getting to meet more folks in the Community. Where's Eugene been hanging out? Surely that tubby voyeur is up to something?
I also figured I'd weigh in on the Walking Dead TV show. Three episodes in, and it is just as uneven as last year. I find the characterization of the ladies on the show to be quite weak, with Andrea and Lori being just about total whiners. Maybe I wouldn't care if I didn't know how tough Andrea is in the comics, but seeing her whine and cry those suicidal arguments makes it difficult to like her. Dale and Glenn are steady, of course, but they really haven't had much to do. I love Darryl, the redneck exterminator. That dude is in a different show than everyone else; you can just watch Norman Reedus having fun thunking those CGI arrows. Maggie is another character with a ton of potential. I like how she's tougher on the show than in the comic. (My wife was immediately amused at her pairing up with Glenn.)
My main problem with the show is still with the core three characters. Rick is still to reactionary and frankly, weak. He took some strong action to save Sophia is episode 1, but even then he didn't really have the group too prepared. Shane tried to rape Lori last season, and she justifiably told him to stay away from her and her family. Makes sense. So why is she chiding him for his distance from Carl and then asking him to stick around? It's crazy. She knows what a loose cannon he is, and Shane's actions this week certainly won't endear him to the viewers. I feel like they can't quite decide who Shane is, a good guy making tough choices or a total scumbag. At this point, I don't see how the scales could come out with anything but "scumbag."
The zombie scenes are still fun, even though many of the tight spots the survivors get in is due to their own poor planning. Shane's lack of an escape plan from the medical trailer... seriously? Just thought you'd walk right out of there, huh?
The show is still exciting and fun to watch, I just don't want it to become "24" fun to watch, where I laugh at the characters and their motivations even as I enjoy the adrenalin-boosting scenes.
Comic - Good
TV show - Fair
1 comment:
When they used the road flares to get into the trailer I thought, "great idea. I hope they brought some more for the way out."
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