I’ve been watching The Walking Dead television show since the night in debuted. I was one of the lucky(ish) ones that discovered The Walking Dead years before on a shelf. Not the shelf of my local comic book store. No, I discovered The Walking Dead as a larger than normal, black hardcover book – at my local library.
Libraries, they’re not just where the homeless read their newspapers anymore.
While young children go to the library to find great books to expand their reading knowledge…While my father goes to them to get the latest best seller (before he got his Kindle at least) – I went to go check out the comic book shelves.
And that’s where I stumbled upon this.
The title, and the cover, was all I had to go on. And hey, it’s the library – it’s free. The worst thing that could happen was that I didn’t like it.
But I didn’t….Didn’t “didn’t like it” I mean. Which is a longer, grammatically flawed way of saying I did like it. In fact I loved it.
I remember, after reading Book 2 during Christmas vacation years ago, saying out loud to my wife, “Reading these hardcovers is like reading an entire season of a television show.”
That was as close to a prophet as I’ve ever been.
Flash forward a couple years and I see they’re making a television show about it. I was interested on how they’re going to take this black and white zombie comic – that I had no idea was popular since I only discovered it at the library – and turn it into a television show.
Secondly, even if it’s good, I am sure that it won’t get a huuuge audience.
See, my prophecies started and ended at one.
Now I go to my buddies house almost every Sunday night to watch one of THE biggest show on cable television, and one of the biggest shows on television in general.
So – great, while my buddy is enjoying this show and this story for the first time, I’m basically going to sit there and we-live what I’ve already read….That’s the “ish” part of my luck. I a lucky because I got to experience this story in it’s true, original form – and only by the luck of me picking it up. “Ish” because I can’t enjoy the television show like someone who has never read a single issue of the comic.
But, that is what’s great about how they’re handing this show. Sure, some of the major stories, characters, and themes are based on the comic series – but it’s also become it’s own thing.
Characters big and small who died in the comic series are still alive in the television show – and vice versa. There were some deaths, one in particular, that I was shocked to see since that character is still in the book.
And one of the most popular characters in the show?
He’s not even in the frigging comic book!
I start every episode excited for great characters, great acting and great storytelling. Sometimes I know where things are headed, most of the time I am not exactly sure – sometimes I have no idea.
And sometimes I forget – so it’s still new to me dammit!
Either way, I just want to thank the Walking Dead show creators and runners, and creator Robert Kirkman. You have an amazing show running here that hard-core fans of your comic can love and enjoy and still be surprised by, while still reading your great comic each week.
It’s past 10pm on Saturday night – which means I’m less than 23 hours away from another great episode!
I better get to sleep now to knock off some of those hours….
