“The Walking Dead Vol. 1” was my first experience with a graphic novel and to be honest, I wasn’t crazy about it. I think it lacks elements from both cinema and literature. Personally, I find other media to be more effective but none the less it seemed to have many of the necessary elements of a zombie tale. For one, the zombies themselves seemed pretty typical; slow moving, death by head wound and have the capacity to infect with a mere bite. Then we have our protagonist, Rick, whom we of course recognize as the do-gooder who isn’t afraid to push the boundaries, he tells it like it is and assumes a position of leadership fairly soon after he reaches the camp. Lastly, we are forced to deal with the fact that characters whom we come to identify with become zombified, reminding us that we ourselves face that same risk.
The importance of human relations seems to crop up throughout the story, in that of Dale and his deceased wife, the bonding of the women and of course the Rick-Lori-Shane love triangle. Dales finds comfort in the two girls, Amy and Andrea because they are a reminder of the live he knew and loved. Donna, although she may be a bit a gossiper, tries to strike up chat with the other women just to give her something to hold onto. Then there is Shane, who is grasping at a relationship with Lori despite the return of Rick because it’s the only chance at a meaningful relationship that he has left. Ultimately this leads young Carl to fire a shot at Shane, killing him. And the last page of the novel resonates this theme most of all as we a small child trying to figure out what he has done. It forces both Rick and the reader to remind ourselves that we cannot take any relationship or moment of life for granted and that as long as we retain emotion and purpose, we will never be one of them.
I feel the question being posed by “The Walking Dead” is what does it really mean to be living and how do we prevent ourselves from slowly slipping into zombification in today’s world?
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