Non-Superhero Title of the Year (THE COMIC BOOK GROUP AWARDS 2011!)

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Category: Comicology

Published on Tuesday, 17 January 2012 15:37

Written by Mark Navarro

“They’re dead and we’re not. We’re alive… so we live. At a certain point we just have to move on.” – Michonne

The next time somebody tells you that comic books are for kids, I suggest you grab issues #80-92 of The Walking Dead and slap them across the face with it. If they’re really persistent, a 50-issue-compendium blow to the jaw will most probably shut them up. Fact is, there is much pathos to be found in The Walking Dead.

This was evident in 2011 with the “No Way Out” arc starting the year and the introduction of Paul “Jesus” Monroe ending the year. We’re definitely looking at more stories of human drama and conflict in the year to come. Yes, TWD is commonly perceived as a book about the zombie apocalypse. After an issue or two, you will definitely conclude that the undead are usually relegated as an afterthought. But don’t get me wrong now, the undead are still the primary threat. They are and always will be the persistent arch-nemesis here.

The comic book medium is more than just stories of people zooming around in colorful tights, dastardly mad scientist's plots of world domination, and the fate of the cosmos do not depend on Rick Grimes’ decisions. Rick is just a normal man who tries to single-handedly (Hehehe) assure the survival of his crew and his son, Carl, in a post-zombie-apocalypse America. The Walking Dead engages readers because of Kirkman’s great characterization and Charlie Adlard’s ability to capture emotions and scenes and artistically depict them on a page. If you were to find a technical reason as to why this ongoing series is such a success every year, simply treat it like soap opera. There are so many crucial subplots that marinate on the side that you will be hard-pressed to figure out where the next major conflict will come from. This is where the suspense lies in TWD and it is this style of storytelling that keeps people coming back for more. Comics and TV writing are cousins, in a sense. They both employ the use of “beats” and lateral plot development to build an ongoing series’ conflicts through several issues/episodes; however, the AMC TV show has never been able to recreate the same kind of simultaneous lateral storytelling that the comic has done for 92 issues. The emotional twists and turns that fans of the comic book have come to expect is still present in the TV series.  In fact, watching a zombified Sophia shamble through the barn doors is my personal choice for the best moment in TV for 2011. We all saw it coming but nobody was actually prepared for it.

“No Way Out”, in my opinion, is a major factor of The Walking Dead’s success for 2011. Kirkman finally had his characters in a nice, safe, and promising environment. The tone for the preceding books established a feeling of community in us as we see the characters reveling at the sight of simple luxuries like get-togethers, showers, children’s playtime, and jobs. They didn’t need to sleep lightly or tote their sidearm wherever they went. Of course, in true TWD fashion, the shit hits the fan and its result will have implications that will test the fortitude of the characters and most especially Rick. This particular arc had several moments of rising action and revealing dialogues/monologues. Kirkman’s writing really has the ability to break down human emotion like a scientist mapping out the human genome. If you foretold Rick cutting off Jessie’s hand to save his son’s life, or Michonne’s vulnerability at the dying Morgan’s bedside, or six survivors mowing down hundreds of zombies and realizing how weak a threat the zombies really are, then you sir, are lying… or you’re a descendant of Buddha. Finally, no single page this whole year invoked so much emotions in me as much as the page where we see Carl, a portion of his head shot off, staring straight at you just calling for his father in bare confusion and horror.

During the 2^nd half of the year, fans were disappointed at the drastic decrease in action in “We Find Ourselves”. The previous arc necessitated an arc that focuses on the rebuilding of the walled community. This makes sense on two levels. The first is the obvious reason, better security. The second is simply metaphorical (Abraham Maslow anyone?). Rick has already made the realization that many of us have had in our heads, the real threat to their survivals are other people. The threat of the undead will always be present but it’s manageable even at its worst. Relationships have strengthened, the community is becoming more secure and systematic in their operations, and we’re finally getting back to that optimistic vision we had in late 2010 when the survivors acclimated to Alexandria. Rick finally has a clear vision for the near future and we actually see glimpses of something we haven’t been treated to for quite some time now… the promise of hope. And no line this whole year has summed up that recurring theme (although out of context) as much as the quotation at the beginning of this review.

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Mark Navarro is a former video game writer, a proud CBG member, and an avid sports enthusiast. You can find him in Neverland with the other Lost Boys or amusing himself on Twitter @chilimark

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