The Walking Dead (Graphic Novels)

Denerick

Has anyone else been reading these? I ploughed my way through the first four volumes over the past week, trouble is its hard finding a bookshop in Dublin that has the exact volume you're looking for at any one time. They're really good. Never did the whole comic/graphic novel thing before, really under-rated genre. Very intelligent story telling too (Though the TV show is still superior in a lot of ways) No spoilers! I'm still only 25% of the way through it.

degrassinoel

actually I've been meaning to do that too for ages now..

Anyone know of anywhere reasonable in Dublin or online that sells them?

ScumLord

I didn't hear about the comics until the series was about to come along. I'll see how the series pans out first. Like with reading the book (which is usually much better than the film) I'd rather watch the inferior version first.

At one stage people in this forum where so insistent that you read the comic that they posted links to download the entire series of comics.

Denerick

They're not cheap - between a tenner and thirteen euro a pop (16 volumes so far and ongoing) Hodges and Figgis/Reads have them but they don't always have the volume you're looking for! (Which is really annoying since they are clearly an in demand series, very bad business planning to be honest) I haven't tried any comic book shops yet, I work very close to one so I might call in on my lunch break tomorrow to ask about volume 5.

daz801

Read issue 1-90 in the last week. I could show you where to get it.....if you know what i mean Just PM me

Denerick

I don't always think that the novel is superior to the film. They're different art forms after all. We've been living through a golden age of tv writing in the last ten to fifteen years (Think of all the great drama's produced between the West Wing and The Walking Dead) which has put that whole novel/film dichotomy right on its head!

Denerick

daz801 wrote: »

Read issue 1-90 in the last week. I could show you where to get it.....if you know what i mean Just PM me

Sorry, I'm a nerd for the old fashioned 'book' - you know that thing you actually hold in your hands I like collecting series too, again a really nerdy thing to do. Definately need the comic in mint condition. Hopefully I'll pass them on to my grandchildren. I expect by that stage that books and comics will become a incredibly valuable since we all use screens and e-machines and whatnot nowadays...

StoneColdFan

You should buy The Walking Dead: Compendium 1 and 2 it has issues 1-96.

I bought mine in Waterstones last Tuesday, works out a lot cheaper than buying the Graphic Novels individually..

degrassinoel

StoneColdFan wrote: »

You should buy The Walking Dead: Compendium 1 and 2 it has issues 1-96.

I bought mine in Waterstones last Tuesday, works out a lot cheaper than buying the Graphic Novels individually..

how much did ye pay for it?

StoneColdFan

degrassinoel wrote: »

how much did ye pay for it?

I paid €56 for the first edition.

I was going to buy 4 issues for that price, but seen they sold the Compendium edition.

MartyMcFly84

I ordered the Volumes from Amazon up to about issue 90 something.

since around 100 I have been reading the soft copies, due to cost and I might be moving soon and don't want to buy any more physical books as they are a pain to ship around.

I do find the individual issues hard to read as the are incredibly short. I would recommend waiting for the volumes (or larger) they are a much more enjoyable read.

It will be interesting to see how they will keep it fresh and not rehash plot lines/similar-ish situations from earlier in the series.

Icarus Wings

I saw Compendium 1 and 2 in town today. I haven't watching any of the TV series but friends of mine highly recommend it. Big fan of the comic and graphic novel genre and looking for a lengthy series to sink my teeth into over the next while.

I've read some fairly mixed reviews about the graphic novels - some saying utterly flawless and others saying fairly inferior to the TV series! Just wondering if it's actually worth investing in the Compendiums or would I be best off just watching the series? I'd be annoyed if I found after investing in the novels that it was a big letdown.

I'm another one for having the actual book in my hands rather than reading "the other way" (just so I have something solid to clobber an oncoming zombie in the head with! ). So, what would ye recommend? - starting with the graphic novels (moving to the TV series), just the graphic novels or just the TV series?

daz801

I watched the show then moved on to the comics and found them much better than the show. So I'd go show first and comics second otherwise you'll be complaining about the stuff they leave out/change.

Icarus Wings

daz801 wrote: »

I watched the show then moved on to the comics and found them much better than the show. So I'd go show first and comics second otherwise you'll be complaining about the stuff they leave out/change.

Thanks daz! Hmmm...I had heard that the TV series can stray from the original story and that the show's writers took some license with certain events in order to suit television audiences. Like you said, it might be best to start with the TV series just to stop me from getting ploughed down with any alterations between the two genres.

Denerick

The TV series borrows the broad premise and most of the characters from the comics (Though they come and go at different times) Different mediums, I'm glad they've adopted different storylines, would be boring otherwise. I think both are fantastic. I finished volume 15 last week, will get the other two in the new year. Its a pity they only come out every six months or so though!

ScumLord

Icarus Wings wrote: »

Thanks daz! Hmmm...I had heard that the TV series can stray from the original story and that the show's writers took some license with certain events in order to suit television audiences.

That seems to be the norm these days with adaptations for screen. They're using the book as inspiration rather than making a film version of the book.

I'd agree with daz801, always say watch the film first. The book is nearly always better so your only setting yourself up for disappointment the other way around.

Denerick

Read volume 17 a couple of weeks ago and recently finished the computer game. Am really running out of things to do now, volume 18 doesn't come out until June!

Icarus Wings

Been following the excellent advice given on this thread of watching the TV series prior to reading the graphic novels. Looking forward to getting stuck into Compendium 1 soon!

Denerick wrote: »

Read volume 17 a couple of weeks ago and recently finished the computer game. Am really running out of things to do now, volume 18 doesn't come out until June!

I seem to be going on a bit of a zombie-themed reading spree lately - picked up Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (an alternative historical steampunk adventure novel with a zombie incident backdrop...bit of a mouthful! ) and going to have to look into getting World War Z by Max Brooks before the movie comes out in the summer. Might be worth checking out if you haven't already!

adser53

Icarus Wings wrote: »

going to have to look into getting World War Z by Max Brooks before the movie comes out in the summer.

Now there's (what appears to be) a perfect example of Hollywood using the source material as inspiration and not actually making a proper movie version/translation of the book.

World War Z is an amazing book and well worth the read.

I admit that I have serious doubts about the movie though. I hope I'm wrong and it may well be very good but I would just prefer it not to have the name "World War Z" and therefore having an immediate association with the book because they look vastly different to me.

Sorry for going OT

I've been reading the walking dead on my tablet having obtained them the shady way :rolleyes: because I simply can't afford to buy them.

For what it's worth, I love the TV show and I love the comic but aside from character and location similarities, I think they're varied enough to enjoy seperately.

I would recommend watching the TV show first because I think if you read the comics first, you'll keep expecting things to happen on the show that ultimately don't or when they do, they happen differently.

Denerick

Based on the advice of this thread, I bought and read World War Z in the space of two days. What a brilliant book! I'm a history/politics nerd so the format was right down my alley as well. I've no idea what they are going to do in the film, but I'd imagine Brad Pitt will fight in that battle in Yonkers, then get associated with the governments attempts to rebuild and reorient the military so it adapts to the new threat, and then partakes in that epic battle in New Mexico or wherever the hell it was. I'd highly recommend World War Z to any and all who have finished with the Walking Dead (Very different takes on the Zombie apocolypse as well to be honest)

shuffles03

I'm looking to start reading the walking dead. I'm on Amazon at the moment but I have a question about the volumes.

Amazon are selling volume 1: Days Gone Bye for £7. Does this include issues 1-6?

Kash

I had read the first comic and loved it, but hadn't got around to reading the others, but got the first 2 compendiums for my birthday. Can't wait!

a fat guy

You can read them all on Youtube guys.

I'm up-to-date and waiting for February's cliffhanger to arrive...

twilightzone

Denerick wrote: »

Has anyone else been reading these? I ploughed my way through the first four volumes over the past week, trouble is its hard finding a bookshop in Dublin that has the exact volume you're looking for at any one time. They're really good. Never did the whole comic/graphic novel thing before, really under-rated genre. Very intelligent story telling too (Though the TV show is still superior in a lot of ways) No spoilers! I'm still only 25% of the way through it.

I'm right up to date, and my only issue with the series is the month long wait. Financially this is very fair as it's a small amount of cash to spend for an awesome comic over the space of a month, but the wait is just too long! I love it in every other way, and hope it continues for a very long time.

Denerick

twilightzone wrote: »

I'm right up to date, and my only issue with the series is the month long wait. Financially this is very fair as it's a small amount of cash to spend for an awesome comic over the space of a month, but the wait is just too long! I love it in every other way, and hope it continues for a very long time.

I prefer to wait for volume 18 to come out in June (Not sure when it'll be available in Ireland though)

twilightzone

Denerick wrote: »

I prefer to wait for volume 18 to come out in June (Not sure when it'll be available in Ireland though)

The Volumised Editions are great, I'm reading each issue as they come out monthly though. Cliffhangers are killing me!