Walking Dead vol 16: A Larger World

The sixteenth collection of the astounding graphic novel series The Walking Dead, A Larger World, is recently published, and the creators continue to vindicate my decision to follow this one for years and years and years. As I wrote of the 15th volume, The Walking Dead has sucked me in through several narrative techniques: it opened with the action-packed violence of the zombie outbreak; settled into a long run of stories in which hope dwindled away by a thousand cuts, leaving me in a kind of eternal misery for the plucky, flawed heroes I'd come to love; and has finally moved into a kind of twisted glimmer of hope, though there's still no guarantee that hope won't be cruelly snatched away.

Kirkman has spent his years of zombie storytelling to go to a place where few writers have dared -- a story of a kind of zombie cold war, where zombies move from being "problems" to being "facts." These books are populated by scarred and wildly imperfect people who are trying very, very hard to do the right thing, and even when the reader can foresee their upcoming disaster, it's easy to understand why an intelligent person in the characters' shoes would take the awful course of action. This is horror without the idiot plots, without the "let's split up and run to different secluded places" tropes, in which bad guys and good guys are all all-to-believable. It's the only kind of horror that can really sustain itself at this length, and it's a marvel.

If you haven't been reading The Walking Dead, you're in for a treat. There are a series of omnibus editions in fat hardcover, or the 16 trade paperbacks (with an ominous-looking seventeenth due in December).

I've only seen a couple episodes of the TV show based on these comics, but I get the impression that they're pretty good on the action stuff, but not so great on the idiot plots, full of people whose "solutions" to their problems are the human version of flies who batter themselves to death smashing into the same pane of glass over and over again. Rest assured, that's not what you'll find in the comics.

The Walking Dead, Vol. 16: A Larger World

• [SpaceBeers]

  I really like where this is going at the moment. Issue 100 comes out this week. I’m not sure I can handle it if it’s anywhere near as horrible as issue 50 was.

  • [John Vance]

    I’m nervous as hell about it. It’s obvious there’s going to be lots and lots of blood, just not sure whose.

    • [SpaceBeers]

      As of last issue I imagine everyones.

• [Zak McKracken]

  You really love the fly analogy, don’t you?
  (already used it twice in the post on Volume 15)
  It’s a good one though. Although the actual thing in “regular” movies is more like the fly throwing itself at the window in one final desperate attempt and actually breaking it because it was the only way out, and you can’t let the hero die.

• [Cefeida]

  So, since you recommend them, it would be a safe assumption that the comics are not as ridiculously sexist as the tv series? 

  Wishlisted.

  • [zombiebob]

     and how is the tv show sexist? Because they haven’t yet given us more than a quick glimpse of michone?

    • [Thad Boyd]

       You’re…suggesting we just completely ignore Lori and Andrea on the TV show?

      That…actually isn’t such a bad idea.

    • [Cefeida]

      If it takes two seasons for a respectable female character to show up…yeah. Assuming that’s who this Michone will be. 

      Seriously, though, you haven’t noticed that all the women in the show are helpless, clumsy idiots?

      I should have said sexism and racism, actually. The single black guy doesn’t even get any lines. 

      Which sucks, really, because the show is very well made.

      Good article on the subject: http://www.btchflcks.com/2012/04/walking-dead-and-gender-why-im.html

      • [John Vance]

        I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the Andrea of the comics. Far from being a useless decoration, she’s absolutely crucial to the survival of the group in almost every other issue, and can more than hold her own. Very independent and intelligent.

        That being said, if you’re going to pick a bone with sexism in television, I think there are better places to start than with The Walking Dead.

        • [Cefeida]

          Good news, that, because the tv Andrea is useless. 

          Why wouldn’t I start criticism with Walking Dead, though? It’s abominable. Despite being played out in a setting where stale gender roles could  and should be challenged, this show has a very clearly defined place for women to be put  into. 

  • [foobar]

    Yes. The female characters are far better developed in the comic.

• [Mat Linnett]

  I enjoyed it, although I worry they might be treading old ground and revisiting the “Governor” storyline.
  Other interesting developments in comics recently have been The Boys approaching something that looks like a conclusion, and Morning Glories continuing to justify my risky investment in the first book by providing a consistently good story with exceptional artwork.
  Sure, it’s a little on the “Lost” side, but it’s pretty damn good.

  • [SpaceBeers]

    The Boys has been fantastic. I have no idea where it’s going or how it’s going to end. 

    • [Drew Coombs]

      I stopped reading the Boys last year. Having the colorist filling in on pages when Robertson couldn’t produce fast enough (at least, I assume that’s what was going on) really bugged me. Has that changed at all?

      • [SpaceBeers]

        Robertson’s off now which is a shame. It took the new guy a while to get it together but I almost don’t miss him now. Shame he couldn’t see it through to the end though.

    • [Halloween_Jack]

       I stopped reading The Boys over a year ago. It may be satisfying to some, but I got tired of Ennis playing with his favorite tropes and hobbyhorses over and over again and his absolute refusal to let any super drop the idiot ball for any decent length of time. I’ve peeked into the book now and again since, and haven’t regretted letting it go.

• [IronEdithKidd]

  I haven’t gotten around to reading any of the graphic novels yet, but the TV show makes for some pretty compelling viewing. 

• [Jeremy Mesiano-Crookston]

  The Walking Dead is pretty okay, but the problem is that when you gather the issues into one omnibus, and try to read them end-to-end the repetitive nature of the story elements becomes incredibly apparent. And then once you see it, it’s all you can see. And it’s not like a standard comic book, where repetition can be covered over by the flashiness of the style or graphics, or the craziness of the story. This is just a kind of repetition where the villains are always the same (amoral humans, zombies) and the emotional cataclysm is always the same (death of a longer-running character, someone questioning their humanity). So it’s much harder to create variety.

  • [zombiebob]

     yeah but, zombies!

    • [Jeremy Mesiano-Crookston]

      Truth. 

    • [Halloween_Jack]

       Well, you would say that.

• [synthetic_tomo]

  the walking dead has been, above all else, consistent.  In my experience, being a comic book reader and advocator for most of my life, comics have been (and will most likely always be)  an underground medium.  Which translates to ‘regular’ people or more accurately, casual fans from ‘getting into’ comics as a whole.  Graphic novels (or in this case trade paperbacks) help a lot with older casual readers but even I stopped buying single issues.  So with all that said, the Walking Dead comic book has been very high quality from the start, the art style that was established in issue one has not wavered at all, and in fact has improved.  The storytelling has also been consistent, but most important, the shipping schedule has been consistent, I don’t remember this book ever missing a month.  For comic fans that alone can make or break a book.  

  The TV show is also excellent, I’m a fan boy so I might see everything as being good, but not being a big TV watcher to begin with, I make sure to watch this every sunday.  Of course the TV show needs to go down a few other paths as not to surpass the comic in story, so season two does have a few character episodes and a few slow down’s in terms of story, but in a zombie apoc story, I don’t mind a bit of slowness and characterization.

  All in all, if you like the tv show, and you can get past the idea of reading a comic (if you don’t read comics because you think they are childish or whatever) you’ll be very happy you tried the comic, it builds the drama extremely well, and it’s amazing what Kirkman can do with these characters.

• [Perry Ellis]

  Nice review of the series Cory.  I have read some of the books here and there. I love the depth in the characters like you alluded to.  Can’t stand the TV show which doesn’t seem to explore the characters all that much. Hey, I am wondering what you think about this? http://www.audiogo.com/us/fangoria-dreadtime-stories  It is called Dreadtime stories and is a classic style audio horror program.  Malcolm McDowell narrates and the acting is good, plots are not idiot laden and the sounds effects are disgustingly great.  Would love to hear your opinion about it.

• [Scott Frazer]

  For those new to the series, save some cash and start with the 1st compendium. The 2nd will be out around October and catch you up from volumes 9-16. That’s about US$72 for the entire run so-far as opposed to US$50 ea for the omnibus editions.

• [Jason Rihel]

  The protagonists of the series for the most part are complex and believeable characters, but the enemy humans they encounter are too often just sadistic thug caricatures, not realistic people.  

  Also, the art is inconsistent.  There are many panels I can’t tell who is speaking or acting, because the faces look the same. 

  Finally, there are many hundreds of panels where they just play whack-a-zombie.  It gets pretty tiresome.

  I’ve found that Kirkman’s Invincible series has more wit, both textual and visual.

• [thermoplasticity]

  I’m glad there are others who share my distaste for the TV show who have read the comics.  It’s not all that bad by itself, but when you hold it up to the comics, it’s kind of crap. 
  It has none of what makes the comic great.  I don’t mean that they don’t copy the comic to a T -so therefore it sucks, I mean the writers and directors(not to mention the casting) don’t get the richness and complexity of the characters and situations. I care for the characters in the comic right away because of their richness, quirks,etc. I don’t care at all for the characters in the show. It just seems empty to me and two-dimensonal. It’s like a flat caricature of a superior work. 
   What’s puzzling is that Kirkman is heavily involved in the show(???).

• [Grebmar]

  It’s hard to imagine the comics going on for 16 volumes now with no end in sight. All the great comic series – well, the few I’ve read – get in, tell a story, and finish up. (I’m thinking Watchmen and Sandman here.) If you can promise me there will be a wrap-up, I might be in.

  • [Happyroach]

     Everyone dies, the zombies win. The end.

• [EvilSpirit]

  I decided a while ago that The Walking Dead was too damn well-done for me to ever read again. I’m simply not strong enough for it.