Voiced by Natalie Gadeikis, Staff Writer
Written by Darrel Washington, Staff Writer
Watch it or not, everyone knows of “The Walking Dead,” AMC’s hit television show. But what many might not know are all the ways “The Walking Dead” has expanded. The franchise now has board, card, and video games, novels, an entire convention, and more.
It all sprouted from one place: A comic that started in 2005 by Robert Kirkman. Amongst all of “The Walking Dead’s” properties, the show and the comic tend to be the most popular. But which property is better?
Characters: Because both follow the same main stories, they share most of the same characters. But even though they share a lot of the same characters, a lot of them are very different between their counterparts.
Most of the comic versions of these characters are better. The comics better handle interactions between one another, decisions in situations, and behavior. A good example is the main character Rick Grimes. Comic Rick is plenty better than the show’s version mostly because of his mental stability in this post apocalyptic world and his constant feelings about being a leader. On the show, he’s very unstable and constantly jumps from being a peace seeker to a violent leader who’s always ready for a fight. But in the comics, he is very clear about his feelings of not wanting to be the leader of his groups throughout the series. Eventually, by spending years as the leader of his groups, he learns why it has to be him to lead: It’s because he’s the one who can make all the tough decisions for the better of the group.
Deaths: Usually a death in “The Walking Dead” isn’t for nothing. They are normally used to propel either a character’s personal story or the overall story forward. Because the comics do so well with establishing characters and getting you to care about them, the deaths in the comics feel more impactful and hit harder.
Censorship: Because “The Walking Dead” doesn’t air on less restrictive channels such as HBO or Starz, the show has limits on sexual content, explicit language, and more controversial subjects such as rape. The comic has more freedom to take risks in content that the show cannot. That goes for the level of brutality as well. While “The Walking Dead” is well known for its blood and gore, the show actually had to tone it down after its extremely gory Season 7 premiere, which is something the comics have never had to do.
Storytelling: The comic performs better at storytelling because it gives us moments of characters opening up to one another that we don’t really seem to get in the show. These deep conversations are what keeps those moments where characters are just talking so interesting. Writer and Creator, Robert Kirkman, really shines with how well he paces the story, especially moving one major story arc to the next.
These are the reasons as to why the comic alteration of “The Walking Dead” is superior to the show. While AMC’s show has its moments of greatness, it still tends to be far more enjoyable to read through the story rather than watch it. Even if someone is not much of a reader, they should still purchase and read through each issue and uncover the treasures of this post-apocalyptic world and fall in the love with “The Walking Dead.”