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Kemper's Reviews > The Walking Dead, Vol. 15: We Find Ourselves
The Walking Dead, Vol. 15: We Find Ourselves
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This may be a case where the filmed adaptation of material is influencing my opinion of something I read. In this case, that’s not a good thing.
I’ve been a big fan of The Walking Dead for several years now, but it’s always had its flaws like clunky dialogue and characters spouting off long speeches about what they are feeling rather than letting the story or the art do some of the heaving lifting. I’ve been willing to overlook that because I was impressed with the way that Kirkman’s on-going zombie apocalypse was willing to explore the limits of what people will do to survive and what that costs them in the long run.
However, while watching the TV version of the story, I’ve found myself beyond irritated. The show can be occasionally brilliant, but it’s also prone to long boring patches that consist of characters rehashing old concerns and arguments over and over. (The show also has the bad habit of having its characters behave like total morons and do unbelievably stupid things just to advance the plot, but that’s another issue.)
This one mainly concerns the aftermath of a massive battle in the last volume. For the first time, Rick and the others managed to make a stand and protect a fortified position against a huge herd of zombies. Rick now thinks that that the only way to guarantee safety is to work as a community. (Wait, a bunch of people working together for a mutual goal to protect the welfare of all? That sounds like socialism to me. A real American would rather get his brain chewed by zombies!)
While it seems like we’ve maybe hit a big turning point in the series with Rick now trying to develop a long range plan to protect and grow their town, this volume is a lotta talk and not much action. The series has always featured interludes that usually lead to an acceleration of their descent into the depths of hell, but this one seems exceptionally slow and repetitive in a lot of ways. I think that’s because the memory of the long boring time on the farm in the second season is still fresh in my mind.
Also, (view spoiler)
Hopefully, Kirkman will come up with something terrible to inflict on his characters in the next one.
I’ve been a big fan of The Walking Dead for several years now, but it’s always had its flaws like clunky dialogue and characters spouting off long speeches about what they are feeling rather than letting the story or the art do some of the heaving lifting. I’ve been willing to overlook that because I was impressed with the way that Kirkman’s on-going zombie apocalypse was willing to explore the limits of what people will do to survive and what that costs them in the long run.
However, while watching the TV version of the story, I’ve found myself beyond irritated. The show can be occasionally brilliant, but it’s also prone to long boring patches that consist of characters rehashing old concerns and arguments over and over. (The show also has the bad habit of having its characters behave like total morons and do unbelievably stupid things just to advance the plot, but that’s another issue.)
This one mainly concerns the aftermath of a massive battle in the last volume. For the first time, Rick and the others managed to make a stand and protect a fortified position against a huge herd of zombies. Rick now thinks that that the only way to guarantee safety is to work as a community. (Wait, a bunch of people working together for a mutual goal to protect the welfare of all? That sounds like socialism to me. A real American would rather get his brain chewed by zombies!)
While it seems like we’ve maybe hit a big turning point in the series with Rick now trying to develop a long range plan to protect and grow their town, this volume is a lotta talk and not much action. The series has always featured interludes that usually lead to an acceleration of their descent into the depths of hell, but this one seems exceptionally slow and repetitive in a lot of ways. I think that’s because the memory of the long boring time on the farm in the second season is still fresh in my mind.
Also, (view spoiler)
Hopefully, Kirkman will come up with something terrible to inflict on his characters in the next one.
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Started Reading
July 1, 2012
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July 1, 2012
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Chloe
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Jul 01, 2012 09:40AM
I agree completely regarding your spoiler. There is no way he could walk away from that.
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Kemper wrote: "However, while watching the TV version of the story, I’ve found myself beyond irritated. The show can be occasionally brilliant, but it’s also prone to long boring patches that consist of characters rehashing old concerns..."I agree. I think the show is decent, but it seems to suffer from "empty sandwich syndrome." It seems to have had great openings, amazingly brilliant finales (including mid-season finales where they've applied), but the meat in the middle is somewhat tough to slug through. Boring is a pretty good word for it.
I think next season is going to be like, 16 episodes or something, so they'd better get their act together if they want to maintain a solid following.
Logan wrote: "I agree completely regarding your spoiler. There is no way he could walk away from that."Especially with the limited medical care they have.
Jason wrote: "Kemper wrote: "However, while watching the TV version of the story, I’ve found myself beyond irritated. The show can be occasionally brilliant, but it’s also prone to long boring patches that consi..."Hopefully they learned something from that long boring stretch on the farm.
I'm really excited for the jail/Governor story arc. The introduction of Michone in the season 2 finale was just what I needed to restore my interest in what had been a very lackluster season thus far.
Logan wrote: "I'm really excited for the jail/Governor story arc. The introduction of Michone in the season 2 finale was just what I needed to restore my interest in what had been a very lackluster season thus far."If they don't get this prison/Governor arc right, they're going to start losing the fans of the book, I think.
"the only way to guarantee safety is to work as a community. (Wait, a bunch of people working together for a mutual goal to protect the welfare of all? That sounds like socialism to me. A real American would rather get his brain chewed by zombies!)"Huh. Sounds like hippie-bred communism to me. A real American man would establish an oligarchy.
I've been on the waitlist for the comic series forever. Starting to think I should buy it.
Could not agree more with your assessment here Kemper. I just finished Compendium 2 which collects up to issue #96 and it was starting to become quite grueling (and repetitive) in places. A slog in other words. I'm still giving the series 4 stars because despite some of the problems you highlight above, the series is still required reading in my books when it comes to post-apocalyptic zombies. (view spoiler)
Just started the TV series... I should of stopped reading the review since it was going to be full of spoilers... it was, but totally worth it
