The First Column

File in the If No One Likes You than You've Got No One But Yourself to Blame: Not long ago at a convention a fan thought it the height of wit to try and publicly humiliate Rob Liefeld.  Now everyone knows Mr. Liefeld isn't the most  highly regarded artist in the comic community, but there is still a limit to what's right and what's not.  The so-called Fan filmed his public insult and posted it on his blog.  If he thought it was going to make him a “hero” to Liefeld bashers it back fired.  People that would never have thought to defend Rob before leapt to his defense.  It was a pretty jerky act and the fan comes off as a complete tool.  So here Mr. Liefeld has all this good will on his side now and what does he do with it.  Pisses it away in the wind.  Recently, after Paul Levitz was removed from his job of Publisher at DC (still Comics and not Entertainment yet) Rob throws a party to celebrate the fact.  Yes, Mr. Levitz was old school and may have been the reason for some things you didn't like at DC but he also helped save the comic industry and helped create the direct market and guided DC for quite a few years and from what I understand a gentleman to the end.  Which is more than can be said for some.

What is this and who are you?:  This is a column of reviews and facts and gossip and whatever else we have lying around here.  And who the heck am I?  What do I bring to the party?  Well, I make a great chex-mix.  But seriously...over the years I've dabbled in comic book writing.  Back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, or before the advent of Image Comics, I could be found with my name in some Indy Comics.  Black and White was being thrown against the wall and a lot of stuff was sticking and there were a dozen or more color comic companies grabbing at the rungs below Marvel and DC.  And there were a bunch of us with our noses pressed against the glass, looking for a way to get in...me, Ron Wilber, Dave Garcia, Sam Kieth (yes that Sam Kieth), Terry Pavlet and a bunch of others.  So I'm going to regale you my thoughts on what's going on in comics, reviews, what I've heard. 

So Let's Throw In At Least One Review:  Upfront I'm going to admit something not cool.  I don't like zombies.  Don't like the movies, don't like the books, don't like the comics.  And zombies are like the second coolest monster at the moment, right after vampires, but without all the psycho sexuality of the vampire.  So when The Walking Dead first came out from Image Comics, I ignored it.  It wasn't hard, like I said; not a big fan of the zombies, not a big fan of Image and never heard of the writer Robert Kirkman.  The guy working the counter at the comic book store I was frequenting at that time convinced me I should give this comic a try.  This was around issue six or so, the first trade had just come out.  I'm always looking for new books to read, and he had recently turned me on to Ex Machina, so I was inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

Let's just say that I'm extremely glad that he did.  I read that one issue, went back and picked up the trade and have been happily buying every single issue since.  Nowadays, most fan boys have heard of Robert Kirkman, heck, he's even a partner at Image now, the first to be so honored since the original group that formed the company.  Kirkman built his fame slowly and the old fashioned way, one issue at a time, month after month.  He's had a few hiccups along the way, but mainly has stayed the course.  The Walking Dead is fast approaching issue seventy.  How many comics, Marvel or DC much less the other publishers, can say that?

Not to take anything away from the artist on the comic but this is a writer's book.  What made me like this comic enough to pick up future issues and go back for the trades is the writing.  Yes, it's a zombie comic, but not really.  Most people think the title refers to the zombies in the comic, but as Rick (as close to a main character as this series has) points out after a few dozen issues it's the humans that have survived that are the real Walking Dead. 

You can go entire issues and not run across a zombie in the comic, but the menace of the zombies is never far from the surface.  The more recent storyline shows that while zombies might be the evil the humans are facing, sometimes other humans are even worse. 

I realize that I haven't really described the series or the characters.  Basically, it's a group of survivors that are trying to live in a world now inhabited by zombies.  Pretty much your basic late night horror flick retreads, but in Kirkman's hands it is so much more.  No character is safe, even the closest as it gets to a main character Rick could get it, with Kirkman you just never know.  He's killed other characters that you would have thought safe. 

Over the run of five dozens plus issues there have been a few dips here and there in quality but none so dangerous that I've ever thought of giving up the comic.  This is one of the best comic books being published today and if all you read are super heroes you owe it to yourself to give this comic a chance.  More so than a lot of other comics that aren't super heroes that I'll end up talking up and raving over in the future, this is one comic book that I think a lot of super hero fans will like. 

That's A Wrap For The First Installment: Like the famous pigs says “th-th-that's all, folks!” for this week.  Come back for another fun filled round next week.