World Famous Comics: The Walking Dead Vol. 5: The Best Defense
The Walking Dead Vol. 5: The Best Defense
By: Robert Kirkman Publisher: Image Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Image Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 136 Publication Date: October 11, 2006
Product Description: As the survivors settle into their prison home something has drawn them out into the open... out of the prison... out of their sanctuary. This is a major turning point for the overall story of The Walking Dead, setting the stage for years to come.
Best Non-Super Hero Comic! Amazingly, this series is not about zombies. It is about the end of the world and how the remaining humans struggle to survive in this distopia. Not since "Lord of the Flies" have we seen or read about the baser nature of humanity, once modern technology and institutions are removed. If you are a fan of "Lost" or "Battlestar Galactica", you will love "The Walking Dead". Start with "Volume 1" and enjoy!
another winner Volume five brings in new enemies--human enemies. Again, great story and the artwork is wonderful.
Another excellent volume. Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead: The Best Defense (Image, 2006)
A lot of names get tossed around when you start talking about the best graphic novel series going today. I'm guilty of it myself; I know I've used that particular phrase at least twice (unfortunately, on two different series). When one sins, one might as well compound the sin mercilessly, I guess; The Walking Dead has, for the moment, supplanted both 100 Bullets and Bleach in my estimation as the best graphic novel series going today.
Zombie literature (and, of course, filmmaking) is by now such a vast subgenre of horror that one is capable of subdividing it into subgenres of its own; there's "genre" zombie work, which simply revels in the gore, and "literary" zombie work, which is more concerned with the surviving humans and their interaction, where the zombies are, most of the time, nothing more than a backdrop. That's the paradigm Romero gave us with his Night/Dawn/Day movies, and it seems to be the approach most of the better writers in the genre take. Kirkman has been down with it since day one; the zombies are here, but they're window dressing a good deal of the time, a corporeal version of, say, The Andromeda Strain. The actual story to be found here focuses on the small band of survivors who came together in the first few books, found their way to a solid and easily-defensible prison, and have mutated into something like a large extended family. Kirkman, in The Best Defense, explores the forming of that family bond deeper, while using a subplot to introduce a menace far more dangerous, and terrifying, than the zombies. (The crux of this subplot is one of the better sequences of graphic storytelling I've seen; it's shamelessly manipulative, but it's so brash that you end up not caring. When you realize how Kirkman sucker-punched you, there's nothing you can do but smile.)
As you may be able to surmise form that paragraph, there's not a great deal of action in this volume. It is, in fact, much quieter than the books that came before it. This is not to take anything away from the book's readability, or the quiet power that suffuses it. Kirkman is excellent at what he does, and it's books like this, where the nonstop action takes a break and focuses entirely on the characters, that shows you just how excellent he is.
If you're not reading The Walking Dead, you should be. ****
The Walking Dead's most shocking story yet In a world filled with Zombies, how would the survivors cope with the daily terrors and psychological horrors of their existence? Robert Kirkman answers this question with "The Walking Dead Vol. 5: The Best Defense" in which we meet a psychopathic villain called the Governor who has been so twisted by the current state of the world that he tortures people for fun, feeds all newbies in his community to the Dead for sport, keeps his Zombie daughter as a pet, stages gladiatorial battles to amuse townsfolk, and keeps a collection of gruesome trophies in fishtanks right in his living room. Of course, Rick Grimes is smack in the middle of it all as he goes toe to toe with this maniac, which just goes to show that the Zombies are merely catalysts for greater evils that lurk in human hearts, which the survivors should truly fear above all else. I enjoyed Kirkman's dialogue and pacing, as always, but was a bit upset about what happens to Michonne in this book (the Governor gets a hold of her, I won't go into details), but that's life among the Zombies for ya. Back at the prison the story also heats up as Carol proposes something outlandish to Rick's wife concerning marriage, while orphan twins have to be dealt with alongside ex-cons and the constant threat of Zombie-intrusion. Excellent characterization and snappy banter make this volume a must read!
Unraveling at the Seams... I guess you could consider me a fan of "The Walking Dead" series by Robert Kirkman.
I was introduced to it a couple of months ago, while recovering from surgery, and I immediately found myself enjoying being immersed in a world populated by zombies and unlikely (and sometimes unlucky) heroes.
Up until this volume the characters stayed consistent and true to their nature, regardless of their appeal (or lack thereof in some cases) and, though there were times when those natures seemed to conflict with their established pattern, in this volume the characters begin to step outside of their normal established boundaries to such extent that they are almost unrecognizable to the reader.
A sad fact further demonstrated in this issue's artwork, which feels as rushed as the story does and, in some cases, appear darker than the storyline.
[Possible Spoiler Warning]
As an example, an established character, in this volume, requests a relationship beyond the ordinary one that we'd commonly experience. And, while this character's suggestion for such could plausibly occur, I felt that the character in question made such a strange request to the wrong individuals.
As the writer of the series, I would've have kept the character's previous feelings and relationship in mind prior to such a strange request, as well as, keeping in mind the reality of a person's (real or imagined) psyche and their inability to lose the person that they previously had a relationship with.
As such, rather than the character approaching two unlikely individuals in the hopes that such a strange request and proposal would be accepted, that character would, in fact, realistically propose the strange request to the person that they had been having a steady relationship with, only a couple of weeks prior, in order to try and keep the person that character has grown to depend on.
Because of situations like the one previously mentioned and others similar to it, as well as, the "superhero" elements that are beginning to surface, I found myself skimming this volume rather than voraciously devouring it like the ones prior to it. And though I will continue to read this series in hope that this is not a trend that will follow in future volumes, I find myself shuddering... not in fear of the walking dead, but from the possible loss of my hard earned dollar.
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