Customer Reviews

The Walking Dead, Vol. 7: The Calm Before

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Robert Kirkman's THE WALKING DEAD stands as one of the greatest horror comic books (arguably THE greatest) ever printed. The theme has been done before (zombies taking over the world - a few humans fighting to survive in the post-apocalyptic world), but never has a horror comic served up such an epic tale of humanity, the undead as well as the good and evil, strength and weakness that lie within the (beating) hearts of the characters. Unlike George Romero's : NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, readers are treated to the long term reality of zombie infestation. The relationships that develop between the surviving humans (love, jealously, fear and hope) are not simple 2-dimensional designs - to the reader, these characters live and breathe, and we celebrate their struggle, and mourn every single passing. My highest of recommendations to all potential readers - you will not be disappointed with this amazing graphic novel.

Other Recommendations:

ZOMBIE FACTORY:
Zombie Factory: 27 Tales of Bizarre Comix Madness from Beyond the Tomb

THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE:
The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead

ESCAPE OF THE LIVING DEAD:
Escape Of The Living Dead Volume 1

This serie is amazing, well written, well drawn. Perfect atmosphere, its easy to identify yourself with the main characters. When the gruesome thing happened to the main character in vol.6 i could not help myself getting mad at the guy who did it. That explains my 5-star rating. Perfect material for a rainy sunday-afternoon with a bottle of pepsi and potato-chips.

Tensions mount inside the prison haven while the survivors deal with a wedding, a birth, an ongoing war with roamers, an imminent war with another surviving tribe, and a few funerals.

This amazing series continues to keep readers wondering what happens next and urges them through each page of the story. The trauma of the undead threat takes a back seat to an internal stew that is coming to a boil.

How long can a handlful of people stay in their barbed-wire oasis, waiting for the inevitable? Can they rebuild society? Does one of the survivors have a plan to overcome the disease that wiped out the planet? Can anyone drive a tank?

Most of the folks here already know that The Walking Dead saga is a compilation of stories by Robert Kirkman that expand on the story that is well know to any zombie movie fan. The main story. The one started in earnest by George Romero in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead [and was later remade in 1990 (the version that I prefer) by Tom Savini (with Romero oversight)].

The Walking Dead Volume 7 continues the story of former Normal-World Police Officer Rick Grimes and those that he comes in contact with in a New World...a world that has been over-run by zombies.

Volume 7 begins about 9+ months after The Walking Dead epidemic started (The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye), and all of the characters are now reluctantly beginning to accept that their home is not the only thing that's new. Their entire existence is new: New families. New friends. New daily routines. New rules to live by. No cable TV. No grocery stores. No air conditioning.

New World.

And venturing out into The New World is dangerous. The confines and security provided by the characters' home (established in Volume 3) are less than safe. But outside the gates await unfathomable chaos and horror; hordes of the undead, along with other survivors (see Volumes 5 and 6) in desperate situations that do the unthinkable to stay alive (or entertained).

Volume 7, like Volume 6, is much less about zombies and more about what happens to society, its morals, laws and standards when government is lost and the planet becomes mostly uninhabitable. There's real, heartfelt emotion in The Walking Dead series combined with believable scenarios...not bad for a comic book.

The volume releases of The Walking Dead are like reading a screenplay with storyboards of a version of Night of the Living Dead that began simultaneously, but in a different part of the country (much like George Romero's late 2007 release, Diary of the Dead). Yes, The Walking Dead is kind of a rip-off of a story (stories) already told, but the key is that it's done very very well. The zombies are true to the original Romero creation: slow and stupid as opposed to the 28 Days/Weeks Later (28 Weeks Later / 28 Days Later) or 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead fast and thinking zombies.

Each Walking Dead volume only takes about an hour to get all the way through, and they leave you wanting more. And they seem to keep coming; The Walking Dead Volume 8: Made To Suffer is due in early 2008.

Volumes 1 - 7 are all available individually. A hard cover combination of Volumes 1 & 2 is out (The Walking Dead Book 1) and a hard cover combination of Volumes 3 & 4 also came out this year (The Walking Dead, Book 2). The Walking Dead Book 3 (Volumes 5 & 6) is listed on Amazon for a late 2007 release as of this writing.

So anyone in need of a very well done zombie fix that you don't put into your DVD player should absolutely get down with The Walking Dead sickness. Add it to your cart, but be sure to start with volume 1 and read them chronologically.

I realize this is the review for Volume Seven of The Walking Dead series; however, can there be anything good coming in volume eight when the title of the seventh chapter is The Calm Before? Robert Kirkman takes an entire chapter to lull his readers into a bit of complacency. Perhaps he is trying to get his readers to experience the idea he is driving home in this volume: sit in safety long enough and you will forget how to protect yourself.

The lack of good times and warm moments seems all the more pronounced by the almost overwhelmingly good feelings provided here by things like a small wedding, and of course, the ultimate antithesis of death: birth. That's not to say there aren't some bad moments. Another chapter falls, one loses a leg. Kirkman has established his mythos by now, A bite like the one that claims 'Roger" in Dawn of the Dead is not a death sentence in Kirkman's world.

As has been the case throughout, the characters in this saga act in very real, very identifiable ways. The insecurities and uncertainties in all of us are manifested by the small band of survivors. Their beauty, and the power of this series comes from their `realness'. The Calm Before exposes the frailties more definitely and does an excellent job of setting the reader. It's the thrill of sitting in a dark movie theater, knowing something is going to jump out...then it does and you STILL jump. That is the last three pages of volume seven.

The last page is a return to the gut-wrenching, aggravating cliff hanger. This is the one that leaves you furious. Fortunately, those of you reading these reviews have the option of having chapter eight just a page away (if you own the hardcover compendium) or sitting beside you.

For those of you new to this series, I challenge you to just wait twenty-four hours. Savor the anguish of those inside the prison fence, living in their false security. Then...grab volume eight and quench your thirst for The Walking Dead.

Much of The Calm Before focused on the survivors engaging in pre-apocalypse behaviors. A wedding, a birth, a basketball game, some gardening, "shopping", choosing which movie to watch next and the like. As the title suggests, their opportunity to indulge in the little things they took for granted before the zombie outbreak was inevitably short-lived, leading up to a not-too-surprising last page attack.

Of course, it wouldn't be an installment of The Walking Dead without bloodshed, of the completely unexpected and same-stuff-another-day variety. Even with Michonne's mounting emotional problems, she can still be counted on to butcher foes, both undead and alive. Complacency proves to be a danger, which thankfully motivates those remaining to remember that the danger beyond the fence is still just as dangerous while they are safely inside.

Carol, crazy, desperate Carol has grown on me the last few volumes. Her need for love outgrew her need for survival a long time ago. She's at her needy best here and seems as though she may have finally found the acceptance she was craving, if in a really bizarre fashion.

The Calm Before was a good deal less thrilling than some previous installments of The Walking Dead, but I was pleased with the end result. Given how the future seems to be panning out for the survivors, this may be the last time we see them do anything as normal as have sex or joke about stale cereal. Setting up an fight for survival beyond anything we've see so far, The Calm Before hit just the right notes to really get me excited for the survivors coming days.

The time has arrived, Lori goes into a labor. Also a dark secret a person has been hiding is finally revealed. And a character gets bitten. Also the ending leaves you wanting more.

Its vol. 7 of the ongoing zombie comic. All things are safe and quite in the prison. But there is always the fear that the Governor will come for revenge. This to me has to be one of my favorite collections in the series but there were twist and turns everywhere.

Pros:
-One of the best so far
-The ending
-The twists and turns

Cons:
-None

Just when I think each issue can't get any better it does. Such a fresh idea on the zombie genre, not just run here come the zombies and everybody dies except for one person. Highly recommend if you love this genre.

This is by far my favorite comic series of all time. Fantastic story and artwork. I am a huge zombie fan, but I am not being biased when I say how great this book really is. I highly recommend to any zombie fan or horror comic fan.

I love this series! I thought this volume was a nice interlude between the coming storm which happens in the next and is essential to the plot.