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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The just and the unjust perish together..., July 9, 2008
This review is from: The Walking Dead, Vol. 8: Made to Suffer (Paperback)
I've been following "The Walking Dead" since the first trade paperback. I'm so devoted to this series that I bought a newly released collection while on vacation in Sweden a couple years ago because I couldn't wait to catch up. I wasn't sure what direction Mr. Kirkman would take after the last collection's apocalyptic final page, but he has certainly gone to the dark side with this volume. That man has *no* mercy. Wow.
In a flashback we see The Governor, body horribly maimed by Michonne but hateful soul intact, marshalling his forces against Rick's enclave using blatant lies and force of will. Suffice to say that he's more twisted now than ever, especially given the depths he's sunk to in his relationship with the little girl zombie he keeps leashed up at home. Between her and his "entertainment system," we see that he's more comfortable relating with the undead than with the living.
After we return to his assault on the prison, things get even nastier. No quarter is asked, and none given. Familiar characters are brutally murdered, badly wounded, spiritually broken, or flee for their lives. What makes this volume so devastating is that many longtime players are lost or forever damaged, even some that have been around since day one. And of course, the undead feast on anyone unlucky enough to get in their way (talk about survival of the fittest). As with most zombie stories, the undead aren't really the villains. Indeed, the living are more gruesome and do the most heinous deeds by far.
In the end, we have yet another of Mr. Kirkman's trademark cliffhangers, one that tops all the previous ones in its horror and desolation. I don't know what Mr. Kirkman snorts while writing these stories, but it must be some hardcore stuff. Absolutely recommended - but not for kids or the faint of heart.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Governor of the Dead, July 8, 2008
This review is from: The Walking Dead, Vol. 8: Made to Suffer (Paperback)
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 8 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.
I'd agree with you if you thought that maybe The Walking Dead, Vol. 7: The Calm Before took a major pause in the epic series to focus less on zombies and more on what happens to society, its morals, laws and standards when government is lost and the planet becomes mostly uninhabitable.
You'll probably recall that previous volumes in the series showed how venturing out of the confines and security provided by the characters' home (established in Volume 3) are less than safe. The new zombie-infested world is dangerous not only because of the hordes of undead, but outside the gates await unfathomable chaos and horror in the pockets of societies of other survivors (see Volumes 5 and 6)....Especially in Volume 6 where survivors in desperate situations do the unthinkable to stay alive (or entertained).
By the end of Volume 6 we thought that one of the major threats to the primary group of survivors that the series follows had been removed. But what fan of the series can forget the cliffhanger of a last page from Volume 7? Volume 7 was appropriately named "The Calm Before", because Volume 8 is indeed a storm. Volume 8 picks up right from the shocker of a final Volume 7 page and relentlessly presents a war...not between the undead and man...but between two societies of the living in a world gone mad.
There's real, heartfelt emotion in The Walking Dead series combined with believable scenarios. I was never a big comic book guy prior to this series. Now I'm singing a different tune. This comic book series blows the doors off of a lot DVDs that I've wasted time with, and it's introduced me to a whole new entertainment media.
Anyway, 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 fast and thinking "infected" in ( 28 Weeks Later / 28 Days Later) or the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.
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; I think that issues 49 - 55 will likely comprise Volume 9 (with issue 55 due in Sept '08), so unfortunately, as of this writing, only #49 - #53 are published. The wait begins.
Volumes 1 - 8 are all available individually. A hard cover combination of Volumes 1 & 2 is out ( The Walking Dead Book 1, a hard cover combination of Volumes 3 & 4 is out ( The Walking Dead, Book 2), and Volumes 5 & 6 are now combined in Hardcover (The Walking Dead Book 3).
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.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What an apt title: "Made to Suffer" The most gut-wrenching of the series so far..., December 13, 2008
This review is from: The Walking Dead, Vol. 8: Made to Suffer (Paperback)
Well, having made it through 8 paperbacks of this excellent zombie apocalypse graphic tale, I can say it's gotten better and better and worse. Better cause of the continuing escalation of dread. Better because of continuing deepening of character and conflict. Worse because the zombie enemy, while persisting and ever-threatening and ever-hungry, now takes a backseat to a raging, sociopathic, depraved leader of a human enemy: The Governor in his post-Michonne-mutilation-spree fury.
The Governor is the antithesis of Rich and many of his nobler band of survivors, who really just want to survive with as much of their humanity and community intact as possible. No, this Governor holds power with the darkest, most two-faced tyrannical and ruthless means and desires possible. I dare you not to puke up a bit at the scenes with his "daughter."
It's a helluva showdown in this volume. The cost will be tremendous, as it must when both sides are motivated and well-armed and will not give up.
It's really hard to see some characters go. Very hard. But now one is left wondering what new horrors (and depths of courage and conflict) await the survivors.
It's actually dramatically a good move--even if it breaks your heart and turns your stomach. The prison has been the setting for a good space now. It's time to see what else is out there in a land gone very, very wrong.
It can only get worse, I imagine. But I'm in for the awful ride.
A terrific series for zombie fans, or postapocalyptic fans. It's not about colorful artwork, though the visuals are solid. It's about a story. A horror story. And it's topnotch.
Mir
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