Customer Reviews

The Walking Dead, Vol. 8: Made to Suffer

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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.

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.

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

For zombie story splatter-fans who may have felt that this book was getting a little plot-heavy and lacking in the gore department, this volume provides all the blood, guts and exploding heads you could ever want. It's not the slow-moving zombies who are doing all the killing, though: this time it's all about human-on-human violence, as a militaristic rival band of survivors -- led by their pure-evil, super-sadistic Governor -- descend on our hero Rick and his band of refugees. All the character development that author Robert Kirkman has invested in the series pays off in horrific emotional dividends, as one hero after another falls prey to the madness of war. Indeed, you'll be busier trying to figure out who *didn't* get killed than the other way around.

This is a harsh storyline, cruel, unrelenting, unapologetically tragic -- and genuinely gross. Indeed, there are at least three grueling sequences that literally made me nauseous while reading them. If you want some real, hardcore horror, Kirkman really delivers on this one. And, boy, I can't wait to see what happens next! (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)

First the series as whole is one of the greatest looks not only at what happens during a zombie apocalypse, but what happens after as people try to pick up their lives. It is very character driven and really the zombies are just a supporting role, Kirkman's macguffin. So really just go get the first one if you have not already.

On to this installment, spoilers below for previous installments, but not for this one.

When we last left our heroes they were back in the unsure safety of their prison. They had survived, barely, their last brush with the governor. Now the governor returns with a vengance, having barely survived his brush with the bad a**, sword wielding Michonne.

What can I say, if you thought the volume 7: the calm before was a little slow, this is your payoff. I don't know how this volume could have suprised me more. I don't know what I will do until the next one comes out. Maybe I will have to start getting the comics as they come out faster than the combined volumes. Everything you thought you knew about the rules of horror stories is thrown out the window. Good becomes bad, bad becomes good and no one is safe.

First this series really seemed a morality tale of how a good cop like Rick could turn into someone who would do evil to protect his family. Now morality is thrown out the window. Everything is about survival.

Robert Kirkman continues to amaze with this saga. This Volume is by far the most brutal, gut wrenching, and in a lot of ways, most satisfying of the lot. There are no punches pulled here and no one is safe when the Governor comes riding up to the prison gates where Rick and company have lived in relative safety for quite a long time.
We expected this and it has finally come. I do not like giving away details or spoilers but I think no one should be surprised that things change dramatically and quite permanently for all the characters.
I can't help but believe that from what I have seen with this story that this is arguably one of the best, if not the best zombie story ever written or filmed. That it is not over (and I have no idea when if ever Kirkman plans on bringing things to a close) only adds to my fascination with it.

Sometimes sitting still, even in the best fortifications, can come with the label "forever." This is where we find our ground of characters at, caught between a proverbial rock and a hard place. They have made human contact and are now bracing for the impact of them wanting what they have, and something certainly has to give. Considering that the zombies are not really the bad guys here - they are more like dangerous scenery than anything - that makes things all-the-more dangerous. Add in the fact that The Walking Dead is not a predictable entity giving you a detailed map of who lives and who dies and you have something terrible on the horizon.

For a while now, we have seen the impact of community on the survivors as they have turned the jail into something they can call their own. They have a garden, defense, weapons, food, water, power, and other pieces of a life that seemed lost only a few books back. They want to hold on to this, too, but other people want to have it - and understandably so. Blood has been spilled because of this, blood from both sides, and the clash that comes is one that caused my heart to sink. I really do not want to give anything away, but i will say one thing: there will be loses, and they will be painful ones for the group to bear.

When I read this volume, I was surprised by the depths of the loss. I thought that one or two people might die, and those people could be recent arrivals. Still,the writing in this series has been top-notch from the beginning and this is no different. It has twists and turns, attacks that one does not expect, and a little surprise that changes everything. This, along with the teeth walking outside the gates, makes the world seem like a place that nobody can keep on keeping on through.

If you have not checked out the series, go get Volume 1 and start reading. This is one of the best series I have seen in a long time (other than Crossed, which takes things to a horrific level), and it is really addictive. Even people with a disdain for zombies will find this series refreshing, with the bite coming from all directions. I personally recommend all the books, but any readers that have stopped reading NEED to be here.

Kirkman's The Walking Dead series never fails to surprise - or to deliver. Again he shows that he'll pull no punches when it comes to delivering a shocking, unexpected and brilliantly entertaining story.

Volume 7 was a bit 'day in the life' - the band of survivors became accustomed to life within the walls of their prison home. Characters met, bonded, related, grew. But it was aptly named - the calm before the storm.

Whereas 7 was slow-burning and insightful, 8 is pure chaos - a surfeit of violence and bloodshed (or ichor-shed for the zombies). As with the previous collections, Kirkman shows that the real enemy of the living is the other living... while zombies are an unthinking threat, it is sentient human beings that present the real horror.

A fantastic collection. Worth reading immediately, then setting down, re-reading 7 (or 1-7!), and then reading again. Well done, and can't wait to see what comes next!

OMG, I can't believe how far this series has gone. Just can't get enough. If you haven't read a single issue then you are in for a treat because you don't have to wait 6 months for each book to come out. you can buy all 8 Trades and save yourself 4 years of waiting!

Most of the reviews have pretty much summed up how great this addition is to the rest of the series, but I would like to add that Showtime or HBO need to option this for a new series, already. Every two trades could be a full season. You'd already have 4 Seasons of materials to work with

I started reading the Walking Dead comic when it was already up to issue #20, so I started buying the Trades to read the stories easier. Man, Since then I've loaned this book around my office and I have about 8 people waiting for the book to get passed around. So now I buy 2, because I always have another person to introduce the series to.

The previous volume of the modern-soon-to-be-classic zombie comic was entitled "The Calm Before the Storm," and the title was pretty fitting - it was much less action oriented and the main characters actually had a chance to breathe - even given an opportunity to settle into what could become their daily routine in the post-apocalyptic world that Kirkman has created.

They should have know that wasn't going to last long!

The calm breaks with a resounding crash in "Made To Suffer," with tanks, explosions, zombie bites and a death toll seldom seen among major characters in comic series. This one packs a wallop - nobody is safe and nobody gets out of this volume unscathed.

While violence is rampant, it doesn't have quite the grotesque nature of some of the previous volumes with their torture scenes. Even amongst the havoc, some bright hope for the future is given, although much of that is rapidly taken away in the climactic battle scene. I won't get into details to avoid spoiling a great story, but there are parts of the last few pages that rip the reader's heart out.

While not for young readers, anyone mature enough to handle an R-rated movie (and who enjoys zombies/horror) would be well advised to check this series out from the beginning. It continues to pick up steam and I look forward to the next volume.