Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Going Savage for Civilization's Sake, May 16, 2007
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 6 continues the story of former Normal-World Police Officer Rick Grimes and those that he comes in contact with in The New World...a world that has been over-run by zombies.
Volume 6 begins after many months have passed since The Walking Dead epidemic started, 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. New World.
And venturing out into The New World is dangerous. The confines and security provided by the characters' new 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 in desperate situations that will do the unthinkable to stay alive (or entertained).
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.
I'm not a regular comic book reader. But I was drawn to The Walking Dead by the volume releases that bring the convenience of being able to get several chapters of the story without the month to month waiting for each issue. And I am now hooked.
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. Yes, it's 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 (2002 & 2007) or 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead fast and thinking zombies.
Each volume takes under an hour to get all the way through, and they leave you wanting more. So it's bittersweet to now be caught up to where I'm through all of the released material, and now have to wait for the subsequent volume releases.
Volumes 1 - 5 are all also available individually. A hard cover (Book 1) combination of Volumes 1 & 2 is out The Walking Dead Book 1 (Walking Dead) and a hard cover (Book 2) combination of Volumes 3 & 4 also came out this year The Walking Dead, Book 2 (Nos. 13-24). Book 3 (Volumes 5 & 6), is listed on Amazon for presale as of this writing The Walking Dead Book 3.
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.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kirkman ramps up the danger and raises the stakes, November 3, 2007
Volume 6 is titled This Sorrowful Life and Kirkman sure does hit it right on the nail with the title. The book tells the second half of the story arc begun in volume 5. To recap in the previous volume Rick and his group make way to investigate a crashed helicopter only to run into another group of survivors who have holed up in the partially walled off and fortified town of Woodbury. Whatever joy they find in knowing there are other survivors other than themselves was short-lived as they finally meet the person who runs and rules Woodbury.
This Sorrowful Life takes the story up with Rick, Michonne and Glenn in even a worse situation than being stuck outside with the zombies. The book introduces the people of Woodbury as not just survivors but also the polar opposite of those surviving in the prison. While the book makes a point to not paint the whole Woodbury population as losing their humanity it also points out that they've sacrificed their humanity to those promising them safety. They've pretty much given up their rights to the one who calls himself the Governor who rules Woodbury through intimidation and so-called bloodsports involving gladiator-like fighters and corralled zombies. We see hwo the difference between Rick and the Governor's way of keeping their people safe also show the kind of people the are. Where Rick tries to keep his people safe and together without losing their humanity the Governor goes the opposite way and grabs a hold of power even at the cost of everyone.
Kirkman does a great job of showing the two groups and how its probably inevitable that the two will have a confrontation either in Woodbury or back in the prison. While no everyone in Woodbury are out for themselves, a few manage to sympathize with Rick and his group, the rest of the town could easily be considered as the biggest threat hanging over the prison survivors. Again Kirkman shows that sometimes its not the zombies themselves who are the biggest threat to humanity's survival but the people and their flaws to always get into conflict with each other instead of pulling together for the greater good and survival of everyone.
The book ends with Rick having to make another decision where he has to sacrifice some of his own ideals in order to keep his family and friends safe. Will this sacrifice end up costing him down the line will be up to Kirkman to tell us. I hope he continues to expand on this Woodbury angle but at the same time not go overboard on the extreme end of the emotional spectrum. It's great that he's limited the amount of soap opera-style stortelling which dominated volume 4, but going for just action and action and action without plot would be just as bad. So far, volume 6 and it's predecessor in volume 5 tells me he's got a great hold on the story.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, as usual., January 23, 2008
Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead: This Sorrowful Life (Image, 2007)
Kirkman returns with This Sorrowful Life, the sixth installment of his excellent Walking Dead series, with Rick and co. captured by the insane Governor. How will he and his compatriots get out of the city and back to the prison, and what will they find when they get there? As usual, the focus here is less on the zombies themselves and more on the survivors and their relationships with one another, as it should be. Kirkman has created a fine, fine thing with The Walking Dead; even if you're not a big horror fan, this one's well worth checking out. ****
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