Millarworld en masse is having an unusual reaction to the latest issue of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead:

“Around Issue 29 I began to lose interest: the book felt like Kirkman’s notebook rather than a comic book story. Everything was on the page, every conversation, every encounter, everything with no rhyme or reason, no attempt at control or artistry. It wasn’t writing, it was typing. As the story spun its wheels and got mired deeper in the muck I still picked it up (via illegal downloads …. oh nos!) but Issue 33 is the bottom for me. I actually bought the floppy because I was out and had some time to kill and, well, maybe I’m getting old but was anyone else appalled by this story? And not appalled in a good way, but in an ‘I’m astonished at the lack of maturity and professionalism’ way. This reminded me of the kind of thing a 9th grader writes when they first attempt to do ‘horror’, confusing sadism for intensity. I’ve accused TWD of becoming fan fiction before, but this WAS fan fiction. Just awful.”

” I dropped it a couple of issues ago and a friend of mine dropped it with this issue, he said it was too much. I liked the series but it’s just too grim and one-tone on a monthly basis for me to maintain a interest.”

“The way I see it, the book is allowed to go where it’s going because of where it’s been. This hasn’t just been mindless murder porn like Saw or Hostel, it’s a book that’s built on a foundation of humanity. We’ve followed these characters from much simpler times, and been there as every terrible thing that’s happened takes a greater and greater toll on their minds and souls. It’s not set up in a way to excite you about what violent thing’s going to happen next, it’s structured to make you uncomfortable and distraught as you see these people unwinding. There are things happening in this book that I’d laugh at in some Ennis series, but when I read them in this context with these characters, I feel horrible.”

“Finally read 33, and knowing what was going to happen going in, I still was taken aback. I’m thinking about dropping it now, if it’s just going to continue in this vein. Yeah it’s a zombie book, it’s supposed to be dark, but if Kirkman is going to make his protagonists this unlikeable, then what’s the point? I don’t want to read about people I don’t like, torturing and killing other people I don’t like, plus zombies. I completely get the point he was trying to make; it just wasn’t an enjoyable read. The torture was completely over the top and didn’t have to be shown to be effective. It’s like, ‘Oh noes!!! We humans are no better than the zombies, ZOMG!’”

“Seems like lots of, if not all zombie fiction of late ends up leaning towards the ‘MAN IS THE REAL MONSTER!!!111ONEONEone’ angle. Perused the issue, but didn’t pick it up. Didn’t really do anything for me. I was rather hoping she’d just tie him up and leave him in a room with the kid, and walk away. Would have been better, and classier.”

Not that everyone agrees, of course:

“I know what reality is, and reality is not nice, and it hasn’t even been run over with zombies which would make things much much worse. I think Kirkman is doing a good job of showing small positive moments some characters needed to survive (and ofcourse some horrible moments).”

“I guess I’m just sick because what’s being described doesn’t sound like enough torture for that governer guy. I wanted her to go there and do awful, awful things to him and then feed parts of him to his daughter. Maybe I’ll feel different when I read it, but I doubt it.”

Suddenly, I am very, very scared of that last poster.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 14th, 2006 at 9:07 am and is filed under Fandom, Image, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.