The Walking Dead Compendium brief review (NO SPOILERS)

Spoilers are terrible things, and this review has none (well, close to none; I did my very best at being as vague as possible). I'm not even going to point out some very obvious things because I think that this story is worthwhile and there is great value in being surprised. 

I think that The Walking Dead Compendium easily had the potential to be a 5 star book. The premise is incredibly interesting and the characters draw you in immediately from the outset. Action is in abundance as well as drama and twists and turns. It will definitely hold your attention as there is not much idle time in the story.

Unfortunately, I think this also works against the story in some ways. It seems like the author almost feels as though there always has to be some sort of shock or some sort of action, no matter what. Initially, it is understandable that the characters experience hardship and that this new zombie epidemic makes people do some pretty bad things, but at around halfway through the book, the author seems to have the desire to bludgeon the main characters with exaggerated punishments of all kinds. I know that this is a comic book, but a large component of what makes it entertaining is that the characters feel real and behave in a realistic manner. How much torture do I really need to see?

One other gripe is that the artist changes around halfway through the book. I enjoy the cartoony style of the original artist. The second artist, Charlie Adlard, is simply terrible. There are numerous moments where I could not tell characters apart, and I really wanted to. Thank goodness that some characters were non-white and wore hats, or else I would have likely given up. One thing you'll notice when Charlie Adlard takes over is the number of physical changes the characters take on. I think this is because many readers were unable to tell which character they were looking at, so the author had to add scars, hair changes, and various other alterations. Mr. Adlard's work improves eventually, but it takes a while, and even many volumes beyond this book, I still don't like it.

 Despite my problems with the book, I think that it is something very special that comic fans should check out. As you have probably assumed, it is meant for mature audiences, and is not for the faint of heart. There are many images in the book that are shocking and will make the average person uncomfortable.

The Walking Dead Compendium is definitely a good buy, especially because it is more cost effective than buying the individual issues or individual trades. As you can see from the pictures below, I am a fan and I will continue sticking with the story.

I rate The Walking Dead Compendium 8 out of 10 stars.