The Walking Dead Season 6

Knowing the source material can give you an unfair advantage on an adaptation that works like a double edged sword. Sometimes it means that you won't be surprised by what happens, but thankfully, The Walking Dead fixed that early on by veering far enough away from the comic to make it fresh enough for us comic fans. The dynamics of the characters hasn't been the same as the comic for most of the series at this point. Different people have lived and died in each, so even when they do follow the events of the comic closely, the impact is going to be different enough to make it interesting. Daryl, as much as I think he's the most boring character on the show and has been since season 2, doesn't even exist in the comic, so right off that's a new element in the mix. These are good things. But, because we live in the age that we do, where people that have never read a comic book in their miserable lives can look up whatever they want online, the show has been toying with all of us this season with anticipated deaths and the coming of Negan. And not in good ways.

Don't get me wrong, I think the show is still doing a great job, overall, of giving us this unflinching, dread laden tale of humanity at it's best and worst. And that's what it's about: humanity. Not the zombies. The best episode of the season to me was probably The Same Boat, where Carol and Maggie are captured by some of the saviors and Carol proceeds to break down for reasons you wouldn't expect, before finally having to do the horrible things that were necessary to survive. This episode's reminder that actions, no matter how necessary, have consequences on the conscience of good people could have been cheesy, but instead it was harrowing beyond the violence and gore. You understand why Carol is not just tired, but completely spent on an existential level. And Maggie's moment at the end, after being all hardcore, when she just breaks down and says "I can't anymore" is what makes this show special. There's no glory in the horrors of having to survive this way.

But before we got to that episode there was the whole "is Glenn dead or not?" crap from early on. It was set up as a cheap ploy from the get go with ambiguous editing and media hype immediately following.  Then they intentionally didn't get back to Glenn for a couple of episodes before revealing his fate. It just wasn't organic storytelling the way the show has mostly been until now. They clearly were depending on the Internet furor to build up the tension instead of letting the story do it.  All it did is spark the conversation about Glenn's interaction with Negan in the comic, which furthered the hype until the last episode of the season. Cheap and unnecessary. 

The final episode was actually amazingly well done. The sense of dread and inescapable danger just closing in was almost too much for me. I felt sick to my stomach throughout the episode, partly because I knew what was coming, but partly because I didn't. It was back to old school Walking Dead tension where anyone could die, but someone is going to and it's gonna be hard. By the time we get to Negan's intro, he's everything he should be and Jeffrey Dean Morgan is perfect. You're afraid and this guy may as well be the actual devil, but the fact that he's kinda charming doesn't take the edge off. I've heard people say you kinda like him, but I don't think that's it at all. I think it's the realization that certain other people might like him which means nobody is going to help you. The look on Rick's face is how you feel and hope it never comes to that feeling for any reason in real life. Shit's hit the fan and now the fan is going to hit back. With a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. And it will be messy as fuck, both physically and emotionally. But then, the show went with hokey gimmick again instead of emotional knockout. Instead of just going through with the scene in the way that the comic did, where when I read it, I felt like I'd just lived it, they basically stopped the show. Never mind the shitty POV of whoever is getting beat, but ending the finale before the scene plays out makes the entire season feel incomplete. That is not an ending. 

The best cliffhangers end on a big reveal, with what's next hanging in the balance. Locutus appears on the screen, Ryker says "fire" and cut to black (gets me every fucking time). We know what happened to Picard now and we know Ryker has made the hard but only decision. Next season will tell us what's next, and I will be anxious all summer, but there was an emotional arc that came to a close. But on The Walking Dead finale, not knowing who gets killed, even though we're watching the killing is sending the wrong message. It's almost telling us that it doesn't matter who gets killed. But it totally does matter and not just because we love some of these characters. On one level, it matters because one of the questions we are left with should be how will they react and that will depend on who gets killed. But on a higher level it matters because ending this way separates the show from that humanity I spoke about earlier. This scene, in the way it was shot, even though it doesn't actually show much of it,  makes it about spectacle and gore and violence. That's the focus of the anticipation we're left with. It's not about consequence at all. The POV especially makes it a video game. It also disconnects us from our heroes because they can't make the violence stop, but we get a break. We're no longer living it with them. It should be an unrelenting scene, but it relents. It relents until October, I guess.

And beyond that, as a cheap TV ploy, it gives the creators of the show a way to gauge who should or shouldn't be killed in terms of ratings, something I don't think they had done before. Let's not forget it's not really all just big main characters in play here. Aaron is in the group too and while he might be a good character, he's barely been there. We just aren't invested in him the way we are with any of the others. If we come back next season to learn he was the chosen one, then the show has officially jumped the shark. This death is supposed to mean a whole lot more to everybody than some guy they just met. I have my suspicions on who it might actually be and if so it's a bold and maybe even dumb move. But it's a move that would at least work to do what it needs to do from a narrative perspective. That's assuming they don't just go with the straight comic version.  Either way, I'm sure before the next season it will be spoiled by set pictures or whatever because that's what they've opened it up to. We'll see. . . 

Revisit The Walking Dead Issue 100

This was originally posted on my Tumblr back on July 13th, 2012. This will be important to read as context for my upcoming take on The Walking Dead season 6, which should be posted in the next day or so. Interestingly, I didn't read this again until after writing most of the show post. 

Comic of the Week - No Contest

I was always a big fan of Nirvana. One thing Kurt Cobain always talked about in interviews was the “loud quite loud” dynamic in his music which he attributed to the Pixies. Basically, the idea is that by having this dynamic in music, it makes each part stand out and have that much more impact, be it the loud part or the quiet part. The loud makes you listen more closely to the quiet. The quiet lends gravity to the loud. I believe Robert Kirkman has been brilliantly following this dynamic in The Walking Dead and issue 100 was about as loud as it gets.

Sometimes big milestones happen in comics and it turns out to be more hype than anything else. The Walking Dead hit 100 issues this week and it was one of the most tense, gut wrenching, harrowing issues I’ve read of anything in a long, long time (probably since some other issue of The Walking Dead, if I were to really think about it). By now, anyone reading the series knows that it’s not about the zombies or the gore. The horror, the fear, the nauseous feeling you get sometimes when reading this, comes from the humans. And more importantly, it’s as a result of emotional investment in the characters. Just like the events of issue 48 would have had less impact if they happened sooner, the events of issue 100 work because there are 99 issues of build up behind it. In the time this series has existed, people have often complained that nothing was happening for long stretches. But by now, you should be prepared for anything to happen after a long stretch like that. Yes, there’s a formula at play here, but Robert Kirkman uses that formula like a master.

Right off the bat (no pun intended) the issue opens with scenes that imply, somehow, that something horrible is about to go down. Sure, we know this is true because it’s been hyped, but even if we didn’t, and didn’t know that this was a big milestone 100th issue, there is something about the way the scenes are presented that just ooze tension. There’s a threat looming behind each group we see. They are, for the most part, saying they are optimistic about the future, but somehow, you know they’re really not. They feel it and you do, too. Charlie Adlard, through lines on a paper, in black and white, conveys a sense of doubt and apprehension behind the eyes and through posture that rival the best actors. The subtlety is amazing and yet the feeling is impossible to miss, so your stomach starts getting tied into knots as you turn each page. And yet, you’re never really prepared for what happens.

By the time we find out which group is in danger, the scene plays out slowly and horrifically. You know something is going to happen, but you aren’t sure what and once you do know what it is and even to who, you still aren’t sure how much you’re going to see or where it will end. But you see everything, in heartbreaking, agonized detail. And once it’s done, the threat of more stays hanging there. I for one felt just as powerless as the characters I’ve gotten to know for 100 issues. It was like I was right there with them, unable to stop what was happening, witnessing and getting very nauseous. Once I closed the book, I was not entirely sure what to do next. I eventually read the next book in my stack, Batman, and as good as it was, I still couldn’t shake The Walking Dead. I guess that, much like Macho Grande, I’ll never get over The Walking Dead.

Catching Up Again

So, here's some blurbs on things I've watched over the past, I don't know, while.

Will they make it?

I was afraid Fear The Walking Dead would turn into too much of an exploration of whys and hows of the zombie apocalypse, which is sort of contrary to the whole point of The Walking Dead. To my surprise, there was no real explanation of how this infection or whatever started. But we did start to see how civilization starts to break down and how fragile the bonds that keep us civil actually are to begin with. The minute survival is at stake and the shit hits the fan, it's a free for all. And no matter how much people try to hold on to social contracts, eventually, they will get pushed to a breaking point. How they come out of that breaking point will determine if they survive or not. I am excited to see this show continue since I have no idea where it will go next. Ruben Blades is the man, period. 

The Inbetweeners is a show from the UK about 4 boys in their late teens, dealing with being 4 boys in their late teens. It's funny as fuck and it's much more real than anything I've ever seen on the topic before. In a way it's a relative of Freaks and Geeks and Superbad, but British, which is somehow even better. Every episode makes me wish I wish a Brit more. They really do get the best cursing and turns of phrase. 

Brilliant.

I liked about 75% of Sons of Anarchy. I think it went too long and that finale was a fit of heavy handed, pretentious vomit. Still, there was enough interesting stuff in there that Kurt Sutter's next series seemed like it deserved a shot. But, The Bastard Executioner had me bored, angry and asleep within 30 minutes. It just comes across as the next in a long line of Not Game of Thrones shows. To be fair, Vikings, which I like a lot, is in that line. But Vikings got me with a historical perspective, interesting characters and, well, Lagertha, from the get go. Nothing like that in Bastard Executioner. No thanks.

Speaking of Sons of Anarchy, Hand of God on Amazon, starring Ron Perlman is a bizarre show about a judge who hears the voice of his brain dead son, giving him information about the people responsible for raping his daughter in law and thereby leading to said brain dead son to commit suicide. It's not very good, though. But I can't help but think that this is where Kurt Sutter would make this a good show. He'd find a way to take the over the top concept and situations and somehow make them so absurd they'd be more believable. There was potential here. 

Comics - Return to The Walking Dead

I guess I worked myself up into a bit of a thing between listening to the Robert Kirkman episode of WTF and revisiting a comic post from the past. So I started reading The Walking Dead again. I'm a little over a year behind and I'm in no rush to catch up, so I've only read 2 issues so far. I'll probably not read more than two a week and for now, it's just the one series. I'm sure if I'm not careful I'll wind up with a full blown habit again, but for now it's just this one thing. Although, I was looking through some of the indie comics on Comixology and I've already seen a bunch of things I want to check out. At least doing it digitally it means I'm only buying as I read so with time being hard to come by, I won't likely be binging on anything, really.

Ok, I'm back.

Anyway, the last I had read on Walking Dead was the All Out War storyline, so I didn't stop in the middle of anything. And as a matter of fact, it turned out to be a perfect place for a hiatus since the next issue picked up 2 years after the end of the war. The survivors have now built up a sort of civilization and have developed techniques for driving away herds of walkers. The story in the 2 issues so far deals with a new group that they rescue and it's interesting to see the process of developing trust that we've seen repeatedly in the series, only from the other side. It's the newcomers that aren't sure if they should trust these people who have something that appears to good to be true, and therefore probably is And if we know anything about Rick at this point it's that no matter how good his intentions, he can be pretty intense, so seeing him older, slower and seemingly more at ease is suspicious even to me.

Meanwhile, the decision to keep Negan alive and in prison is bound to bite him in the ass. Carl goes to talk to Negan often, and apparently secretly, but still wants to kill him, supposedly. Still there's a certain mentoring going on there. I'm sure he sees some of his dad's old self there. Some of what he admired. I don't know. No matter how peaceful and boring this might seem, with everyone being excited about the success of learning to make bread and all, it's bound to go to shit soon. It always does. And then they rebuild again, stronger, until the next, even greater challenge comes along. So I'm back!

Podcatching: WTF - Robert Kirkman

On the Robert Kirkman episode of Marc Maron's WTF Podcast, Marc talked about being late to the party and it was like listening to myself. He was talking about comics, but it's a mentality I've had for some time. Hipsters are always bragging about being into things "before they were cool." I've been that guy. There's something to be said for that. But I'm also the guy that famously said to a friend once, just a couple of years ago, that I thought I was finally ready to get into Outcast now that the hype had died down. But then again I'm not the type that will like something just because it's cool or just because it's not cool. Not just because I'm old enough to not give a fuck, either. I've always been pretty fine with liking what I like. But still, the whole thing about hype is that it can sometimes ruin a good thing for me if everyone is constantly going on about how great it is or it's something that becomes unavoidable in the mass culture, like Outcast was for a while. So, yeah, Marc talks about how it's better to be late to the party because if it's still going on, then it was probably a good party. Truth.

Kirkman with his agent and manger.

So then Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead comes on and reminds me I haven't been reading the comic in far too long. I need to get back into it. I just have to find the time. I've heard and seen interviews with him before so I know he's funny, humble and amazingly down to earth. This interview demonstrated that in full force. I was surprised to learn that he didn't grow up watching horror movies and really only did so when he was in his 20s, which is what lead to his creating The Walking Dead. I guess I always figured he was a huge horror buff, but now that I think of it, it kind of makes sense, since his approach to explore the humanity more than the "horror" aspects.

But it was really near the end of his interview that it really hit me why these are two guys that every kid that wants to be an artist of any kind needs to listen to. They talked about how Kirkman, when he was struggling to get his career going, would just lay on the ground and shake because he was so deep in debt and had no way to get out. He had made a decision at some point to pursue this dream of being a writer. And yeah, he finally made it and it more than just "worked out" for him. But he also very clearly said that if he had to do it again he probably would not and would just go work in a bank or whatever. That he really truly just got lucky and it didn't have to go that way at all. And Marc seconded that. That message is so refreshing.

They're not walking now!

Our culture is obsessed with romanticizing struggle. We love the myth of the starving artist paying dues and emerging because of perseverance and talent. But the reality is that shit is crazy and for every success story you can think of there are thousands and thousands that were maybe more talented and also never gave up, but still got nowhere. Yet if someone were to stop and go the more conventional way in life, they'd be labeled a quitter or whatever. That's not even remotely fair. Sometimes you just have to know when enough is enough and that choice is up to the individual. There should be no shame in one or glory in the other. The glory for Robert Kirkman isn't that he struggled, it's that he's damn good. It's that he has something to say. Whether he struggled to get there or had it handed to him wouldn't change that one bit. Stop glorifying struggle is all I'm saying. Then again, isn't that what The Walking Dead is all about?  What the fuck. (See what I did there?)

Comics of the Week

It's official. The best book of the Flashpoint tie ins, by far, was Batman Knight of Vengeance. If I had any complaint about this mini series, it would be that it could have maybe used one more issue, but that's really just maybe. This issue wrapped up what is basically the story of two parents who lost a child and dealt with it in different, horrifying ways. In the end, it's a metaphor for some very real issues and that's where the power of this lies. Sure, on one level Azzarello and Risso give us a gritty Batman story, but, really it doesn't have to be Batman at all. It could easily just be any two parents.The creepy factor in this issue comes mostly from the recognition that these are human beings. Where the Joker in regular continuity is best when he's least explained, here the origin gave the story depth. The flashback panels of the Waynes in Crime Alley capture the desperation and horror of losing a child while perfectly illustrating how each parent will be dealing with the loss. By the time we get to the end, where the Flashpoint part of this comes into play (if only slightly), Martha's reaction is just perfect. There's no happy ending to this story in any universe.

Severed #1 is the beginning of something that I think could be as big as Walking Dead. That might sound like a huge exaggeration based on one issue, where, to be honest, not a lot happens, but what is evident in this book is an attention to detail that is setting up a mood, a time and a place in a way that few books do or can. Scott Snyder (yeah, him again) and Scott Tuft are in no hurry to give us big scares and gore. Instead, they are meticulously setting up the characters and putting us in the middle of life in 1916 America in a way that is not glamorized at all. And what they do with the writing is carefully supported by Attila Futaki's art. Like the best horror movies, even when nothing is happening, you feel tension from the way even the most mundane images are composed. The slightly off balance frames make every page ominous in subliminal ways that emphasize the danger of a boy heading out to be a hobo and ride the rails. This is horror done right.

Manga for the Comics Guy - Gantz Volume 16

The tension rises in this volume to an almost unbearable point, leading to heartbreak and hope. Make no mistake, this gets grim, gritty and gory, but by the end of the volume there's a light at the end of the tunnel, except that light has a choice attached to it and I don't think Kei has realized how difficult that choice will be.

With the team at odds over Gantz's instructions to kill Tae, it's a race against, well, it's against time, each other, and who knows what else. Kei went off with Tae to protect her and the rest are fighting it out with bloody results. Just as you think Reika has figured out that destroying the film with the picture that Tae took of the Gantz gang will end the session and save Tae, it all comes to a head and the inevitable happens. Izumi here amps up his villain status, but I wonder if that's not just setting us up for a more complicated relationship with him. Sure, he has murdered a lot of people at this point but, given that he did it so he could return to the Gantz, and with what we learn at the end of this volume, I wonder if his reasons for wanting to return aren't as selfish as we have been lead to believe. It's just the type of complication you'd expect from the series at this point.

The action and gore is not gratuitous in Gantz. It is always supported by character moments that are typically rendered as simple images that pay off because the relationships have been built properly and believably. It's moments like this that make the comparison to The Walking Dead accurate. Both series manage to take us on an emotional roller coaster from hell without being manipulative. Every moment is totally earned and just when you think you are at the end of an emotional arc, there's another twist. Kei's life just got sadder, more hopeful, and over all, more complicated.

Manga for the Comics Guy - Gantz Vols. 11-12

If Gantz is like a video game, then the themes being explored in these volumes are larger than a simple Sci Fi story. What lengths will players go to, to get the high of the game? At what point does violence in a game affect a player in the real world? We've heard all the arguments before. Here, it's not in your face, though. But it's hard not to think of it when a massacre at this scale happens and we get lingering shots of the very real victims.

We're also still on the trust train, watching the threads come together. Characters that were introduced, like the strange fighter and the kids with super powers, come into play here. What will happen to them in the Gantz world remains to be seen. What I really want to see is what the super powers have to do with Gantz.

 
For a section of story that had so much going on, there's not really much to say. I think this is because the threads are still not apparent. We have the pieces in place but not not enough is revealed yet to really understand where it's going. We know Izumi was hellbent on getting back to the Gantz room, where he had apparently already earned his 100 points. His victims are there with him, but they don't yet know who he is. That alone is enough tension to propel any story forward, without all the mysteries about Gantz itself. There are so many questions of what comes next right now, that it's mind boggling.

And, speaking of what comes next, many great comics out today. No surprise by now that I'm excited for the Walking Dead, but also, Action Comics 900 sees the return of Superman to Action Comics. Morning Glories #8 may reveal some more about Morning Glories Academy. FF #2: Doctor Doom joins the FF!?  Good week for comics.

Walking Dead: Anything Can Happen

When a comic makes you shout "Oh shit!!" as you read it, you pretty much have to blog about it. The problem is, I don't want to spoil it and it's almost impossible to talk about it without spoiling it. But I'll try. There will however, be spoilers of things that have happened before this issue, so be warned.

Just when you think nothing more can shock you in this book or that Kirkman is going to stop torturing Rick, you turn a page and any semblance of safety you had goes out the window. Way back, during the prison escape, it was clear that this book was something different. I remember the shock of seeing Rick's wife and baby killed. Up until that point characters had come and gone, but you just didn't expect for the family to be hit. They were the core of the book. But it happened and it wasn't just for shock value. It drove the development of the characters forward. It also took the tension that had already been established and amped it up, because the danger was real and no one was safe. In many ways, that moment leads directly to this issue. It's because of that moment, more than anything, that Rick is so focused on the survival of his son above anything else. He will literally do ANYTHING to ensure that survival. That is reality. So once that idea is driven home, what happens next is at once unexpected (to say the least) and if we trust een Kirkman as a writer who knows what he's doing (he absolutely does), then it's actually what needs to happen. Story is, after all, about conflict. You set up a character and then you challenge that character. Rick has had more than his share of these "challenges," and that's what makes the book move forward. But what makes the book great, beyond just being well crafted storytelling, is that Kirkman is also a master of character. Invincible is the same way. The characters are so clear they are real. You know each one. There's no mistaking who these people are. Their actions are always true. To do that consistently, for 83 issues, while at the same time developing them further, is really genius.

Comic Moment of the Week - Parenting

The thing about The Walking Dead is that these characters are all selfish by necessity. It's reality. The last page of this month's issue brings us back to this reality after a time where they were trying to build a community. This moment is about survival and that's not a community activity.

The Walking Dead #82

As a parent, this is about as real as it gets. There's no doubt that Rick has, and likely will, given up a lot for the good of the group. But never at the expense of Carl and always, clearly, only as far as it is in Carl's best interest to do so. I recently was thinking about this very idea and how as a parent, your decisions are really very simple to make. It's always about what's in the best interest of your child. Of course, because it's easy to make the decisions, it doesn't make it easy to carry out. The reality of possibly leaving a bunch of good people you care about to die in order to save your child is something I'm sure will be explored by Kirkman in Walking Dead.

Manga for the Comics Guy - Gantz Vol. 2

Gantz Volume 2 picks up exactly where Volume 1 ended, which is to say, in the middle of an exploding body. Again we get the various angles of the moment, evoking slow motion in a way that I don't think I've ever seen in a comic book. The attention to the small details is what sells these lingering shots. It may be that I'm more into the story, but I really feel like the art is much better in the second volume than in the first. There were several panels I just stared at for a while.

It all starts coming together, particularly for Kei Kurono, who chose to wear the special suit provided in the room. It turns out the suit gives him super-human abilities. In the process, we learn more about his past as an adventurous and daring kid. A past he seemed to have moved away from, but quickly recalls in the middle of his hero moment. While the first volume gave us lots of atmosphere, this volume also adds action to the mix.

Also in this volume, we get some more indication of what's going on. After what is basically a bloodbath, there are only 5 survivors: Kei Kurono, Masaru Kato, Joichiro Nishi, Kei Kishimoto and the dog. We also learn that this is some sort of a game, and that Nishi has been at it for some time. And that while they can return home after each round, life is not the same.

I'm still struck by the dialogue being kind of clunky. This is obviously due to the translations and cultural differences that don't come through very well. But as a result, I can't really see comparing this to Western comics in any fair way. American comics would just come off as better written, dialogue-wise, by default. But if we look at the writing just from the point of view of plotting and getting points across, it's pretty even. The pacing is different, with the Manga relying more on the relationship between images, I think. The reason the drawn out scenes of people just standing and not saying anything work is because they come after panels of intense action that is equally extended. I think modern American comics tend to fall back on dialogue or one big image to convey these things. Obviously, there are exceptions. However, I feel characters tend to be more real (within the context of the story) in American comics, perhaps because of the more extensive use of dialogue. Of course, these opinions will likely evolve as I delve deeper into manga, but we'll see. The point is, the arguments about one being superior to the other are silly. The fact is, they are basically the same thing and have influenced each other too much to be considered separate.

Powers by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming

Today is new comics day. Out this week, Walking Dead #82, by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard. Here we have a book that uses dialogue effectively, but also uses long drawn action/inaction and crafts a very real, very cinematic world where the characters drill into your subconscious. You should be reading this book.