The Walking Dead, Vol. 04: The Heart's Desire by Robert Kirkman

Rating: ★★★★★

If you guys think these characters have lost their marbles before wait till you read this volume! It is exciting to witness how we are still in the beginning phases of this series and already we have seen death, chaos, and madness when it comes to these characters, their loved ones, and the consequences of their action.

The comic begins where Dexter (the murderer) wants the gang to leave the prison and has them on gunpoint and while his actions may seem insane he forgot one single component which is when he found the guns he forgot that the entire prison hasn't been swept so a massive army of Zombies have escaped and now the gang has to fight them and in-between that drama Rick kills Dexter in order to save the gang. This is crucial detail because it will haunt him by the end of this volume! His actions are justifiable and would have done the same thing but I believe all these killings have taken a toll on him and everyone else.

After that incident everything becomes fine and dandy except for a new character that enters this story and causes drama. She knows how to kill Zombies well without using guns and wants to live in the prison for sanctuary which was granted except she cannot have any weapons and has to live in a jail cell which is nothing compare to being on the road for months killing zombies 24/7. Immediately while being in the prison she has the hots for Tyreese and with her special skills goes down on him. He doesn't fight and essentially he ruined his relationship with his girlfriend and all hell breaks loose.

Rick and Tyreese get into a nasty fight over how Ricks killings are justifiable compare to Tyreese who has essentially murdered people out of anger. The fight becomes deadly and Rick almost died from it and after that nasty fight the group decides to make a committee that will have equal power and responsibility of making the rules, enforcing them, and trying to be civil in a savage world. The gang is afraid of Rick for murdering Dexter and lying to them and Rick gives an eloquent speech saying to go fu%%@$#k themselves and stop living this fantasy that we will all be saved and everything will go back to normal.

I do not know but I agree wholehearted with Rick and while these responsibilities of being a leader has taken a toll on him, his actions are justifiable and at the very end I wanted to smack everyone who disagreed with him. Living in this dystopian society is not easy but it is interesting how false hope can do wonders for people and how ignorant they have been while pursing this dream of salvation. The salvation is themselves for trying to maintain order and survival until they die and Rick made the connection that they are the Walking Dead since the moment they die they become Zombies.

I have no clue where this series is heading and thats what I love about the Walking Dead. In one volume they can cram months or even years to one issue and we see the effects the Zombies have damaged them in the progression of time since the Apocalypse. I would like to know desperately what caused this epidemic and hopefully these series continues to be phenomenal compare to other graphic novels that should have quit by the 10th volume (*Cough Cough Fables Cough Cough*). 

Until next time on The Walking Dead...

The Walking Dead, Vol. 03: Safety Behind Bars by Robert Kirkman

Rating: ★★★★★

This volume was epic in the sense that I wish that the 2nd volume did not exist. The story has a better plot, interesting new characters, and the chaos that ensures when these characters are placed into difficult situations. We got plenty of Zombie killing action and by the end of the story it makes me regret now that I haven't picked up the next volumes from the Library!

The gang have found a new place to call sanctuary and it is a federal prison. It's humongous and while it is infested with Zombies its still manageable and could bring a ton of benefits for the group in terms of survival. The unfortunate news is they thought all the prisoners were zombies but later they discover that a group of prisoners were held cooped up in the cafeteria.

The gang are now scared because they are fearful that the criminals would murder them especially when one of them mention that he murdered his girlfriend when he found her in bed with another man. No need to worry because Rick and the crew refuse to give them weapons. Everything is fine and dandy as they clean up the place and even bring some familiar characters back to live in a better place.

Sadly for one of the characters, Tyreese, he discovers that his daughter got killed by the boyfriend because they were going to kill each other to avoid the misery that is now called life and the boyfriend pulled the trigger too soon. She dies but somehow comes back to life as a Zombie so Rick makes the connection that regardless how you die, you will be reborn as a Zombie and I believe the main reason is because what virus lead the breakout of Zombies could be airborne and now it's the blood system so when they get bitten or die it releases the chemical and leads to this epidemic.

When Rick makes this connection, he needs to settle some unfinished business and leaves the prison for a few hours. In the meantime evil lurks among the gang and they discover that two girls from the group were murdered and Lori immediately jumps to conclusion and believes the murderer is the prisoner who murder his girlfriend and they keep him locked in a cell until further investigation and they made the wrong choice because now the prisoner wants them out of the prison.

They discover who the real killer is and what I love about this volume is before this outbreak, our society had a set of rules that govern ourselves for over 200 years and because of that we never had to worry about anything since these laws have been placed since the beginning of time. Now that the group is dealing with a murderer, how do we punish him? Do we kill him or kept him in prison and this question makes the group divided because now they are both the judge and the punisher and they have to dictate laws in order to manage the chaos and return back to being civilized people even though they are broken human beings because of this Zombie apocalypse.

This series is phenomenal and I cannot rave enough about it and I believe everyone should read this because it will raises questions that you never thought of before until reading this series. I love Rick Grimes and I hope he survives! I just wish this graphic novel was in color instead of black and white. Until next time of the Walking Dead!

The Walking Dead, Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us by Robert Kirkman

Rating: ★★★★ 1/2

** Zombie Warning: If you haven't read the first volume beware because I may drop (not intentionally) some spoilers. You have been warned!**

Coming off the high from reading the first volume, I found this volume troublesome but explainable in terms of plot and dialogue among the characters. Most of the scenes from the previous volume dealt mainly of Rick trying to find his family, escaping Atlanta, and being the leader which meant that there was less dialogue and more action scenes as they shoot and kill Zombies on every page.

We didn't get to see the struggles these survivors face as food is becoming scarce and figuring out a place to live where they can be safe from Zombies until now. They had to leave camp to figure out if there are other survivors alive and if they know of a place that might provide sanctuary for them. Remember Shane? Yea he's dead. Apparently Shane had always wanted to be with Rick's wife aka Lori which unfortunately Rick was the lucky man who put a ring on it and had children. Except when they left Kentucky, Lori moved on with her life and at the heat of a passionate moment she slept with Shane.

Shane believed that Rick was officially dead or it was merely impossible for him to survive and find his family so for the short time that Shane was with Lori it seem like paradise except faith screwed with him. Now that Rick was back, Shane's plans were all ruined and in his crazy demented head he made the connection that if he kills Rick then all his troubles are over. Again fate screwed him over and Rick's son Carl shot and killed him. But wait the plot thickens... Lori had sex with Shane and of course didn't use protection so Lori is pregnant. What a great time to have a child, in the middle of an apocalypse where it's difficult to find an Doctor, medicine, and proper food to nourish a baby. 

On top of that drama, Rick can't understand the math of Lori's pregnancy or chooses to ignore the real truth for fear it will shred what's left of his sanity and tries to be supportive during all this nonsense. As Rick's family is trying to cope through all this, the survivors find a lovely community of empty houses and believe they found their paradise. It's already Christmas time so the land is completely cover in snow. The survivors believe that now they can settle down in this neighborhood and not fear about Zombies except that one of the signs says "All Dead Do Not Enter". 

They didn't see the sign until the next day and by then it was too late. A horde of Zombies comes out and try to kill the gang and actually kills some. Luckily for our main character, Rick was able to get out and protect his family. For the rest of the story it deals mostly that same formula of them trying to find a place and hopefully in the next volume they can finally settle down somewhere. We meet new characters throughout this volume and we get to see the impact on how Zombies have killed family and friends and how difficult it is to survive in this chaos.

Compare to the previous volume it was all action and violence that kept us entertained and wanting us to pick up the next volume and now in this book we get to see the effects this Zombie apocalypse has on our characters and the darkness of this new world as each day becomes difficult to find the silver lining when our characters loved ones are monsters. 

At times we feel like these characters are clueless and it shows in the dialogue and I do not know if the writers are doing that on purpose in order for the readers to be distracted as a new story arc will begin soon or at the time they were clueless in what direction should they head for these characters. All I know is I will be reading the next volume and I hope it keeps me entertained to continue with this series.

The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman

Rating: ★★★★★

I know I am late on the band wagon train when it comes to The Walking Dead but I am excited that I have joined this brand new graphic novel series. I remember a few years back I saw the entire first season and never bother to continue it and a few months back I tried the 2nd season and I had no clue who were the characters, the plot, and the general arc from the previous season which discouraged me until now! I know the show stays almost accurate to the show but I believe you should at least read this first volume before you Netflix marathon the Walking Dead.

I remember when I was in high school, I saw some of my fellow peers reading the graphic novel and being obsessed about it and I had no clue what they were raving about because I could honestly care less about reading at that moment of time. What I realized was when AMC announced that they were making The Walking Dead, they were reading the comics that were available to see what the show was about and what to expect with a Zombie Apocalypse television series.

I have to admit that this series is complete and utter BADASS.

Immediately I was sucked into this world and I realized that I love dystopian worlds in graphic novels because I remember I was hooked on Brian K. Vaughn's Y: The Last Man within 20 pages and now the same magic has stirred up in me again when it comes to The Walking Dead.

If you live under a rock and never heard of "The Walking Dead", you may be wondering what the hell is this comic book about?

No worries here is the general plot without ruining the whole story. We meet Rick Grimes who is a small town local sheriff and one day he gets shot in the line of duty and emerges from a coma in a hospital. He walks around the hospital trying to find nurses when he stumbles into Zombies. He freaks out and luckily makes a break for it back to his house where he discovers that his wife and son are no where to be found.

He meets some new strangers hiding in his neighbors home and discovers that during his time in a coma, the world has fallen prey to Zombies and no one knows how they came to life but we soon find out that if a Zombie scratches, bites, or kills you, you automatically become one of them and the undead are rising everyday all over the world. The government tells all citizens to evacuate to Atlanta where it would be easier to protect our civilians from the Zombies while scientist try to find the cure to this wickedness and Rick figures that his wife left to Atlanta to see her parents.

Along the way we see ignorant mistakes that humans make during these moments of crisis because the minute Rick arrives to the big city he meets thousands of zombies who want to eat him and luckily gets rescued by a guy name Glenn who knows his way around the city. They learn that Atlanta was the worst place to evacuate because by having all the living in one city it became a buffet for the undead to snack on. 

Thanks to Glenn, Rick meets other survivors who are living in the outskirts of the city to avoid Zombie attacks and be ready in case the government has found the cure. In this man-made camp Rick is reunited with his wife and son but something is off because his partner in crime, Shane Walsh, protected them while Rick was in a coma and clearly he is not himself and later on we learn all the dirty juicy details.

I won't say more because this series is phenomenal and I need to get my hands on every volume possible from the library so stay tuned to more reviews! What I enjoy most about this comic is that we are dealing with a world that raises tons of moral questions about ourselves and how we follow these rules that were placed in society because we live in a "civil" world but once that goes out the window these rules no longer apply then what happens now? 

We discover these characters who are put into unpredictable situations and we get to learn more about ourselves and how when pushed to the ultimate limit would we go insane and give up or try to salvage the little of humanity that is left in us as these characters are trying to survive for another day hoping a cure exist in the world. I haven't researched what lies ahead but I have a feeling our government has something to do with this zombie drama and the cure may be possible but it won't necessarily help us bring the Zombies back to normal.

I have no clue where this series is heading but I am in it for the long ride! It is scary to think what would happen if everyone turns into Zombies and I hope that never happens in real life.