The Walking Dead Comic Series Is Coming To A TV Near You

 

I only have two words for this . . . Funk Yeah!!!

 

Ok, I lied, I have a lot of words about this little development, and all of them are positive.  I've mentioned here before that I stopped reading comics a few years ago.  While in a "going to the comic shop every wednesday to buy new issues" sense that is true, it doesn't mean that I never read comics ever.  I do make a few exceptions here and there, and usually only in trade paperback form.

 

One of those few exceptions is Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead series.  I'm a big lover of all things zombie, as I'm sure you well know by now, so believe me when I tell you that Walking Dead is the single best zombie story of the last 20 years or so.  Yes, even better than Shaun of the Dead.

 

What makes it so great is that it's a story that keeps going.  The one downside to zombie movies is that they have to end.  You get two hours of zombie greatness and then it's over.  This is not the case with Walking Dead.  The entire point of the series is to see what happens as survivors of a zombie apocalypse are forced to live out the rest of their lives in a world overrun by hordes of the undead.  These few remaining humans need to find safe places to live, they need to find food and water, they need to raise their kids.  It's a story that spans years, not just the first few days post breakout.

 

Another major reason Walking Dead is so great is that it's writer and creator, Robert Kirkman, understands that the best zombie stories aren't about the undead.  They're about the survivors.  The zombies are just a setting and the real story is the character drama within the group of survivors.  As a result of this, his characters are much deeper and are more complicated and real than those you'll find in other zombie stories.  Walking Dead really is the story of a small group of people and how they interact with each other while dealing with the immense pressure of trying to survive the situation they find themselves in.

 

And now comes word that Walking Dead is being developed into a TV series for the AMC Network.  This is seriously great news.  First of all it's great because I was afraid that when the Walking Dead comics did get adapted to another format, it would probably be to a movie which would defeat the whole purpose of the ongoing story that never ends.  This has to be a series if you are going to have the time you need to tell the story correctly.  Secondly, while I was hoping someone like HBO or Showtime would pick up the series so it could be bloody as hell and totally R rated, I'm totally ok with AMC having gotten the rights to it instead.  This is the same network which has brought us great shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad (both of which are must sees). 

 

And finally, I'm happy because the show is being developed by Frank Darabont.  He's known for having written the screenplays for Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption.  He also directed the Green Mile.  He's a three time Oscar Nominee for writing.  He's also worked on some other great geek properties like the Young Indiana Jones series and Tales from the Crypt.  If that wasn't enough, he also wrote my personal favorite Nightmare On Elm Street Movie, Part 3.

 

Frank Darabont is an immensely talented writer and director who definitely understands both how important good characters are to a story as well as how to make good horror.  Having him included with this project gives me great hope for it.  It shows that AMC isn't afraid to pull out the A level talent to get this show made.  They're not going to do a hack job with this, they're going to do their best to make this a quality zombie series.  I can't wait to see what they do with it.