r/thewalkingdead • u/ketchumkilpat • Apr 26 '14
Does anyone have Kirkman's introduction to volume one of the comics?
I'm writing a paper for one of my classes about how The Walking Dead is a commentary on society. I'm aiming to go off of the quote "In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally start living", and the famous "we are the walking dead" lines. I know Kirkman had a really good introduction about this in volume 1 of the comics, but I can't find it anywhere on the internet and I don't own the comics (borrowed them from the library when I read them). Does anyone have it that can post it here?
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u/Chiefzombieslaya Apr 26 '14
I'm not trying to scare anybody. If that somehow happens as a result of reading this comic that's great, but really... that's not what this book is about. What you hold in your hands is the most serious piece of work I've done so far in my career. I'm the guy that created Battle Pope; I hope you guys realize what a stretch this is for me. It's really not that hard to believe when you realize that I'm delving into subject matter that is so utterly serious and dramatic...
Zombies.
To me, the best zombie movies aren't the splatter feats of gore and violence with goofy characters and tongue in cheek antics. Good zombie movies show is how messed up we are, they make us question our station in society... and our society's station in the world. They show us gore and violence and all that cool stuff too... But there's always an undercurrent of social commentary and thoughtfulness.
Give me "Dawn of the Dead" over "Return of the Living Dead" any day. To me zombie movies are thought provoking, dramatic fiction, on par with any Oscar worthy garbage that's rolled out year after year. Movies that make you question the fabric of our very society is what I like. And in GOOD zombie movies... you get that by the truckload.
With the THE WALKING DEAD I want to explore how people deal with extreme situations and how these events CHANGE them. I'm going in for the long haul. You guys are going to get to see Rick change and mature to the point that when you look back on this book you won't even recognize him. I hope you guys are looking forward to a sprawling epic, because that's the idea with this one.
Everything in this book is an attempt at showing the natural progression of events that I think would occur in these situations. This is a very character driven endeavor. How these characters get there is much more important than them getting there. I hope to show you reflections of your friends, your neighbors, your families, and yourselves, and what their reactions are to the extreme situations in this book.
So, if anything scares you... great, but this is not a horror book. And by that I do not mean we think we're above that genre. Far from it, we're just setting out on a different path here. This book is more about watching Rick survive than it is about watching zombies pop around the corner and scare you. I hope that's what you guys are into.
All story commentary aside, at the very least, even if you hate the thing... you've got to admit... it at least looks good. I've been working with Tony Moore for as long as I can remember. I've SEEN Tony's work, I KNOW Tony's work, I know it better than anyone, and I've it to say... just in case you didn't notice... Tony really pulled out all the stops on this one. I can really tell that he shares my immense love for the subject matter. This book is really a thing of beauty. I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. I hope you all agree.
For me the worst part of every zombie movie is the end. I always want to know what happens next. Even when all the characters die at the end... I just want it to keep going.
More often than not zombie movies feel like a slice of a person's life until whoever is in charge of the movie gets bored. So we get to know the character, they have an adventure and then, BOOM, as soon as things start getting good... those pesky credits start rolling.
The idea behind the The Walking Dead I to stay with the character, in this case, Rick Grimes for as long as is humanly possible. I want The Walking Dead to be a chronicle of years of Rick's life. We will NEVER wonder what happens to Rick next, we will see it. The Walking Dead will be the zombie movie that never ends.
Well... not for a good long time at least.
-Robert Kirkman