Horror Graphic Novels — The Walking Dead: The Best Defense

“I’m sorry, honey. What’s got you so upset? You haven’t tried to attack me in months.”

When a helicopter crashes a few miles away from the prison, Rick Grimes, Glenn and Michonne go investigate. They find evidence of another group of survivors and discover that zombies aren’t the worst monsters in the world.

TITLE:

THE WALKING DEAD: THE BEST DEFENSE

WRITER:

by Robert Kirkman

ARTISTS:

by Charlie Adlard (penciler, inker)
Cliff Rathburn (gray tones)

SERIES:

The Walking Dead — Vol. 5
Reprints The Walking Dead comics #25-30

PUBLISHER:

Image Comics

GENRE:

Graphic Novel (collection), Horror Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Suspense

DESCRIPTORS:

Horror, Zombies, End of the World, Survival, Psychological Studies, Life and Death, Prisons, Criminals, Trust, Love, Leadership, Torture, Dictatorship, Evil,

CHARACTERS:

Rick Grimes, A Kentucky police officer who wakes up from a coma to find the world overrun with zombies.
Tyreese, An African-American father who swings a mean hammer.
Michonne, A mysterious African-American woman who survived alone among zombies for a long time.
Lori Grimes, Rick’s wife who loves him but doesn’t always agree with his ideas.
Carl Grimes, Rick’s son.
Glenn, A young Asian-American teenager and camp scavenger.
Dale, A older man who recently lost his wife. He owns an RV which is the camp’s primary shelter and rescued Amy and Andrea.
Andrea, Amy’s sister, rescued by Dale.
Carol, A young mother who is somewhat troubled in these troubling times.
Sophia, Carol’s daughter.
Alan, A middle-aged man, Donna’s husband and father of Ben and Billy.
Ben, Alan and Donna’s son.
Billy, Alan and Donna’s son.
Otis, A hunter who is living with Hershel for safety.
Patricia, She seems like a nice person and is Otis’ girlfriend.
Hershel Greene, Former veterinarian and now a farmer where his family lives in some safety.
Maggie Greene, Hershel’s younger daughter.
Billy Greene, Hershel’s youngest son.
Axel, In prison for armed robbery.
The Governor, The leader of the small community of Woodbury (His real name is Philip).
Doctor Stevens, The doctor to the community of Woodbury.

SUMMARY:

Glenn and Maggie find riot armor in the armory in cell block-A. Since the armor is bullet-proof, it must be bite-proof as well. Glenn and Rick don the armor to go out into the zombie infested parking lot to siphon gas. The armor works well and the operation goes smoothly until they spot a helicopter crash landing a few miles away.

Rick Grimes, Glenn and Michonne leave in one of the cars to go investigate and offer help if needed. When they get there, they discover many sets of footprints and no bodies. Several people seem to have taken the survivors before Rick’s group could reach them. . . .

That means there is another group of survivors close to the crash site.

They decide to go in search of the new group and discover the community, living up in a fortified section of Woodbury. But the reception they receive is anything but welcoming. Relieved of their weapons, they are lead by “The Governor” to his box seat at an outdoor arena where blood sports to the death are held for the public.

The Governor doesn’t want to join his community with Rick’s, he wants to location of their establishment so he can raid the encampment for supplies and send Rick’s people to the arena.

When the day ends and the search party has not returned, the community begins to realize that Rick and company may not be coming back.

APPEAL:

This book starts out at a leisurely pace and as Rick’s search party heads out to find the downed helicopter, the pace quickens. By the second half of the book the pace is quick and the tension is almost unbearably high. By this time you care about Rick and Glen — they’ve been with us since book one — and even the new comer Michonne. When they suffer, the reader suffers.

And they suffer . . .

This is definitely a character driven book. Kirkman has spent the last four volumes developing these characters so that when disaster falls — and it is falling now — you can’t help but to care. Each character in the search party has their mettle tested severely. You are left wondering which one will break.

The Governor is a foil for Rick Grimes. In many ways, he is what Rick could have been — and still might become. Both want the same things for their community but they go about securing it differently.

Of the titles in the series so far, this one is the first to have a cliffhanger ending. If you read it, you’ll want the sixth book, The Walking Dead: This Sorrowful Life, near by.

One of the ideas Kirkman returns to time and again is that the zombies aren’t the worst monsters that Rick’s community must face.

NOTES:

This is a black and white comic with greytones.

The Walking Dead Book Three reprints The Walking Dead comics #25-36 in a 304 page hardcover edition.

The Walking Dead Compendium One reprints The Walking Dead comics #1-48 in a 1088 page trade paperback extravaganza.

READALIKES:

If you like the zombie-filled stories in The Walking Dead, you might enjoy some of the new zombie stories in these anthologies: The Dead That Walk: Flesh-Eating Stories edited by Stephen Jones, The Living Dead edited by John Joseph Adams, The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology edited by Christopher Golden, The Best of All Flesh: Zombie Anthology edited by James Lowder, History Is Dead: A Zombie Anthology edited by Kim Paffenroth, The World Is Dead: A Zombie Anthology edited by Kim Paffenroth, Zombies: Encounters with the Hungry Dead edited by John Skipp. These are just a few of the many new zombie anthologies published in the last few years.

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Tagged as: Horror Graphic Novel Summary, Zombies