2128 pages
It's disconcerting to hear people rave about how good something is, only to see for yourself that it's so... "meh". Pretty early on in The Walking Dead graphic novel series, I realized that I was totally unmoved by what I was reading. I started to wonder what I was missing or whether I was just dull, considering the books are so popular. As it turns out, everyone else CAN be wrong, there is nothing wrong with me!
Most of the pages are taken up by pictures - well drawn pictures to be sure - rather than actual reading, and so continuing on in the hopes that it would get better didn't come at a huge cost in terms of time or energy. But enough is enough; I've given it more than a fair shot. This series is monotonous, horribly paced, repetitive, and not nearly as trenchant in it's ethical conundrums and reflections as it believes or wishes itself to be.
The books have two modes: "talk your head off" mode and "stab zombies in the head" mode, and both get old really quick. When the characters are speaking I'm overcome with this desire to explain to them how much I don't care.
If you want to check the series out for yourself, I suppose the easy way would be to read book one, and then mentally multiply what you've just read so that you'll know what happens in subsequent volumes, with very little deviation.
I should point out that I watch and like the television series that's based on the Walking Dead graphic novels, and I picked up these books to fill the void between the AMAZING season 4 mid-season finale, and the show's return in February. The show is different enough from the comics that the two don't give each other's plots away very often, but the show does not suffer from the same flaws as those I've expressed with regard to the comic series.
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