Hot take: The Walking Dead comics were way better than the show from day one

I finally got around to reading the original Walking Dead compendium last month after years of hearing fans rave about the TV series. And honestly? I'm baffled by the hype the show gets when the source material is sitting right there. The comic never dragged with filler episodes or random side characters that go nowhere. I tore through 48 issues in two weeks because the pacing actually respects your time. When Glenn died in the show, I shrugged. In the comic, that scene hit me like a truck because the buildup meant something. Has anyone else gone back to the books and realized the adaptation missed half the point?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_thomas1mo ago

...wait wait wait, you read the comics and THEN saw the show? Dude, I had the opposite experience and it still wrecked me. I watched the first few seasons when they aired, thought it was fine, whatever. Then a buddy forced the compendium on me and I literally stayed up until 4am on a work night. The comic Glenn death is absolutely brutal, I had to put the book down for a solid ten minutes. The show just makes everything feel like it's spinning its wheels while the comic respects your time. It's like the TV writers thought "people want to watch zombies, not characters" and completely missed what made Kirkman's run work.

joelthomas1mo ago

That "spinning its wheels" line hits hard, @the_thomas, my buddy actually quit watching mid-season 5 for that exact reason.