00h32-02h21, 15-March-2013
I just spent nearly 4 minutes trying to come up with a clever opening line, something that would poke great fun at my neglecting to fill this space yesterday. First I tried a clever take on Genesis 2:2, and when that didn’t work I made a stab at paraswiping a lyric from Hot for Teacher but it really sucked, so…
I clued into “The Walking Dead” somewhat late but caught up quick, blowing through issues 1-72 over the course of a little less than a month in late 2010. What with the the much-ballyhooed (and really really thick) The Walking Dead: Compendium One making a bunch of 2009 “Best Of” graphic novel lists and the building hype over the imminent launch of the TV series, I could hardly avoid it any longer. And I wasn’t the least bit disappointed. Well-told and beautifully rendered comics are my red meat even when they don’t touch upon or hint at the End of Days, but throw eschatology into the mix you can be sure that Dark Kory will come out to play…and to feed. I love so much about the story that writer Robert Kirkman started telling nearly ten years ago, marveling both at the myriad of rich characters with whom he has populated his post-Apocalypse American South and at his ability to employ these characters in portraying the best/worst/what-the-fuck of humanity. And it continues. Thank the devil in hell, it continues. This in spite of the epically awful Bizarro World television version of it depicted on AMC’s “The Walking Dead” (on which Kirkman serves as a Producer), which recently I was horrified to learn is currently the highest-rated scripted show among viewers 18 to 49 (horrified, but not surprised, as the lowest common denominator has long had an insatiable appetite for blood-and-guts and various viscera).
Over 100 issues into “The Walking Dead” the reason behind the Zombie takeover has not been revealed, may never be revealed, and it doesn’t need to be revealed because that isn’t the crux of the story. In the 6th episode of the 1st season of the TV program our heroes are told by a scientist at the Center for Disease Control that Zombie-ism is the result of a virus and a possible cure is hinted at, produced by the French! Over 100 issues into “The Walking Dead” and still we do not know the extent of the new Zombie reality and an undefined but very real — and wonderfully tortuous — hope for redemption remains. Three episodes from the end of the 3rd season of the TV program and already it is dead-bang established that all hope is gone, that those who continue to survive have only war and strife and the constant pursuit and fight for food, shelter, and safety to look forward to until a relentlessly inevitable extinction that only makes the stories told seem like so much wasted effort. No future equals no reason equals no interest.
So I just slammed “The Walking Dead”, the most popular scripted television program currently in production in the English-speaking world, and a show that offends my sensibilities on many levels (artistically, culturally, integrity-wise…). But, of course, I watch “The Walking Dead”, and I’ll continue to watch it. In fact, I am watching it now, this past Sunday’s episode, a gorgeous high-definition .avi file. Dark Kory must eat.