The Walking Dead Vol. 1

By Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore

Rick Grimes is not prepared for this. A couple months ago he was a small town cop who had never fired a shot and only ever saw one dead body. Separated from his family he must now sort through the death and confusion to try and find his wife and son. Collects issues #1-6.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Image Comics, Inc.
• Release date: May 12, 2004
• ISBN: 9781607065333

Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer. His first creation was Battle Pope, which he co-wrote with Tony Moore, and in 2003 they began the comic book series The Walking Dead, set in a George A. Romero zombie movie-inspired world.

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Reviews for The Walking Dead Vol. 1

[ennuiprayer · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Now that season two is four episodes deep, I decided it was high time that I read the comic series. For those of you who don't know, the television series deviates greatly from the original graphic novel story. Spoilers aside, some characters don't ever leave the original campsite.

I stepped in this one with caution - meaning, I didn't go out and buy any of The Walking Dead books - because Robert Kirkman storytelling bores the crap out of me. Much like Marvel Zombies, Kirkman takes a brilliant idea and finds a way to dull it out, and toss in things from left field. Makes me happy that the television series gives a little more back story to our characters, making them three dimensional rather than the shells of people Kirkman created. Storytelling over boring us, people.

Tony Moore's art, on the other hand, is great. His zombies are dead on and the characters hold a wide range of emotions. If anything, buy the first book - issues #1-6 - Days Gone Bye just for Moore's art work.

[akbouterse · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked this a lot. I've never seen the tv show or read any of the comics but the walking dead has been around for long enough that I did know some about they story. I've always wanted to read these comics and I'm really glad I decided to pick up this volume. We are still learning about all the characters and what their stories are and I'm sure I'll find out more as I read more but I thought this volume was a really good introduction to all the characters. I thought this book did a really good job making you care about the characters in a short amount of time. I think it did a good job making you feel for the characters without knowing too much about them. I definitely want to pick up volume 2 soon.

[melrailey-412132 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the first volume of the comic series that the AMC TV show is based on. I haven't watched any of the TV show but it's been getting pretty good reviews; so, I decided to read the graphic novels. In this volume, Rick is a police officer that gets shot in the line of duty. He ends up in a coma. When he wakes up, something has happened and there are zombies all over the country. Rick works his way down to Atlanta where he hopes to find his family. I was very surprised at how quickly I got into this story. I read almost no zombie stories and, in truth, they don't interest me but it was very easy to identify with Rick and cheer for the characters. I'm curious to see how things are explained and find out exactly what it was that caused the zombie outbreak.

[amyghilton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is where it all started! I have not seen the show yet, so I wanted to experience it on paper first. Great first volume!

[ssimon2000-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I know I'm late getting on this bandwagon...

4 stars. Good start to the story.

[beckakw · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Some bits were cheesy, but I guess that's something that can't be helped in a comic book.

[booklover3258 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm a fan of the TV show. However, I have missed a few seasons and wanted to start reading the graphic novel and get caught up on the show with the past seasons. I enjoyed this book. So weird to see Rick as a cartoon but I got used to it. Happy it was in black and white so I didn't get to see the gore in color (yes I'm a wus). The end was surprising with Carl saving his dad's life. I'm looking forward to reading the other graphic novels in the series and comparing it to the tv show.

[tapestry100 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Much like the TV series, I'm still left very much "meh" when it comes to this story. The art here, presented in B&W, is good, and the writing isn't necessarily bad, it just leaves something to be desired for me. I'll give the second volume a try and if it doesn't really capture my attention more, I think I'm going to give up on TWD entirely.

[ellsbethb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While I'm told the comics are quite different than the TV show, this first volume stuck pretty close to the TV narrative. It was a good read and I'll probably pick up another volume.

[rosa.mill · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rick gets shot and goes into a coma. When he wakes up, zombies have taken over the world. He miraculously finds his family and they and several other survivors ban together to try and make it through the end of days. I love that they decided to do black and white illustrations, it really adds to the feel of the book and gives it the feel of a zombie movie. The author states in the introduction that he is trying to look into the human spirit and how it handles situations such as these. He has definitely succeeded. This is not another goofy zombie book. This book is all about how it's characters interact with each other and grow as people (or don't grow, as the case may be.)

[mothwing-2 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

You probably have to like comic books to get like this. In this one, zombies and people breasts or muscles do things that ordinary people with intact brains (living or dead) most likely wouldn't do, but given that there are idiots everywhere could be seen as realistic by a forgiving audience.

The artists don't look at women the way they do at men. Men have various looks and have diverse features, women have large breasts and make-up in spite of the apocalypse (no, female eyes don't naturally look like that). They can't draw fat women worth a damn, too, but, er, points for trying? I don't know. As mostly with comics you get 2D male characters and 1D female characters (with DD breasts, though).

That ought to explain the target audience and why I'm not it.

[boundtogetherforgood · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Since we are big fans of the show, I wanted to read the graphic novels that started it all. I'm not a fan of graphic novels. I'm enjoying them okay. I very much prefer the storyline in the tv series, compared to that of the novels. The written characters are hard and mostly uncaring. The characters in the AMC series are much easier to like.

[cynical_ames · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

#1 read 09 Aug 2014 {free from Humble Bundle}
#2 read 09 Aug 2014 {free from Humble Bundle}
#3 read 09 Aug 2014 {free from Humble Bundle}
#4 read 02 Sep 2014 {library book}
#5 read 02 Sep 2014 {library book}
#6 read 02 Sep 2014 {library book}

[selinalynn69 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

very different from the show

[zhyatt-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got into the whole zombie trend a bit late - around 2008, in fact. Thus, I was able to witness the mass-production and trivialization of one of horror's best-loved icons after discovering it so very, very late in the game. I was essentially driven backwards in time, drinking in the Romero series, forming vehement opinions on fast zombies vs slow zombies, and basically becoming as pretentious as possible.I first heard about The Walking Dead when AMC came out with the series; I loved the first season of the show. Telltale Games' game series made me cry bitch tears. I decided that I should go back to the source and try out the comics. I'm not sure why, but I wasn't expecting quite as much... camp.Now, don't get me wrong, I love cheesy, campy horror - especially the self-aware kind that knows just when to play it for laughs. But TWD almost NEVER plays it for laughs, which makes potentially funny moments awkward, and serious moments unintentionally funny. Example: In the first several pages, when Rick wakes up in the hospital and finds his first walkers, the following dialogue is uttered (emphasis not mine): "What's WRONG with you?! Can't you UNDERSTAND?!" As Rick makes a face that could have come out of a '70s giallo film, I could hear the pipe organs in my head.Despite the awkward moments, I did enjoy the first TPB and am still catching up with the series. The plot is standard zombie fare - what's happening, where are the survivors, don't get bit, shoot 'em in the head. Nothing really new is brought to the table, which is just fine with me. From what I understand, the series gets much more involved and convoluted as it goes on. Overall, fun, familiar story, nice-if-exaggerated characters, and zombies. What's not to love?

[bookworm_naida · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm a big fan of the tv show, The Walking Dead, so I was curious to see how the comics are. So far, from reading this first comic, the show stays pretty close to it. This first installment ends with Shane's death and if I remember correctly, that was how season 2 of the tv show ended. There's a few characters in the comic that aren't in the tv series, but from what I see the show pretty much follows the comic. So far, anyway because I have heard the two are different.However, I think the tv show and the actors truly bring these characters to life. Rick Grimes is one of my favorite characters, ever, and to see his character change over these four seasons has really been one of my favorite aspects of the story. Actor Andrew Lincoln is truly wonderful in this role and does an amazing job. Creator Robert Kirkman promises that we will know what happens to Rick in the end, there will be no wondering.I think the comics are a nice complimentary reading for fans of The Walking Dead series. The illustrations are pretty neat, I like how they capture the grim reality of what is going on in this post apocalyptic world. I'm a fan of zombie stories because I feel like it's interesting to see what such a world can do to people, and how it can change them. The zombies aren't the scariest part, the people are. It's human nature to want to survive, but at what cost?Robert Kirkman paints a dark and difficult new world here in a realistic and intriguing way. What I really want to get my hands on are the Walking Dead books, starting with the The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor, also written by Kirkman.disclaimer:This review is my honest opinion. I did not receive any type of compensation for reading and reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers and authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. I purchased my copy of The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye.

[pastorbob_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A striking and powerful graphic novel. Kirkman is clear in his introduction that he wants to write about characters changing in response to extreme situations, and at the same time critique our culture. He wants us to question 'our station' in society, and the station of our society itself. With urban & suburban backdrops that look like a Walmart and a Target smashed head first into each other at high speed, this first novel follows Officer Rick Grimes who wakes from a coma to find the world has fallen apart. As he searches for his wife and son, and struggles to help a camp of survivors stay safe, volume 1 sets the stage for an epic tale intended to follow Rick over the next years as he finds his way forward through the dark.

[klp.krista · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've been an avid watcher of the television show based on these comics since it started. I was happy to find out that the show intentionally takes a different route from the comics, so as not to prevent people from reading them. I just finished this comic and will say that I am pleased with it. The characters are recognizable enough from the T.V. characters I'm used to and the story is oddly enough less frustrating and more fluid. I guess the television medium requires everything to be dramatic and drawn out. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the show.

[louisvillains · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Interesting to see how much the original graphic novel differs from the TV show, even from the very beginning.

[calisoleil · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was "just okay". I found it to be somewhat predictable. Nothing new or overly surprising. The black and white art was good.. and appropriate to the story. I don't think I'll be in any hurry to look at any of the sequels.

[norabelle414 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Police Officer Rick Grimes wakes up from a coma to discover that everything has gone to hell in a handbasket. He slept his way through the zombie invasion, and now the only things he cares about are finding his wife and son, and surviving.I wasn't expecting to finish this one today but I read the entire thing during lunch. The graphics aren't overly elaborate, and I really like the black-and-white style. The plot wasn't anything I haven't seen on the TV show, but I still enjoyed the experience of reading it and plan to continue ASAP.

[merrymeerkat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic. The only down side is that I saw the show first so I already knew what was happening. The show stays true to book so far but the timing on dome things have changed. Looking forward to volume 2

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Small town law enforcement officer wakes from a coma, somehow still alive, and walks out into the zombie apocalypse. His wife and son are missing—spoiler, he finds them very quickly, and his partner is there putting the moves on his wife. I bailed early on, when it became clear that I was uninterested in the art, which while suited to the subject matter was too messy to engage me, and deeply uninterested in the story, which was clearly going to involve a lot of gender dynamics I didn’t like.

[davros410 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have been watching, and enjoying a lot, the television series based on these graphic novels/comics since it started on cable TV. This graphic novel collects the first six issues of the comic in one edition. I'd say the first five episodes of the TV series are largely based on the contents of this graphic novel, except that - BEWARE SPOILERS - Carl is younger in the graphic novels, the characters of Daryl, Merle and Carol who are integral to the TV series don't exist, and Shane doesn't survive past the end of this graphic novel.Excellent, and I'm going to have to start collecting the series.

[wvlibrarydude · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Much better than the television show. Story and artwork are top notch.

[tanya8dogearedcopy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There are zombies on the cover of The Walking Dead: Volume 1: Days Gone Bye and; there are zombies inside the graphic novel; but this isn't really a zombie tale so much as it's a survival tale. In "Days Gone Bye," the focus is on the human element whereas the zombies are incidental. Rick Grimes, a police officer shot in the line of duty, wakes up from a coma in the hospital. He wakes to an abandoned facility, town, home, and basically, life as he knew it. Something has happened and now the the landscape is littered with zombies, alive-dead and dead-dead. His first instinct is to retain his civilized sensibilities and to reinforce his identity as an authority figure. He makes his way to the police station, dons his spare uniform, metes out guns and ammo to the first survivors he meets, grants them the use of a police cruiser and admonishes them to keep an eye out on his place while he heads in to Atlanta, GA. Even as he exits Cynthiana, KY, there are subtle cracks in his civilized veneer. Eventually, Rick ends up in an encampment of people who tried to make for the safety of the city but were too late to make their way in. At camp, the need for food, clean clothes and, secure shelter takes precedent over the social ethics of their former lives. Various members of the group each try to retain their individuality while trying to adapt to a group dynamic.

Very little is discovered about the zombies in "Days Gone Bye." People die, they come back to an animated state. They bite people and the newly bitten become zombies in turn. The zombies here operate purely on an animal level of survival, apparently having the ability to smell and hear, all in the pursuit of something to eat. In "Days Gone Bye" the difference between the zombies and the survivors is clear, if only by degrees and speed. We'll see how long this lasts :-/

Excepting the cover, the artwork in "Days Gone Bye" is black-and-white. The survivors are drawn with near cartoonish qualities: outlines without a lot of facial subtleties, many wide-eyed expressions and near comical distortions of the mouth. The zombies are consistently drawn with more detail and realism. Go figure. Because the panels are b&w, the integrity of the panels rests on the composition of the shots and ergo the gray tones or ink washes applied. Some are more difficult to execute than others (a scene around a campfire at night while snow falls vs a single head shot against a blank background) and Tony Moore and Cliff Rathburn met the challenges with varying degrees of success. A panel showing Rick and Glenn on a fire escape displays sophisticated layers and tones; but other scenes (e.g. Rick and Lori talking outside their tent) show less artful effort. [I do not know either Tony Moore's nor Cliff Rathburn's work well enough individually to be able to assess the handiwork of either's effort, only the combined effect in this volume.] In a couple of panels, characters were difficult to distinguish from each other. In a long shot, two characters are speaking; but there is not enough detail to determine who and, in another panel, I had to look very closely across several pages and, by the process of elimination, figure out who was speaking.

The artwork isn't great; but In "Days Gone Bye" there is a lot of thought provoking material in regards to the concepts of identity, civilization and individual rights.

Redacted from the original blog review at dog eared copy, The Walking Dead: Volume 1; Days Gone Bye; 10/15/2011; Updated on 05/01/2012 with two captioned illustrations and small text edits

[akmargie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good art and Kirkman story-telling at it's most emotive. He gives hope for the future of comics as a powerful medium.

[alcracka · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Walking Dead is about zombies. Aren't you sick of zombies? Me too. Almost as much as I'm sick of vampires. You know what I'm not sick of? The Creature from the Black Lagoon. That shit was awesome.

It's not really about zombies. It's a character piece or whatever. It's pretty cool. It gets dark, though. Really, really, really dark. Like, The Road dark. You are now forewarned.

[suzemo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So I have the (mis?)fortune to have seen the AMC series before reading the book.

I really enjoyed that all of the things about the characters in the series that annoyed me were absent in the graphic novel. I like the sparse graphics, I like the fast and tight story-lines.

Going into psychology and sociology instead of just zombie violence, gore and horror was great.

Lots of fun.

[5eva5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Officer Rick Grimes wakes up from his gunshot-induced coma to find the city overrun by zombies, so he must hit the ground running to find his wife and son, along with his best friend, who turns out to have been affected more than others by the current state of affairs. Very good beginning to what could potentially be a brilliant series. In his foreword, Kirkman talks about how he means to write a character-driven story (my personal favorite) about surviving catastrophe and he's absolutely successful in that; there are no obvious heroes or villains, only some people who step up to the task and some who do not and there's no telling which will be which. Moore's black-and-white art is also worth noting - it's sparse, but some characters' expressions are stunning (especially eyes seem to be Moore's forte). In color, this may have been prettier, but probably too gory which would have detracted from the actual story.