Hands-down, one of the best things about the fact that the TV series The Walking Dead has deviated substantially from its source material, namely the comic books by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Aldard, is how much uncertainty it throws into the picture. Two full seasons in, and only a handful of people who have met their maker in the comics have kicked the proverbial bucket here. More significantly, their deaths on the small screen varied considerably from the deaths they met on the printed page.
(Mild possible spoilers)
Although one of the deaths in season one of the series was, as it was in the comics, a relatively early one, another character, one who lasted all of six issues in the comics was able to make it all the way to the penultimate episode of season 2, as major character who underwent a fairly rich storyarc, at that. Conversely, a character who lasted for nearly five years of the comic book's publication bowed out relatively early. Another twist in the storytelling is that one character who is actually still alive in the long-running comics died in a rather climactic fashion in the TV series. And then, of course, there's the fact that one of the show's most interesting characters, Daryl Dixon, is exclusive to the TV show, as is his brother, leaving audiences completely in the dark as to what his fate might be.
The producers and writers of the TV show have laid down a marker of sorts, declaring that while they by and large respect the canon of the comics, they intend to strike out on their own path. This is gratifying as it means that even people who've followed the comics are left guessing as to who may die next, which adds quite a bit of a thrill to the proceedings. What's the point of a horror-themed series, after all, when the characters aren't in the peril of their lives?
For those who have followed the series since its birth on the printed page, Kirkman's work still stands head and shoulders above its small screen counterpart due to his purity of vision. As owner of the book, Kirkman isn't influenced by things like ratings or the bottom line. The thing is, a straight adaptation, as is the case with most works that go from the page to the screen, big or small, would never have worked. Recognizing this, the brilliant Frank Darabont, who was primarily responsible for bringing the series to the screen, came up with something truly special.
In its somewhat brief first season, the TV show, thanks largely to the efforts of Darabont, was easily on parallel with the comics in terms of truly gripping narrative. Darabont took Kirkman's and Moore's first six issues and absolutely ran with them, faithfully incorporating scenes and characters from the original comics, expanding sequences, creating whole new ones, and finally throwing in a couple of curve balls for good measure. I for one am pretty sure things like the survival of a character whose time should have been up, and the introduction of the Center for Disease Control story angle, to name but a few of the innovations, no doubt even shook complacent fanboys of the comics out of their comfort zone. Of course, it helped that Greg Nicotero's superlative prosthetic work far, far outstripped Moore's and Aldard's artwork in terms of visual impact, and that from a cast and crew perspective, everything was pitch perfect.
Though things fell flat in the second season, which stretched out quite a bit longer than the first, and which, while still retaining much of that blend of character development, suspense and terror that has drawn me to this show like a moth to a burning lamp, lost quite a bit of its edge, the crew bounced back in the end with some really kick-ass final episodes. The show did seem to be a bit diminished with the loss of its primary shepherd Darabont, but given how strongly the writers and directors came back at the end of season 2, I'm inclined to think that the series will hit the ground running when Season 3 premieres in October.
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