This is it.
Without a doubt, The Walking Dead is the single most anticipated comic-to-screen adaptation to ever hit the small screen. Personally, I’ve never seen so many people who have never shown an interest in comic books get so amped for a television program based off one, if only because this show features that one element that everyone loves: zombies. Yes, The Walking Dead is the ongoing series in all of comics that absolutely dominates every aspect of the zombie world when it comes to sequential storytelling. In fact, many of us here at Multiversity are apt to tell you that George Romero might have brought the zombie into our worlds, but it was Robert Kirkman who truly defined what they were and what they’re capable of.
So how does the television adaptation of it stand up? The director of the Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption, with the power of the producer of Terminator, and one of the stars of … Love, Actually? Well. Look behind the cut my friends, and let’s discuss the first episode of AMC’s latest show.
To be perfectly blunt right at the beginning of the review, I was personally floored. I am an incredibly harsh critic when it comes to comic book adaptations. My basic philosophy is that you have two forms of stories to adapt: you have the average hero story, in which you can take a character who has existed for years and then you work with years worth of history, and then you have the graphic novel adaptation, where you have a set story and you adapt it. In the case of the Walking Dead, I would consider this the latter.
Of course, the interesting fact then is that this first episode, entitled “Days Gone Bye” (also the title of the first trade of the series), comprises the story of the 22-page first issue and a bit from the second issue (though not a lot) at a running time of an hour and a half with commercials. In fact, the first scene of the episode – which runs about 15 minutes or so – is entirely comprised of one page in the comic.
What the Walking Dead teaches us here is how to properly take from your source material and adapt based on that. I think I would have been ok with the opening scene of the episode mirroring the first page of the comic to the T, but I don’t think that would run on network television. A single two minute sequence of an officer getting shot would not have the emotional resonance with an audience without allowing some time to build the drama, even with just having him wake up in the hospital like he does. With the Walking Dead, Darabont and company (which included Kirkman as an executive producer) take the task of using the comic book issue as the map and filling in the blanks. Those of you who have read the various works by Scott McCloud will also recognize the idea that the space in between panels in a book exists for the sole purpose of the reader filling in the blanks of time, allowing their imagination to create the passage of. In the case of the Walking Dead, Darabont is giving us those gaps with his imagination.
Furthermore, the Walking Dead succeeds in it’s additions where other comic-to-film properties fail. Rather than completely reinterpret a character or a scene or even an outfit, Darabont is simply elongating and pushing a few things around for dramatic effect. Rather than have Rick walk into a room full of zombies on page 5, we allow the drama and tension in between Rick waking up and Rick realizing what happened to the world to last for a long, silent, and intense ten minute sequence of Rick in a destroyed hospital finding his way to the outside world. With this, Darabont puts his own hand into the Walking Dead and allows it to remain Kirkman’s story with a few minor changes.
Continued belowThe debate obviously then comes into the quality of the script, the acting, and the direction. When it comes to the script, I find that the show actually mirrors quite wonderfully several time honored tropes and traditions established by other post-apocalyptic films and shows, as well as Romero’s zombie films. Romero’s own zombie films had a definite and visible sequence to them that built the tension very slowly and dramatically, often to the point that one might consider it meandering a bit. The Walking Dead definitely has those moments (which is also reaffirmed by it’s awkward breaks for commercials). Of course, there are moments in the script that are a tad silly (such as Rick’s vision of Shane in the hospital, which honestly could’ve been removed, and Rick’s deus ex machina with the tank, that has a bit of an awkward flow to it), but for the most part it exemplifies zombie horror. With the appropriate atmosphere (which for me involves surround sound turned up fairly loud and all the lights off), the show’s first episode lives in a world where we are just as terrified of what’s around the corner as the characters are – and that feeling pays off before the credits roll.
Meanwhile, the crew working with the film is phenomenal. The set design (outside of Rick’s own house, which remained surprisingly well put together) is exemplary, with several devastating sequences of absolute visual horror and destruction in the world. There are some scenes which are purely put there for the visual aspect (such as the Don’t Open/Dead Inside door), but as we watch the characters roam inside the hospital or the boarded up houses, we get to see a truly destroyed world in the same way we saw London die in 28 Days Later (to which we can also add in a few comparisons). You get the feeling while watching Frank Darabont, who wrote and directed this first episode, really did love the comic. As mentioned earlier, the script and direction of this first episode follows along the given line that Kirkman established, merely allowing for some small deviations in and out of the panels to help bring in the viewer. With the length of this first episode and a cast comprising of three consistent actors for the first hour, it allows us to begin to truly feel for the plight of our heroes, and begin to get into the head of Rick Grimes.
Speaking of, the episode really focuses solely on Andrew Lincoln. This is of course appropriate, as Andrew Lincoln is the character who has lead our group of survivors for almost 80 issues now. We know Rick more than we know anyone else, and seeing Andrew Lincoln in the role is like watching the character truly come to life. The last time I was so impressed with character-to-screen adaptations, it was in Sin City where the actors chose to wear prosthetics. Andrew Lincoln may not look exactly like Rick Grimes, and he might not sound like we all thought he did (Lincoln’s on/off Southern accent is a bit interesting, considering his British origin), but he is Rick Grimes. His ability to stay generally calm and collected in the face of absolute terror – especially after bashing a man to death in the front yard with a baseball bat – is exactly as Rick did (who, if you remember, mentioned in the third issue of the book that he didn’t even take time to be afraid). Robert Kirkman did not lie when he asserted that Lincoln really was Grimes for the show.
Now, I do have my minor complaints. As mentioned earlier, Rick’s “under the tank: scene led to a scene that seemed awkward the first time watching and somewhat silly the second time. On top of that, while I do generally approve of the changes (more so than I usually ever do), the decision to establish Shane’s betrayal to Rick right off the bat does hurt the impact of it’s revelation in the comic book. In the comic, we don’t even learn that Laurie and Carl are alive until the second issue, spending all of our time worrying in the first. From there, as the characters are put through a constant emotional ringer, we get as deep into the story as they do. My hope is that the show will continue the “no one is safe” motif that the book has, even to the point that if the show does following this “issue (or so) per episode” basis that the first one hints at (and I don’t assume will happen), I truly hope they allow the ending of the sixth issue be the ending of the sixth episode, because not only is it a great cliffhanger 
but it’s a great way to show the growth that happens with the characters right in the beginning (although by looking at the character list of who is going to appear, I can assume this won’t be the case). If the show doesn’t hold true to Kirkman’s treatment of the characters, it could potentially suffer through “Heroes-syndrome”, which would be a truly unfortunate thing.
In the end, the first episode of the Walking Dead proves that AMC has really gone above and beyond in creating their television programs. Between this, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men, you don’t even need to tune your television to any other channel except maybe HBO. It certainly will be interesting to see how far the show goes in following Kirkman’s established canon, and if the season preview was any indication it won’t be that close – but there is no doubt in my mind: this is The Walking Dead. It’s an intense and uncomfortable zombie show unlike any other, and while it may not be exactly like the comic book, it’s close enough and good enough that even myself and my “everything has to be perfectly the same” beliefs can sit back in awe at the way this story has come to life. In every aspect, this has the possibility to be the greatest cinematic zombie experience ever, and it’s available in the comfort of your own home.
As an additional note, for those of you who have not read the comic, the first issue is available free right here, and I highly recommend giving it a look now that you’ve seen the first episode, if only to see how close the two work with one another. I don’t put it lightly when I say: for those not caught up with the story in comic form, you have no idea of the horror that is yet to come.
