Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us

After reading Volume 1, I knew that Robert Kirkman had his work cut out for him if he was to match the excitement, characterization, and fantastic story in Volume 2. The short answer: He does. Volume 2 takes the characters we've just started getting to know in volume 1 and puts them into new situations, develops them further, and all the while gives us more than enough zombie fighting. It's a great series and Volume 2 is certainly worth picking up.

I've watched and read an unreal amount of zombie movies, comic books and stories and Robert Kirkman has one-upped them all! An amazing tale of survival and chaos.

Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead Vol.2 - Miles Behind Us puts together issues 7 through 12 into one collection. The first six issues introduce the reader to the main character of Rick Grimes and his discovery of a world turned upside-down and inside-out as the legions of undead walk and prowl the streets, fields and by-ways. The rest of that first volume reunites Rick with his wife and son and a ragtag bunch of other survivors just looking for a safe place to stay. I loved how Kirkman used the backdrop on a world of the undead to tell a story of survival and how extreme situations can have surprising and lasting effects on those left behind. In Miles Behind Us, Robert Kirkman's story has a new artist in Charlie Adlard. Adlard's style has a similar look to that of previous artist Tony Moore, but has more of a rough line finished look. Where Moore's pages and panels had a smoother and more cinematic feel to them, Adlard's actually fits the mood and feel of the story Kirkman is writing. I love Moore's work and the gory detail he put in the first issues, but Adlard's just seems to resonate abit more with the subject matter of survival and doing what it takes to survive. There's certain scenes in Miles Behind Us where its hard to tell the difference between the survivors and the zombies. I like this technique in how it shows that the zombies and the survivors may alot more in common after all in relation to the title of the story. Kirkman introduces in this volume quite abit of new characters to the group Rick is leading as they leave the campground at the outskirts of Atlanta. They've lost three of their numbers in the previous volume. Two of them to the predations of the undead who stumbled into their campground and another to the stress and jealousy that weighed on the mind of one of their own. Miles Behind Us brings in two groups of survivors. One is a father, his daughter and the girl's boyfriend. Tyrese is an interesting character right from the get go and hints of problems with the daughter and boyfriend are gradually doled out to help bring in new conflicts to the group dynamics. The other group is a farmer and his children and some neighbors from down the road. The introduction of Herschel and his family helps in showing how not everyone reacted the same way to the undead crisis. To say that Herschel's reaction and temporary solution to how to handle the undead crisis is a bad idea all-around is an understatement. Hershel's actions helps lead to the biggest sequence event in this volume and how far-reaching its ramifications are. While new characters are introduced some of the people in Rick's group fall by the wayside as their search for a safe place to stay in becomes more and more dangerous and people are lost and/or nearly lost along the way. I agree with the assertion that The Walking Dead is really not all about the zombies and the gore (it helps that it has them in abundance), but that its about the effects of extreme events and si

Volume 2 of The Walking Dead collects together Issues 7 through 12 of the popular horror comic, which is arguably one of the very best ones out there. The group, reeling from Shane's breakdown and murder in the previous story arc (read Volume One: Days Gone Bye), accepts Rick as their leader. Knowing that staying on the outskirts of Atlanta is far too dangerous, they climb into Dale's RV and begin searching for someplace safe they can live. Along the way they meet new characters and plenty of zombies. This arc is action packed and a tad convoluted in the character department, but the reader may not want to get too attached to any one character. The Walking Dead remembers one of the most important rules of take-no-prisoners horror, that anyone can die at any moment. This comic has a wonderful sucker punch, author Robert Kirkman simply loves pulling the proverbial rug out from under the stereotypical feet of the reader. This is a great series, highest recommendation.

I'm not a comic guy. I owned exactly zero comics before purchasing volumes 1 and 2 of the Walking Dead. But I had to pick up The Walking Dead because I'm a huge fan of the zombie genre in film & fiction. And I have to say, I was very impressed. The setting is relatively traditional, a Romero-style zombie apocalypse. This gives it a good, comfortable familiarity to a zombie zealot like myself. The difference here, though, is on character development rather than excessive action and gore. Sometimes the conversations run long and I caught myself wondering when the next zombie would show up, but these conversations and interactions between characters are what makes this distinctive among zombie tales. Looking forward to the third volume, since I'm not inclined to buy it issue by issue.