How much are you willing to spend? There are about 150 issues total and the show is about to hit the arc that starts around issue #100. There are three compendiums out that collect 48 issues each. If you want a solid chunk of TWD to get the juices flowing, you'd save even more money by going the compendium route.
The first one is going for $36 on Amazon and it collects #1-48. About $0.75 per issue. If you like/love that, you could either continue collecting the compendiums (and have to wait about four years for the next compendium to come out, since TWD is usually on a 12-issues-per-year schedule except for a few events in the past that had an issue every two weeks), or you could start collecting the trades going forward and eventually pick up the trades that were in compendium one. It's up to you.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607060760/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_wnH-wbAJY47G1
They were collected into four giant books called compendiums. The first one contains issues 1 -48. They sell for around £35 -£45 each. But they are worth the price in my opinion, this is how I bought them all.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Dead-Compendium-1/dp/1607060760/ref=nodl_
Get the first compedium, it's cheap and it has the first 48 issues of the series in a nice thick paperback book. If you prefer hardcovers, the hardcover books have 12 issues a piece
Definitely get the compendiums. 1050+ pages of the Walking dead
There are 3 compendiums that span 148 issues, but there are 160 issues out now.
https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Dead-Compendium-One/dp/1607060760
Much better value if you are looking for deals. IRL the books are $59.99. It is $30-$35 on Amazon.
I'm sure you can buy them in comic stores, but I got them from Amazon. There are $35 books that combine 48 issues, so ~$0.73/each, but then you have to buy the individual issues for more recent stuff which is what pushes the price up.
The first 144 issues add up to $99.83 on Amazon, in three big fat 1000+ page volumes. Then there are 18 recent issues not in any collection that cost $5-6 each, so it adds up to about $200 for the full series. And if you're cool reading on a tablet, the Kindle editions are significantly cheaper.
Comic shops, Amazon, etc.
You can get the three compendiums (1-150) and try to catch up comic by comic.
Edited: http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Dead-Compendium-One/dp/1607060760/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1459743311&sr=8-2&keywords=walking+dead+compendium Compendium 1
Blow right through them from start to finish. They go really quickly. I recommend getting the books.
The comic drags in a few spots, but overall they're better than the show, IMO. The first 50 issues or so are really engrossing, and some of the major characters from the show are 100% better in the comic. There are two characters in particular who are awful in the show but awesome in the comic.
Your local library is bound to have some walking dead issues, but there will likely be some missing. Or just buy the compendiums. They are less than $1 per comic and compendium 3 will come out in October leaving you fully caught up.
Amazon has the compendiums, which include 48 issues a piece. That's less than a dollar per issue.
It depends. The tv show definitely follows the overall plot of the comics like the path of the group from Atlanta to the prison, to Alexandria and so on. The tv show adds sometimes major plot points in that are not in the comics (won't say which exactly, you can ask about those).
The characters are partly the same but there are cases in which characters act completely different compared to their counterpart in the comics. And/or they die in different ways (or not at all) in the comics.
Lately, the comics have been following the comics very closely. There were moments or episodes in the TV show that resembled parts of the comic but these past 4 episodes were really close to the comics (and other stuff this season which I won't spoil for you either).
All in all I really recommend you to read the comics. I was in the same situation as you and decided to go for it.
The best way to read the comics would be to buy the compendiums; there are currently 2 of them. They are by far the cheapest way to read the comic.
Compendium 1 ends with the fall of the prison. The tv show is about halfway through compendium 2. I suggest you to buy compendium 1 (see here) and then decide whether you want to read past the current story line in the show.
There's really not a lot I'd recommend not starting at the beginning for...for the Walking Dead, pick up the first compendium, as someone already stated. Lots to read! Here it is. It collects the first eight volumes. It's hard to beat the value considering the first 8 volumes, new, would be around $100.
Kirkman is the author of the comic. He also writes Invincible, which is up there for Favorite Superhero Comic Ever in my book.
It's not a matter of explaining things better - the books are pretty wildly different. The VERY broad strokes are there (Rick wakes in a hospital, finds his family, camp outside Atlanta, farm, prison...), but characters are omitted and added, and others die way earlier or way later than they do in the source material. Characterizations and relationships change, and overall they just do some things that will never, ever be okay on any TV network short of HBO.
If you have curiosity and a little money to burn, you can't go very wrong with getting the first four years of this book, sight unseen.
Sigh... every time I see a Transmetropolitan thread, I search Amazon for the equivalent of this, so that I don't have to buy a dozen books and keep them all on my shelf.
I'll settle for two or three volumes, but come on, this many years afterwards there has got to be a gathering of resources.
If you want your brother to think you're really cool you should check out The Walking Dead comic series.
I admire you trying to get your brother to start reading. It's a habit like any other, it takes time.
Some people prefer reading the compendiums . They collect 8 volumes in one book. The first compendium is basically like Season 1-4 of the show.
Personally, I prefer the volumes. . They collect 6 issues in one book. I like these better because the covers are much cooler than the compendium. You’ll save money and space with the compendium but I find those incredibly uncomfortable to read. They are big thick bible books. The volumes are much better for casual reading.
Issues are sold individually for 2.99-3.99 online.
Or you just can just read it online. Links aren’t allowed but you can find it with a quick google search.
Watch: If you have already watched TWD and GoT, some other good TV series include: Fear the Walking Dead, True Detective season 1, Vikings, The 100, American Horror Story season 1 - Murder House and season 2 - Asylum, Stranger Things, Penny Dreadful, first few seasons of True Blood, Sons of Anarchy, Narcos, House of Cards, Bates Motel, The Last Kingdom, and that's all I can think of right now. You can also check out IMDb: Most Popular TV Series.
Read: Read TWD comics and read the Game of Thrones book series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Just give the first A Song of Ice and Fire book, A Game of Thrones, a try and I guarantee you will be hooked and won't be able to put it down. I can't even stress how amazing both book series are compared to their TV show counterparts, especially the GoT books. There's so much detail in both TWD and GoT books that they didn't have time to fit into the TV series or didn't care, but reading the books really helps to understand certain characters and situations that occur in the show. You don't even have to actually pay money for the books, you can just download the ebook files to read them for free. (If you want to know where to download the ebook files for free, message me.) I actually always do that, if the files are available, and if I start reading it and enjoy it, I purchase the actual physical book, as I did with all of the GoT and TWD books. To save money when purchasing the physical copies of TWD comics, make sure to buy TWD comics in Compendiums (Amazon: TWD Compendium One) instead of individual books.
I'd recommend getting them from Amazon. They're almost half off on there. You can get all 3 compendiums (144 issues total) for around $100 vs. $180 retail. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607060760/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_eI.nwb70V69XJ
Yes it's the compendium. Here's a link to it.
I'll check out some bookstores near me!
You're correct that Michonne has nothing to do with Seasons 1-4 but it's still a decent Telltale title and it's got some really brutal sequences, I'd give it a play but yeah just temper your expectations a bit.
You can read the comic here and then if you enjoy it you can buy the compendiums
The signs were there with S02 (doubled the episode order and cut the budget by 20%) and how they treated Darabont, how Jeffrey DeMunn (Dale) "protested" Darabont's firing, and Laurie Holden (Andrea) 8 season contract was cut short by Glenn Mazarra for "shock purposes" (both of which would likely have been on-screen lovers based on their comic counterparts). Those are just samples of what has been going on with the show in it's early years, and that should've clued fans in to how AMC was going to treat the show.
I started on TWD watching the show after watching the S02 finale at my parents house and my mom explaining what the "zombie barn" was. Out of context, I figured I'd give it a shot, cause that shit sounds pretty fucking gnarly. S01 was great. Short, concise, and to-the-point, no-frills zombie drama. The CDC bit was a tad hammy, but whatever. S02 got weird, fast. The constant "let's spend most of the season either on this same patch of road or quarantining ourselves on Hershel's farm" was awful. It dragged.
Since I was in a drought waiting for S03, I figured I'd pick up the comics to get a comparison.
Ho. Ly. Shit. If none of you have started the comics but have only watched the show, do yourselves a favor and at least pick up the first compendium (issues 1-48); it's $30 new or $25 used on Amazon. I got hooked fast, and the show did a lot of things different, mostly in bad ways. One key examples: the CDC adventure in S01 doesn't exist at all in the comics. The one thing I'll give the show credit is lengthening Shane's time to better portray his "downfall".
We're up to #180 and the CDC has not shown up. For context, S07's finale is the equivalent of #126, and they pump out one issue roughly every month, so the comics still has a decent 4.5 year gap between the two.
This is an easy Google question, not sure why you had to ask it here.
To save you a step, here is the Amazon listing for Compendium 1
I'm gonna keep it simple for you:
If you have $100 to spend, I recommend buying compendiums 1-3 which include issues #1-144. Then you can purchase #145 onward (#148 being the most recent) digitally from iBooks on an iOS device or Google Play from and Android device for $2.99 each (released monthly).
get the compendiums, the negen storyline in book 3 is awesome. this
Yeah, follow this link.
The compendiums are the best value for your dollar. Just a heads up.
Compendiums are awesome but the Hardcover books are intriguing
http://www.thewalkingdead.com/updated-issue-to-volume-guide/
http://www.amazon.com/The-Walking-Dead-Compendium-One/dp/1607060760/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y
http://www.amazon.com/The-Walking-Dead-Compendium-Two/dp/1607065967/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y
Check out the compendiums. They include a ton of editions at once, so it's like a novel.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Walking-Dead-Compendium-One/dp/1607060760
http://www.amazon.com/The-Walking-Dead-Compendium-One/dp/1607060760
It's legal, so don't worry about your ISP. It's a Physical copy as well.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Walking-Dead-Compendium-One/dp/1607060760. This book collects issues 1-48.
You should definitely read them. To get the most for your money, I'd suggest buying the compendium on Amazon. Boom
Not as yet. Have only read the Compendium.
It was first a series of graphic novels. I haven't read them yet, but I plan to.
It's actually a graphic novel from 2009. Girls
.com.uk has the compendium for 48 USD or 36 EUR.
That's 48 issues for 36 EUR, this is not expensive.
You're a chump.
>"A biological imperative, uncontrollable emotional impulses, impossible to rid ourselves of". I am sorry to say but is a very simplistic and rigid understanding of complex human cognitive processes.
No it isn't.
>Modern humans have existed for some 400.000 to 250.000
The debate is between 150,000 and 200,000 max.
>We might even be hardwired to cooperate
All animals cooperate.
>(with regards to altruism as a positive evolutionary and societal characteristic I suggest you read "Why We Help" by Martin A. Nowak in the latest issue of Scientific American (July 2012) throughout the ages.
You are not talking about altruism. Altruism is the idea of performing an act for someone else for no selfish reason [sic] no benefit to yourself. You're discussing cooperation, and being rather redundant.
>In regards to murder being an "necessary normality" I have not read any comics which address this
Again, I point to The Walking Dead.
>I have not heard of any real-world examples of a total collapse of human society with murder being a survival strategy.
You obviously missed this post about a survivor of the Balkans Wars.