I haven’t read any of the Walking Dead comics. Maybe I’d be over the moon for the show if I had. I get the sense, however, that the show isn’t as good as the comic, so perhaps if I was familiar with it I’d be even more pissed at the show for not being as good as it could be. Based on my (very) superficial understanding of the comic, the characters are more fully formed, less watered down, and more believable. Andrea actually makes sense as a person, there aren’t black characters named “T-Dog” where the T could stand for “token,” and the Governor is actually menacing instead of cartoony (ironically enough).
But I can’t speak to this directly. I may romanticize the quality of the comic because it’s unknown territory to me. From what I hear though, my gripes with the show, characters like Lori and Carl, the stiff dialogue, all the moments that depart from the wordless actions of the characters, these things that don’t work super well on screen, they all work terrifically well on the page. If this is indeed true, then this is a failure in adaptation. A show like Game of Thrones is known for its departures from its source material, but these liberties are taken to enrich the story visually. I’m not sure The Walking Dead does that. Maybe it would be better served if it was more faithful to the original comics. But maybe not. It is what it is.
What do you think? Are there issues in The Walking Dead that bother you? Do you think it’s perfectly fine the way it is? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
