The Walking Dead: Volume 2 - Miles Behind Us.

After the absolute brilliance of Days Gone Bye, I had to go straight out and get the next volume. Enjoy!


One of first things to get out of the way is that Tony Moore only does the art for the first volume and the first 24 covers. The rest of it is done by a guy called Charlie Adlard who is a considerably less talented artist. The artwork took a nose dive in this volume and it had a big impact on my enjoyment of the volume, especially in action scenes where the scruffiness made it really hard to tell what the fuck is happening. And since Moore is still doing the covers, it's even more of a kick in the balls when you get to the lacklustre art within. And I know art is a personal thing, but it isn't the style so much, it's the scruffiness of it all. The art here feels rushed, unfinished, style is something I can get past but looking half arsed isn't a style, it's just laziness. And sure, maybe Moore's style was too cartoony, but shitty art doesn't suit the story any better. At least I could tell what was happening in Moore's artwork.

Miles Behind Us collects issues 7 - 12. With Shane gone the seventh issue gets the survivors on the road, like Grimes had said he wanted to do all along - honestly though shit goes south for them on the road way quicker than it did at the camp, if they could fight off the Roamer Packs, they'd probably have been safer staying put. The chapter ends on a shocking revelation after we finally see what went on during that fateful night that Shane and Lori spoke of. We also get the introduction of three new characters Tyreese, Julie and Chris. Tyreese basically acts as Shane's replacement, but he wants to get in Carol's pants and nestle in on Glenn's patch, rather than wanting to get in Lori's and nestling in on Grimes patch.

The eighth issue sees our survivors arriving in a seemingly abandoned housing estate. Despite a close shave with some zombies in a basement, they end up hauling up in a house and having one of the best nights that most of them can remember. But all isn't as well as it may seem... The eighth issue only further cements my dislike for Lori as Grimes gets two new things to worry about. What will happen when the baby comes and how will he deal with knowing it might be Shane's? The whole time during these first eight issues it's been getting colder and colder, we thought this would only be a negative, but as zombies have no blood pumping through their system, the cold is even worse for them, for they freeze much quicker. We also learn that Tyreese was amongst other things, an NFL player.

The ninth issue is basically one long emotional kick in the nuts. Shit gets good, shit goes south, shit gets better, shit goes south again. This issue was as brilliant as it was horrible.

The tenth issue is basically the development chapter, despite being given a heap of new characters, really this is a chapter to further cement current character relationships and flesh out the state of the world a little more.

Much like with Shane and Grimes, The eleventh issue introduces the first real conflict and that is a conflict of interest. The survivors are now staying on a farm, after Grimes son got shot. The leader of the survivors on the farm is a man named Hershel, a man who believes zombies should be kept alive until they understand them better. Grimes doesn't. You better believe keeping a load of live zombies in a barn goes south, fast.

The final issue of this volume is largely just the aftermath of the eleventh issue, after much melodrama, the survivors are back on the road again, minus Glenn who fell in love with one of Hershel's daughters and stayed behind. And things really aren't looking good for our survivors but with them stumbling across a prison, are things looking up? Find out in the next volume! Bastards...

Volume 2 has a much heavier focus on character rather than action and horror, which is probably for the best considering how bad the artwork is. God, who knew zombies could be boring? Well it probably doesn't help there barely are any, despite a few set piece moments. Practically every chapter of the first volume was packed with zombie slaying action and it still had time to create rich characters. Here it feels more like a soap opera, that just happens to have a zombie apocalypse backdrop.

Admittedly Grimes Paladin Goodness does start to grate a little in this volume. He's nice in this volume at the expense of common sense and he just doesn't feel nearly as well written or realised as he was in the last volume. And it only really makes his moments where he begins to snap and crack seem so much cheesier and melodramatic.

The pacing feels dramatically off too, characters walk in and out as do locations as well, I think the first volume worked so much better because there were much fewer locations and a much smaller cast of characters. I know they are on the road now but it just didn't work as well for me, they could have easily spent the whole volume on the estate to give us more time to appreciate everything. Then given the third volume to the farm, cramming both into one volume didn't allow me to appreciate either.

The one thing Kirkman definitely gets right again in this volume are the emotional gut punches. You almost forget for a while what you are reading, you really believe these rich characters are safe, you're filled with such hope...then Kirkman rips it right out your hands. Kirkman you glorious bastard!

So do I recommend it? Look, I know I was extremely negative in this review, but Days Gone Bye was just really, really good, like easily one of the best comics I've read in a very, very long time. And then you excitedly rush to the next volume and get...this. It isn't that bad in itself, it's just so utterly shit when compared to the first volume, is all. Take from that what you will.

Think About It!

-Locke