Hello, reader friends!  As I mentioned last week, I have recently delved into the comic book world of The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman.  I've been watching the TV show on AMC for quite some time, and I always knew there was a comic series, but not being much of a comics fan, I didn't see the need to seek them out.

Initially.

Now, as Season 6 of the show has taken me on a wild roller coaster of flesh-eating-zombie emotion, I've found myself more and more curious about the comics that the series is based upon.  It's hard not to hear fans comparing the show to the comic fairly constantly, and so I finally decided to make some time to check them out myself.

OH MAH GAH.  I am HOOKED.  Why didn't I start these up sooner???

I am reading the comics as "compendiums", which are basically huge collections of a lot of issues of the comic (makes it much easier than having to hunt down each individual issue).  There are 3 TWD compendiums currently, and my local library system has the first two (I'm currently on the second).

Fans of the show (but not the comic) may be wondering: what makes the comics worth reading if I'm already quite happy with the TV series?  That's a GOOD question.  Here's the reasons I've come up with so far, as a former skeptic myself:

1. It's interesting to see the origins of TWD: the initial tone, the motivations of each character, etc.  I've found that in some parts, the comic is WAY more campy than the show.  In other areas, the intensity and violence is far beyond anything you've seen on TV.  It's cool to read it one way after having watched it another, and dissect why there may have been differences created between the two.

2. Comparing the characters.  This is obviously the MOST fun reason to read the comics.  Some of the characters are pretty much exactly as you'd expect, with their story line largely unchanged thus far (Rick, Carl, Shane, Glenn come to mind).  And then there are some that are just like, WHAT??  CAROL??  IS THAT EVEN YOU??  Ditto for Dale, Hershel, Andrea (happy to report that Comic Andrea is 1000x less annoying than TV Andrea), Tyreese, and a whole host of others.  Plus, TV Governor is child's play compared to Comic Governor.  ((shudders))  And this doesn't even get into the differences in who lives and who dies.  (Or who keeps appendages, and who doesn't...)

Oh, and there's no Daryl in the comics.  I KNOW.

3. With books, the common mantra is "the book is always better than the movie."  In TWD, I don't think you can necessarily say that the comic is better than the show, or vice versa.  The comic certainly has been able to do some things that the show can't, especially when it comes to toeing the line with violence.  But the show does just as good a job of delving into each character's background, and hitting the primary high points of the comic's story line.  Comparing and contrasting these two mediums based on what they can provide is fun brain food.

Basically, this entire post is a push to all you TWD TV fans to get out there and READ the darn comics, if you haven't already.  If you think you'll be bored because you already know what happens...trust me, you are wrong!

Any other Walking Dead fans out there?  Have you just watched the show, just read the comics, or both?  What do you prefer?  And either way--if you were stuck in the zombie apocalypse, which Walking Dead character would you want to be stuck with for survival?  YOU CAN PICK TWO.  (Because it was too hard for me to only pick one.  I have to go with Carol and Daryl, but the rule is that they're not allowed to fraternize as long as I'm around.)

Um, more like what am I NOT reading this week?  I've had a whole bunch of fun reading adventures going on lately.  Time to share!

What am I reading now?  Currently reading 3 different books...I know, craziness.  I've been trying to avoid multiple books at the same time lately, because it fries my brain and usually ends up making me dislike at least one of the books because I'm not paying it enough proper attention.  But sometimes you just can't stop yourself.  The three I'm currently immersed in:

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: Been on my TBR for YEARS, been listening to many many friends telling me how I need to read it for YEARS, and have been avoiding it...for yes, years.  I've heard great things, but the books in this series are so long, it felt like a giant commitment to start.  Not sure what finally pushed me to go for it, but I'm easing into them.  I'm about 150 pages in and have to be honest--I don't see the hype yet, but it's still very early on.  I enjoy historical fiction but I'm not a big fan of romance, so I could see this going either way for me.  I'll push on and let you know what I think at the end.

2. The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer: Just started this for a TLC book tour.  A mystery/thriller involving a mom and her missing daughter sounds like a good match for me!  Too early to give much of a reaction, but you'll have a full review in a couple weeks.

3. The Walking Dead: Compendium 1 by Robert Kirkman: I've mentioned here a few times that I LOVE LOVE LOVE The Walking Dead (TV show).  I knew about the comics and always meant to pick them up, but just never got around to it.  I finally put the first compendium (collection of the first 48 issues) on hold at the library and picked it up this week.  I'll admit that I was likely pushed into this by my curiosity over Negan, who is being introduced to the show soon and all the comics fans are FREAKING THE FRICK OUT over.  Plus, I'm just really excited to see the differences between comic and TV!

Up next?  After all that reading, I've got a couple books from the library that I'm hoping to get to: The Last Pilot by Benjamin Johnscock, and The Vacationers by Emma Straub.  If I like Outlander, I'd like to try the second book in the series ( Dragonfly in Amber ).  And I also have another TLC tour for the end of March, All Stories are Love Stories by Elizabeth Percer.

The reading is GOOD right now, people!  What are you reading this week?

I posted briefly about this on Twitter last week, but I felt it needed at least a brief post of its own.  This is for anyone who's read OR watched (or both) Stephen King's Under the Dome!

I do like that this mirrors the cover art so closely!

So readers (and watchers)...what do you think of the TV miniseries so far?  (I fully promise that I will manage this discussion without any spoilers!)  This question is coming from someone who absolutely adored the book, so I guess I should say that up front.

After the first episode, I was intrigued.  Several things had changed from the book, but it was early enough in the story that I wanted to see where the producers were going with it.  However, by the end of the second episode, they were starting to lose me.  The changes, I think, are having too much effect on the feel of the story as a whole.  A lot of this is character driven.

First and foremost: Barbie (Dale Barbara) and his new background story.  In the book, Barbie didn't kill anyone before the dome dropped, and certainly not Julia's husband--because Julia didn't HAVE a husband in the book.  This completely changes Barbie's persona in the miniseries.  He's much more macho-mysterious-outlaw on TV, which I guess plays better for viewers than the mysterious-but-actually-a-pretty-decent-guy thing he has going on in the book.  Anyway, it's clear they want every female character on the show (and viewer?) to find him bangable, so I guess mission accomplished, Hollywood.

My other character issue (so far) is with Junior.  They took so much horror out of his story!  Without giving anything away--his book character is much more menacing than anything they've portrayed on TV up to this point.  And it seems like they aren't going to work in a lot of his actions that they've already skipped over.  On TV, I feel like he just comes off as the overly-creepy boyfriend, but in the book, he is much more than that.  I really hope they amp this up.

The fact that this meme even exists says a lot.

The problem is, I'm not sure if I'll stick around to find out.  The third episode airs tonight, and I'm debating if it's worth my time to watch.  I'm just feeling so mehhhhhhhhhh about it so far...though there is a part of me that's curious to see what they do with the ending.

What say you, readers/viewers?  How do you like the miniseries so far?  Should I keep watching, or better spend my time watching House of Cards (new addiction!)  And if you read the book, how do you think it's stacking up?