The Walking Dead: The Comic vs The Television Show

Shane Walsh

Edge: The Show

Shane in the comic books is a mere footnote in the mythology of "The Walking Dead." It was a major stepping point in Rick's survival where he'd experienced true violence and was forced to see his friend die. Shane in the comics is a loser. He's a petty, juvenile, sad sack who uses his role as the leader of the group to show off for Lori. When Rick appears there's a power struggle and Shane is offed pretty quickly. Jon Bernthal completely embodies the presence of Shane and the larger focus on Shane in the series benefited the character in the end and gave Rick much more incentive to keep his friends at arms length. Shane's descent in to madness is much more disturbing in the series, and Bernthal plays it brilliantly. Hell, AMC based an online game around the exploits of Shane Walsh. That has to be indicative of Bernthal's portrayal of the character.

Dale Horvath

Edge: The Comic

Let's call it for what it is. The series completely pissed away Dale Horvath, one of the most important and entertaining characters of the comic book. And that was because once showrunner Frank Darabont was fired, DeMunn protested and vowed to quit. AMC granted him his request and offed Dale. Though the writers tried to salvage his death by using it as a point for the group to attempt to keep their humanity, Dale was sadly wasted. Such a rich character gets a real focus in the comic books with his own adventures, and an impromptu romance with Andrea; he offers heart, strength, and wisdom to the group, and goes out in about as demented a manner as Kirkman could muster up. Dale is a very key character who the series could never figure out how to utilize.

Shock Factor

Edge: The Comic While the series has its merits and is superb it's yet to reach that level of sheer shock and awe that the comics reach time and time again. There are moments in the comic series that literally left me gazing at the page for ten minutes with my jaw agape. The comic features a ritual suicide, a child killer, torture, rape, and Shane's death in the comic is much more surprising than what we were served in the series. For shock factor, the comic books are the way to go. Ultimately the series has yet to reach that level where it's bold enough to challenge audiences conventions.