The Walking Dead: The Comic vs The Television Show

Andrea

Edge: The Comic

Ultimately, the Andrea in the comic is the individual that made me actually crush on a comic character. It takes a lot of talent to make me smitten for a drawing on a piece of paper, but lo and behold, Kirkman accomplished the task. Andrea begins as a basically ho hum supporting character who bonds with her sister Amy. When Amy is killed by a zombie, Andrea uses her death to empower her and Andrea becomes a warrior. Andrea becomes a woman Rick wants to stay back, in to a warrior Rick insists on having in the front line. Andrea in the series however can be grating and occasionally narcissistic. Andrea in the series tends to come off as whiny and mopey and for the most part the writers really have to force the fact that she's becoming a warrior. I enjoy how they retconned Andrea to become a student of Shane's, but so far her warrior instincts haven't kicked in. I'm still waiting for the selfless, powerful Andrea to appear. At this point we just have an Andrea who is doing it for herself.

Gore

Edge: Tie

One of the many facets of the zombie movie that's been missing from many modern zombie films is that key moment where the zombies tear in to a person and gobble on their intestines and skin. "Dawn of the Dead" 2004 is a film I detest because not once do we see zombies tearing in to anyone. The comic delivers the gore in spades with many scenes of grue and cannibalistic carnage. The zombies are so hungry for humans you can sense they'll even eat the feces of a human if ever presented with the opportunity. The zombies in the comic look rotten and decaying. The series masters this look offering unique walkers who look rotten and decaying while also presenting their own interesting traits and features. The gore has also been rich thankfully with a zombie autopsy in season two, and many moments of zombies ripping in to people and feasting on their entrails. But then with Gregory Nicotero you're promised excellence and you get excellence.

The Apocalypse

Edge: The Comic Kirkman is following the tenets of Romero's zombie lore. Skip the origin of the zombie infection and just show what happens when man falls under the weight of its own evil and misguided sense of self-preservation. Man was wholly unprepared and it fell. Rick's awakening in this new world shows that he miraculously survived and has been reborn in a new reality. The show has taken steps to explain somewhat how the world ended by backtracking. Darabont planned to also backtrack and show how the world ended. Some things are best left to the imagination and that's what Kirkman is best at. The series however shows flashbacks to the carnage leading up the end that, while compelling, don't do much to improve the situation these characters are presently in, thus making them meaningless.