The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye (Volume One)

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Barnes and Noble

The Walking Dead:  Days Gone Bye (Volume One)
Robert Kirkman
Tony Moore
2006

The Summary
When small-town sheriff Rick Grimes is caught in a shoot-out with his partner, Shane, he doesn't expect to wake up in a coma weeks later - and her certainly doesn't expect to learn the world is a very different place, a place rife with abandoned cities and zombies.  But his grave situation doesn't deter him from finding what's most important:  his wife and his son.

His former partner, however, just might.

The Good
Packed with stimulating art and gripping story-telling, Days Gone Bye is a graphic novel that is sure to please.  Not only does Tony Moore, the artist, render the story with great detail and care, Robert Kirkman, the author, creates a suspenseful tale woven with equal parts tragedy and horror and human insight.

In particular, Kirkman's skills as a story-teller in formulating compelling characters, unique stories, and appropriate amounts of action - and suspense - will keep you on the edge of your seat from cover to cover.

Granted, much of The Walking Dead focuses on the journey of Rick Grimes as he travels to Atlanta in search of his family; however, Kirkman and Moore's novel branches in many different directions as new character and newer dangers emerge.

It's interesting and it's gripping, no two ways about it.

The Bad
I would not recommend The Walking Dead to a younger audience.  Filled with stronger language, gore, frightening images, and a fair dose of horror, Kirkman and Moore's novel is probably a little graphic for some readers.  Honestly, I don't think I read a single issue in this first volume in which multiple people didn't die.

I suggest if you don't like stories that make your stomach twist with grief and worry, or make your heart sink inside your chest, this book may not be for you.

The Ugly
Riddled with gore and tragedy, The Walking Dead is a post-apocalyptic horror story bent on making you squirm the farther you read.  As you learn in these first few issues, it's not just the zombies about which you have to worry - it's the survivors.