"The first volume throws you right into the fray with no explanation, no real background but it doesn't really matter. A zombie story is a zombie story but for what it's worth, this one is entertaining at least."
4 Stars.
Pros: Rick is in general a kind, intelligent, loving man. Though you don't learn much of the other characters until later, for the most part they all seem to be varied and different, making for an interesting ensemble.
Cons: Though I understand why they did it, the "no explanation at all whatsoever" as far as the Zombie apocalypse goes" having Rick wake up in the hospital and the whole world has changed, I always kind of feel like that's a cheat. They could have least expounded upon some of the other characters hardships and how they actually arrived at the camp outside Atlanta.
Full Review:
Rick Grimes, small town Police Officer in Kentucky, is shot in the line of duty and slips into a coma. When he awakens, the hospital is deserted, save for a dead body on the elevator and also the cafeteria, full of rotting, walking corpses intent on attacking Rick and trying to bite him. He manages to escape and heads back to his old neighborhood only to find his wife and child gone. He meets a man, Morgan and his son Duane, and they explain the situation.
They're not sure how it all started but it didn't take long for the Zombies to overwhelm everyone. The government tried to horde everyone into the larger cities, thinking they could protect them better if they were altogether. That ended disastrously and Rick finds this out the hard way when he makes it to Atlanta and sees how many Zombies there are. He's rescued from the horde by a young boy named Glen, who takes him to the small camp they have outside of Atlanta.
There, Rick is reunited with his wife, Lori and his son, Carl. He begins to adapt to life at camp, managing to hunt with his old police officer partner and best friend, Shane, and keep peopled fed. He insists that everyone learn how to shoot a gun, to protect themselves and for awhile it seems that life at Camp might actually be possible. Until when night, a horde of Zombies attacks and the group suffers casualties. It's getting colder and it's obvious that the camp is too close to Atlanta, so Rick is insistent that they have to leave. Shane, on the other hand, is insistent that they stay, saying that the Government will come along and fix all this.
The volume ends with a heated argument between Shane and Rick, while Shane starts digressing into an enraged spiel, saying that "she would have come around" that "she could have been his" if only Rick hadn't come back. It's obvious that something transpired between Shane and Lori while Rick was in the coma and they were trying to get to Atlanta. Ricks' not entirely sure what Shane's talking about but he doesn't have time to think about it as suddenly Shane is shot through the neck by none other than Carl, Rick's seven year old son.
It's a good first installment. It throws you into the disastrous world and doesn't pull any punches. The characters living in the camp are all different enough that it makes for some interesting differences of opinion etc. And the ending cuts the middle man out as now Rick can work on getting the others to agree with him and they can work on finding a better, more fortified place to hunker down.
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