Walking Dead co-creators enter legal battle

Remember, in the event of an actual Zombie Apocalypse, the first place you want to go is a scuba diving supply store. While everyone else is looting gun stores for ammunition they’ll inevitably run out of, get yourself a Kevlar shark diving suit. They may be undead… but they have human teeth.

The much celebrated AMC series The Walking Dead follows the tribulations of Sherriff Deputy Rick Grimes and a small group of survivors as they struggle to find safety after a zombie apocalypse. The series is an adaptation of The Walking Dead comic written by Robert Kirkman, illustrated by Tony Moore, and published by Image Comics. The Walking Dead has become the leading example of success in indie comics with sales far above any other title that isn’t from Marvel or DC. Image Comics began as independent label started by a cadre of illustrators who defected from Marvel Comics to retain ownership of their characters, but now it seems that one of their own illustrators has similar complaints.

While the TV series was on a short Winter hiatus, Tony Moore sued Robert Kirkman (who is also a writer and executive producer of the series) over the ownership of the comic. The two are childhood friends, and co-created the comic in 2003, but Moore has apparently not seen any of the revenue from the wild success of the franchise. The ongoing monthly comic is on hold until the two can settle the issue amicably, but in the comic industry upsets like this can be devastating.

Luckily the TV series has not been compromised. Last night the mid-season premier aired on AMC to much acclaim from the shows enthusiastic fan base. Or, if you’re like me, you can watch it online. The series has been phenomenal for so many reasons, from the awesome graphics, the compelling story and the suburb cast. Bringing zombies to an ongoing weekly show has developed the genre in ways that could never have happened in a feature film. In a traditional zombie flick you have time for maybe one innovation. Maybe the zombies run, or maybe they mutate, or maybe they have just a hint of intelligence. But character development is always rushed in the movies because there just isn’t time in a 90 minute film to capture it. The Walking Dead slows that down, exploring the gritty human interpersonal relationships of a troupe of survivors that’s either in immediate physical danger, or more often on the brink of a psychotic breakdown. More than anything it’s been about the struggle to keep their own humanity.

Although it’s hard to find liberty themes in a show where the state has already packed up and left everyone for dead, there is a strong theme of property rights throughout the show. Andrea was an attorney who gets a little dethatched after her sister Amy turns. Dale, the owner of the RV they travel around in, confiscates her pistol for safekeeping. Thinking better of it later he returns it, but only because it’s a matter of property. He’s clear with her that it’s against his better judgment adding “Don’t make me regret this.” In recent episodes she’s getting pretty mean with a rifle, which means we’re on our way to seeing the bad-ass-zombie-assassin Andrea we know from the comic. While the family is taking refuge on the Greene family farm in the first half of season 2, Hershel Greene periodically implies he wants them to leave. This is consistently an issue of land ownership, with Rick willing to take the group back into the wild rather than violate Hershel’s property rights.

The liberty themes will really begin to emerge if the TV series ever introduces the comic’s primary (living) villain, Philip Blake a.k.a. “The Governor.” In the comic Philip declared himself “Governor” of Woodbury, Georgia after he and a small band of ruthless National Guardsmen cleared a few city blocks of walkers. Philip is a seriously demented POS. For example, after his daughter Penny turned he tied her up in his apartment and fed pieces of her to disobedient prisoners.

If the comic series is any indication, there’s still a lot of room for the TV series to grow, and I for one and eager to see where this is going.

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