30 Day Book Challenge: Day 24

Day 24- Favorite comic/graphic novels

 

The Walking Dead

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who reads my blog, but I love The Walking Dead comics (as referenced to here and here... and many other places). They are dark and gritty and awesome... and full of angst and drama. And zombie murder. And a lot of death.

But I also love Scott Pilgrim because it is funny. The Umbrella Academy is also a weird/entertaining read. And Comixology is great because you can get comics digitally (or possibly for free) if, like me, there are no comic book stores anywhere near you. I just started getting into comic books about a year ago (hard to find here), so I don't feel like I've read much yet, but I'm interested in finding more. Next I'll probably read Watchmen- hoping to start that soon.

Are you familiar at all with comics? What do you think I should check out? I need more!

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Alice in Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles #1) by Gena Showalter

Description

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.
I wish... Yeah, I wish.

I'm a little disappointed by this book. Mostly because the title is misleading for 2 reasons. 1) It really doesn't have anything to do with Alice in Wonderland except for the name Alice and a cloud shaped like a white rabbit and 2) They're not real zombies. They want to eat your soul, not your flesh. They're more like evil spirits than zombies.... Sombies. Oh, and only some people can see them. Another fun twist. They're spirits so you can only fight them in spirit form, but if your spirit is injured it shows up on your body. Am I the only one who thinks this is unfair?

As I was reading I thought it would have been better if the characters were adults. I know it's a YA book, but why are teenagers doing all of the work? On top of the fighting something not that many people can see, they still have to go to school and get in trouble. Also, it made me feel pervy having a crush on fictional High School characters with douchey nicknames like "Bronx" and "Frosty." I did think it was entertaining anyway and it was a quick read, but for the most part I felt like it was underdeveloped and the writing could have been improved. Just because it's a book for teenagers doesn't mean that it needs to be cheesy at all.

I guess I was hoping and looking for something with more meaning when it may not have been meant to have it. I don't know... maybe I'm outgrowing certain types of YA novels? I shudder at the thought. This is only the first book in the series so I'm hoping the next one will be better. Through the Zombie Glass (White Rabbit Chronicles #2) comes out on September 24, 2013.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Description

'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.

This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight...

I just loved this book... all the feels! I never thought I'd like a book from a zombie's perspective, but this zombie is so freakin' likeable! I really came to like him because I could tell how hard he was trying to change and that he wanted to be different.

A couple of the reviews I read about Warm Bodies before I read it were negative because they said the names were too close to those in Romeo and Juliet (R and Julie for example) but I didn't pick that up when I was reading. I mean, I can't think about Shakespeare when zombies are involved, though I suppose you could draw comparisons if you wanted to put the time in. I really didn't. Another complaint was this "..." but I like ellipsis and there are only so many ways you can show the slow speech patterns. It didn't bother me like some other reviews I read, but I did notice them.

Julie is far more forgiving than one could expect, but I think it's meant to show her willingness to forgive and she seems to have this light in her soul. Sorry, that was cheesy. But I rolled my eyes multiple times over her "bad girl" image she tried to give herself. You are surrounded by zombies, how are you so calm?

I don't want to give away too much, but these zombies love brains, not just the flesh. So when R eats the brain of Julie's boyfriend? Let's just say that that's what starts him on his change. I haven't seen the movie yet but I plan to soon. It's funny and touching and a good zombie love story (these are words I never thought I would say together).

The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye by Kirkman and Moore

Description:

An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months, society has crumbled: There is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. Rick Grimes finds himself one of the few survivors in this terrifying future. A couple months ago he was a small town cop who had never fired a shot and only ever saw one dead body. Separated from his family, he must now sort through all the death and confusion to try and find his wife and son. In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally begin living.

The Walking Dead is a great series written by Robert Kirkman. I decided to read it because I liked the series and wanted to start with something I would probably like. I only read 1 graphic novel before and wanted to get into them and this was a great first choice. The drawings are in black and white, but even without color the feelings and thoughts still come through the facial expressions and actions of the characters. The Walking Dead is actually a comic. Volume 1 has issues 1-6. If you want larger collections there is also a Book 1 (issues 1-12) or Compendium 1 (issues 1-48) so you really have the option of how many issues you want to read at once. I went with a volume because I thought it would be easier to read than a larger book or the giant compendium.

If you like the show and don't know if you'll like the comic, Comixology lets you download the first issue for free. That was all it took for me so I hope that you like it if you check it out!

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

Description:

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

As part of my sudden interest in zombie literature, I decided to read World War Z because of all the "hype" I've been hearing about it and with the movie coming out soon.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked it up. It isn't a typical novel. It is a collection of stories (essays?) from survivors of the zombie apocalypse. Some stories had boring information, but most talked about their experiences in survival. Those people "interviewed" are from all around the world.

There was a lot of aspects that I had never considered before, like how different cities and governments would handle the outbreak and the fact that zombies could walk around underwater (so don't go swimming).

If you're looking for zombie killing action, this probably isn't the book for you. If you just like zombies and want to know the implications of the zombie apocalypse on the world, I would suggest this as your next read.

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Seth Grahame Smith

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith



My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I tried reading the original and found it snore inducing. I was wondering though the local bookstore one day and a ray of light appeared over it while I heard angels singing "Hallelujah". OK, that's an exaggeration but I was still happy to see it.

I thought this book was hilarious and even though I was never a huge fan of katana swords or ninjas, this book kept my attention. I never thought the Bennett girls could kick so much rotten stinking zombie butt.



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