This Zombie Still Has A Pulse & UNDEAD Lawsuits! – The Blogging Dead!

I got what I asked for.  Walking Dead Ep. 8 “Nebraska” showed some progress.  It was exciting!  There was story momentum!  We even got a decent shock ending.  I’m happy to say that I’ll tune in again next week. Faith is renewed.

I have a few disorganized thoughts about the episode.  If you watched “Nebraska” then it will make sense.  If you didn’t watch, then you should now, then return here.  Below my episode remarks is a quick bit of unsolicited character studies related to the Walking Dead Lawsuit making headlines now.  Enjoy!

The episode began at the exact moment that we left off a few months ago, which I have to admit, made me cringe.  I totally thought they were going to drag out the repercussions of what had just occurred.  I immediately imagined them bringing redundancy to a new level by sitting around a campfire for 30 minutes talking about what we had just seen.  Thank god they didn’t.

Rick shut up for a few minutes, which was refreshing.  Obviously, the reality of putting down Sophia weighed heavily on him.  It hurt him to discover that everything he was hoping for was completely off base.  As his brain re-booted, we see the rest of Hershel’s family come to terms with the loss of loved ones.  Some better than others.

Jumping ahead, Hershel and Rick’s ‘no hope’ discussion profoundly affected each of them.  They sort of led each other back from the cliffs of hopeless insanity.  Re-emerging from that journey of words, they both discovered a new willingness to do what needs to be done in this dead new world.  And what needs doing is simply WHATEVER IT TAKES to protect their loved ones, including the murder of Dave and Tony, who had just wandered into the wrong bar with their tough guy northeast accents and attitude.  Finally seeing Rick with that dead look in his eyes that I’ve grown to fear in the comic was pretty wonderful.  I feel like there is the chance that the Walking Dead is back on track.

In other news…. The Walking Dead Creators are suing each other!  You can read about it here:  Reuters Article , Publishers Weekly , and at The Beat –

The Robert Kirkman vs Tony Moore lawsuit  in the news over the weekend was timed perfectly for maximum news coverage!  Darn you pesky Lawyers love to get your cases in the spotlight!  I have no idea who is right, and who is wrong.  The contract that Tony Moore signed is not available to the public.  I have met Kirkman, Moore, and the current long running artist of the Walking Dead Charlie Adlard, and here are my impressions from meeting them.

Me & Kirkman

I’ve met Robert Kirkman on at least four occasions.  He has always been polite, fun and inviting.  He makes you as the fan feel like the important one.  He lets you know that he is nothing without YOU reading his work.  At comic conventions he has set times for signings.  I’ve witnessed him stay well past the scheduled time, just to make sure that he met everyone, and often hangs out just to talk.  In 2008 he was invited to join Image Comics as a partner, which is a comic company designed to publish creator owned graphic novels and comics.  In other words, every writer/ artist/ creator owns what they write/ draw/ etc.

And the awesome inscription Kirkman wrote to my son

And Kirkman signed this one before we had a name picked out.

From the Image Website – What does “creator-owned” mean?

“Creator-owned” means exactly that—the trademark and copyright of the work in question is wholly owned by its original creator. The majority of the comics and graphic novels published by Image are creator-owned. While Image as a company does have some say in the promotion and distribution of the titles it publishes, it is done with non-creative interference to protect the company and maintain responsibility for our public image.

My WD Adlard Page. It features most of the core cast. I love it.

Charlie Adlard is the current and very talented artist of the Walking Dead.  (Issue #7 – to the present, AKA just about 8 years)  I met him once at the New York Comic Con.  Also a warm inviting person, excited to meet his fans.  I shuffled right past him, so that is the extent of my impression.

Tony Moore, who initiated this suit, is someone who I have met as well at the NYCC, and that went quite differently.  I collect original comic art.  In fact I own a Charlie Adlard Walking Dead page.  So at shows, the artists will put their portfolios out for fans to peruse, and hopefully buy a page or two.  The moment I touched the book I was reprimanded and told to “be careful” and was told to “not bother looking if I wasn’t serious about buying.”  I was serious.  I noticed that he still had the majority of the art from the first 6 issues.  JACKPOT I thought.  Then I figured out why he still had them.  First, he is horrible at sales, by being rude, self-important, and basically condescending to people who could have been his fans at the con.  His prices are ridiculous!  The average price I saw was well over $400.00, and just to keep this in perspective, if you know comics, in my collection I own John Byrne, Adam Hughes, Chaykin, Larsen, Jim Lee, Mike Mignola, Dave Cockrum, Walt Simonson, Carmine Infantino and many other important artists’ works.  So you can see I’m not hesitant to spend a little money on some art.  These were just random interior pages, not worth the set prices.  Lastly, he comes off as very bitter about the Walking Dead, which is probably the only thing that people ask him about.  It’s all I wanted to talk to him about.  In that respect I feel sorry for him.  But keep in mind, that just because I really don’t like the guy doesn’t mean he’s wrong.  Maybe is due a huge payday.  I’m not a lawyer, and I haven’t seen this contract they’re all talking about.

In closing, it is a shame that a comic published by a “Creator Owned” company like Image is causing a dispute between two creators.  It gives a black eye to the industry and the creator owned movement.  My advice to them both is to go out, get a beer, air your grievances, and if that doesn’t work, they should duel to the death with a choice of these weapons – Knives, Maces, Zip Guns, or a socks filled with quarters.

That is my two bits.

See you all next Sunday for Walking Dead S2 Ep.9