Why do you dislike The Walking Dead?

[ryanandbeard]

I just want to state that I'm glad there's no resolution in sight. It's kinda one of the reasons I like comic books so much. Most times stories fall into the trap of... being stories with beginnings middles and ends these are artificial literary constructs. There are no real beginnings, middles and / or ends in real life, only a series of interconnected prologues, epilogues and one giant present moment shared by everyone but perceived differently by individuals. The only way to really break the mold of the begining-middle-end lie is prolonged serialization which gives us insights into life and ourselves that transcends a simple story arc.... At least that's how I feel.

For argument's sake...of course there are "real" beginnings and endings in real life...Birth...Death? That's as real as it gets, my friend. And we all experience it.
So apparently our lives are simply artificial literary constructs...

There's ALWAYS a beginning, middle and an end...NO MATTER WHAT...it's simply how you go through it that makes the unique differences (both in real life and storytelling).

[Prisoner 6655321]

For argument's sake...of course there are "real" beginnings and endings in real life...Birth...Death? That's as real as it gets, my friend. And we all experience it.
So apparently our lives are simply artificial literary constructs...

There's ALWAYS a beginning, middle and an end...NO MATTER WHAT...it's simply how you go through it that makes the unique differences (both in real life and storytelling).

Not so much. We're not born in a vacuum and our actions affect the world around us; just as the actions of those who came before us and the world that we were born into shape us and compel us to incite more change that will similarly affect those who come after us... And so our lives transcend our own births and deaths.

[ryanandbeard]

Not so much. We're not born in a vacuum and our actions affect the world around us; just as the actions of those who came before us and the world that we were born into shape us and compel us to incite more change that will similarly affect those who come after us... And so our lives transcend our own births and deaths.

I see your point. Plenty of films out there that get at the point you're making.

Sure, "life" is one long timeline that's infinite as far as we can tell...

But our lives, human lives, are finite purely from a definition/language basis.
Each of us must have a beginning (birth)...no matter what came before us to shape us...we must have a middle (however linear or non-linear it may be) ...and we must have an end...no matter the ripple effect we may cause into future lives.
I am not sure how our lives transcend our birth?...not sure that statement is quite right...and sure, our deaths can, in some cases, be transcendent, but regardless, it is an end on a specific timeline...regardless of life-all-around's (earth) timeline.

Our actions have hardly anything to do with the idea of beginning-middle-end when it comes to an individual. Really, it just boils down to biology.

[Prisoner 6655321]

I see your point. Plenty of films out there that get at the point you're making.

Sure, "life" is one long timeline that's infinite as far as we can tell...

But our lives, human lives, are finite purely from a definition/language basis.
Each of us must have a beginning (birth)...no matter what came before us to shape us...we must have a middle (however linear or non-linear it may be) ...and we must have an end...no matter the ripple effect we may cause into future lives.
I am not sure how our lives transcend our birth?...not sure that statement is quite right...and sure, our deaths can, in some cases, be transcendent, but regardless, it is an end on a specific timeline...regardless of life-all-around's (earth) timeline.

Our actions have hardly anything to do with the idea of beginning-middle-end when it comes to an individual. Really, it just boils down to biology.

What I was getting at with births is that so many lives funnel into our own creation that our own births are bigger than us or even our parents. Think, for example about the factory workers who made the blankets we were wrapped in, the miners who dug out coal to make power to run the hospitals and the damage that did to the environment vs. the number of lives it saved. Anyway... there's no point in waxing philosophical at this point. If it's not your bag it's not your bag. I don't think all stories need to ramble on and on, in fact often times stories are served well with conventional beginnings middles and ends but I think that the scope adds to the quality of the work in this case. I get the complaint about the likeability of the cast at this time but at least they are all pretty dynamic and react in distinct and at least sorta understandable courses of action.

[Deviancy]

It all comes down to this, The Walking Dead isn't called The Spectacular adventures of Rick Grimes and Carl the Boy Wonder. While Rick is one of the focus points of the series, his life will end but life in the world of Walking Dead will continue to exist even after he's gone. There's no need for a middle or an end when it comes to the Walking Dead. Even when Rick, ANdrea, and Michonne are long gone, the series could easily contine with an entirely new group of characters and it would still be the Walking Dead. The Telltale game proved to me that it isn't just the characters that are currently in the comic that keep me reading the comic every month, its the world itself and the affect the world has on the living that keeps me coming back.

[wiski]

Yeah, but the 'problem' is that the comic seems to have no goal and the general storylines seem to repeat themselves. Why pay for a comic when you basically already know what's going to happen for the rest of however long it exists, with the only thing to look forward to is trying to predict who will die during the next daring escape sequence?

[Wild_Child]

It all comes down to this, The Walking Dead isn't called The Spectacular adventures of Rick Grimes and Carl the Boy Wonder. While Rick is one of the focus points of the series, his life will end but life in the world of Walking Dead will continue to exist even after he's gone. There's no need for a middle or an end when it comes to the Walking Dead. Even when Rick, ANdrea, and Michonne are long gone, the series could easily contine with an entirely new group of characters and it would still be the Walking Dead. The Telltale game proved to me that it isn't just the characters that are currently in the comic that keep me reading the comic every month, its the world itself and the affect the world has on the living that keeps me coming back.

If Robert Krickmen can surprise us,he can kill off the whole group and start anew with a different cast.

[Deviancy]

Yeah, but the 'problem' is that the comic seems to have no goal and the general storylines seem to repeat themselves. Why pay for a comic when you basically already know what's going to happen for the rest of however long it exists, with the only thing to look forward to is trying to predict who will die during the next daring escape sequence?

And whats the goal of TMNT? You claim it's one of your "books" in your sig, and you have an avatar of one of them. But yet it's one of the comics I'd use as an example of regurgitation/repetition. I enjoy reading it once in awhile but like a lot of comics out there, its just the heroes beating up bad guys month in and month out with very, very little actual character development. And like many, many other comics out there, the writers very rarely, if ever, touch on what the encounters have on the overall psyche of the "heroes". For example, Peter Parker's uncle died which altered his psyche and caused him to be a hero, but then very little seemed to phase him after that. Even Gwen's death didn't really leave a lasting impact on him back in the day. When the lead characters in comics just get over these things several issues later, they become impossible to relate to because they're about as human like as Siri.

And that brings me to TWD. TWD does have an issue with looping like many other ongoing titles but unlike many of those other ongoing titles, the core characters continue to show physical as well as emotional changes. Andrea still wears her scar across her face and her missing lobe each and every month, and she was still showing signs of being phased by Dale's death up until she hooked up with Rick, and Rick spent a long time talking to Lori on the phone, and Carl the sweet little boy at the start of the series just continues to get more and more messed up due to everything he's been put through, even tough as nails Michonne was never quite the same after her run in with the Governor. In short, I'd like to see a little more variety action wise because things are a wee bit repetitive action wise right now but well, I don't read TWD for the action, I read it for the character interaction and right now I think the character interaction is dandy like candy.

[Prisoner 6655321]

Yeah, but the 'problem' is that the comic seems to have no goal and the general storylines seem to repeat themselves. Why pay for a comic when you basically already know what's going to happen for the rest of however long it exists, with the only thing to look forward to is trying to predict who will die during the next daring escape sequence?

Character development. There's overall plot development too but, yeah... it does seem to be wrapped up in cycles.

[wiski]

And whats the goal of TMNT? You claim it's one of your "books" in your sig, and you have an avatar of one of them. But yet it's one of the comics I'd use as an example of regurgitation/repetition. I enjoy reading it once in awhile but like a lot of comics out there, its just the heroes beating up bad guys month in and month out with very, very little actual character development. And like many, many other comics out there, the writers very rarely, if ever, touch on what the encounters have on the overall psyche of the "heroes". For example, Peter Parker's uncle died which altered his psyche and caused him to be a hero, but then very little seemed to phase him after that. Even Gwen's death didn't really leave a lasting impact on him back in the day. When the lead characters in comics just get over these things several issues later, they become impossible to relate to because they're about as human like as Siri.

And that brings me to TWD. TWD does have an issue with looping like many other ongoing titles but unlike many of those other ongoing titles, the core characters continue to show physical as well as emotional changes. Andrea still wears her scar across her face and her missing lobe each and every month, and she was still showing signs of being phased by Dale's death up until she hooked up with Rick, and Rick spent a long time talking to Lori on the phone, and Carl the sweet little boy at the start of the series just continues to get more and more messed up due to everything he's been put through, even tough as nails Michonne was never quite the same after her run in with the Governor. In short, I'd like to see a little more variety action wise because things are a wee bit repetitive action wise right now but well, I don't read TWD for the action, I read it for the character interaction and right now I think the character interaction is dandy like candy.

Yeah, not sure why books is in quotes, but I agree that TMNT has a lot less character development than TWD, although there actually is character development in this run of TMNT. Where I like TMNT more than TWD is that it's actually a fun comic, and while the story may be similar to runs of TMNT in the past, there is a lot new in this one, and I never read the old TMNT comics, so aside from having general knowledge that some of the plot points have been done before, it's new to me.

I also don't see this comic getting to a point where it will then double back and begin repeating plot points from earlier in the series, so it's one continuous story moving forward, where TWD kinda feel like it's one continuous story that restarts itself over and over again.

I would personally still be reading TWD because I think not enough comics have good character development, as TWD does, but where I got bored with TWD was that it became predictable for me, and I don't like buying comics that just keep showing me the same thing over and over again. While some of the comics I read don't have as good of character development, I'd say that all of the comics I read are more interesting and entertaining than TWD.

Not saying TWD is a bad comic, as there are a lot of comics I am told are fantastic that I don't like for one reason or another, just saying that I don't like TWD anymore because the stuff I dislike about it outweighs the stuff I liked about it.

[ryanandbeard]

It all comes down to this, The Walking Dead isn't called The Spectacular adventures of Rick Grimes and Carl the Boy Wonder. While Rick is one of the focus points of the series, his life will end but life in the world of Walking Dead will continue to exist even after he's gone. There's no need for a middle or an end when it comes to the Walking Dead. Even when Rick, ANdrea, and Michonne are long gone, the series could easily contine with an entirely new group of characters and it would still be the Walking Dead. The Telltale game proved to me that it isn't just the characters that are currently in the comic that keep me reading the comic every month, its the world itself and the affect the world has on the living that keeps me coming back.

Good point about the game...hell of an experience.
I am still a little behind on the comics...I am on issue 97...and this Jesus guy is a pretty interesting character so far and they've just introduced the name Negan, which I've heard is another villain character (no spoilers please!) and that hooked my interest. I think my main problem in the last 20 issues or so is that the series seems to be on auto-pilot. The characters even seem a bit at a standstill as far as development. But that can change. The art is an issue for me at times, too...the world looks too plain...too similar. I think a change of scenary would help. I hope Kirkman can find a way to turn us upsidedown and give us something actually unexpected...but nonetheless , the "world" in the walking dead is still full of potential.