Michonne (Danai Gurira) - The Walking Dead - Season 3, Episode 1 - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC Michonne (Danai Gurira) - The Walking Dead - Season 3, Episode 1 - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC
When budding fiction writer Robert Kirkman first penned the script of The Walking Dead (TWD) comic, he had no idea it would one day become a successful TV series.
His first artist, Tony Moore, outdid himself with the art work for the books. The concept of an apocalyptic world plagued by zombies was not new to TV, but the storytelling was.
If someone like Quentin Tarantino or his buddy in gore, Robert Rodriguez, was to direct the TWD series, the lens would perhaps be focused on the violent aspects of the story more than character development.
And this is where Kirkman trounces them all. The master storyteller is in charge of the story development for the TV series, as he was for the comics. He did a great job, just as he did on paper.
It should be noted, however, that a lot of effort was put into giving the direction of the two storylines different focuses. That said, in both cases, his passion is still to make you care enough for the characters to want more of the story.
When the show first came to SA, the publicity company behind the TWD brand asked the media to take part in a bizarre exercise at about 5am.
I was out of town at another event and when the big reveal came about I was shocked.
The plan was to have talented make-up artists transform all the invitees into zombie-like creatures and then at sunrise they would “invade” the Joburg CBD.
The horror that must have been evident on the public’s faces must have been priceless.
The pictures taken of that endeavour were very impressive, to the point that you’d think they were taken straight off the US series’ studio set.
That is the thing about this title. If a mere campaign to raise awareness about the show entailed so much preparation and dedi-cation, what of the actual show?
The make-up is phenomenal and seduces you into believing that the horrific zombies are real. The producers went as far as casting extremely thin actors as the starving zombies.
Those who watched the first season complained about the relatively small number of episodes that were produced for the debut season.
If you are one of them you will be happy to know that the third season, which start on our screens tomorrow, comprises an astound- ing 16 episodes. It is as if they are apologising.
In the third season we catch our hero, police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), and his band of survivors trying to overcome their perilous situation. They want to believe they will make it, but as we saw previously, the group’s numbers just keep dwindling.
As if to remedy this, the producers have added two new characters in this season who become an integral part of the storyline.
They are David Morrisey, who stars as The Governor, and Danai Gurira, who portrays Michonne, a prominent figure in the comic books.
The title of the series is very clever in that, unlike shows like Spartacus and Revenge, it gives room for the writers to explore an array of ideas.
In Spartacus, the lead actor, Andy Whitfield, who played a character named after the title, died and the producers struggled to proceed. In Revenge, the prota-gonist gets her revenge and no one cares about the storyline thereafter.
So watch The Walking Dead knowing that, like a soapie, the story is the real star of the show. Like my comic book dealer suggested to me once about the books of this title, do not get too attached to any character in this series – anything can happen as death lurks everywhere.
• The Walking Dead, season three, premieres tomorrow, 9.15pm, FX, channel 110, TopTV.