Why So Blu?

AMC’s The Walking Dead Premieres This Halloween

Whether you’re a zombie fan or just appreciative of a really well-written story, you might want to get ready for an invasion of epic proportions this Sunday night.  Back in 2003, Image Comics bigwig Robert Kirkman created a black and white comic book titled The Walking Dead.  Sure, zombie pandemics are nothing new in the land of fiction.  They’ve been done a zillion times.  So how do you take something so rehashed and make it appetizing?  You let Kirkman do the talking. The Image mastermind, along with artist Charlie Adlard, have continued to deliver issue after issue of nail-biting drama, proving that you don’t need colored pages to tell a great story.  What makes the story so good?  It’s just written so dang well.  This Halloween, that gripping story makes the leap from print to your TV.

Debuting on the AMC channel on Sunday at 10pm Eastern/9pm Central, the show will closely follow the comic’s story of one officer of the law, Rick Grimes, awaking from his bullet-derived coma after a standoff with an assailant.  Finding no human in sight within the corridors of the hospital, Grimes begins wandering the halls in search of answers and his family.  It isn’t before long that he realizes something is amiss when he starts encountering more sloth-like beings with decaying skin than normal people.  Eventually by default, it is Grimes’ duty to lead what humans he can find to safety amidst the zombie apocalypse.

At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, fans of the title asked if the television series would be in black and white, maintaining a parallel with the monthly book.  The answer was ‘no’.  The series will be in full color with directing duties assumed by the great Frank Darabont.  Darabont’s cinema résumé includes directorial acclaim on The Green Mile, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, The Shawshank Redemption and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3.  Taking on the role of Rick Grimes will be actor Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually) along with a supporting cast of Jon Bernthal (HBO’s The Pacific), Sarah Wayne Callies (House M.D.), and Laurie Holden (Silent Hill).

How apropos is it that the series comes out on Halloween?  The timing couldn’t be better as my favorite holiday of the year will end with a little more creepiness than usual.  Excitement is mounting for this much anticipated series while concern of disappointment has taken a backseat after many have experienced some solid clips from the show.   Needless to say, this television adaptation of The Walking Dead is in good hands between the aforementioned names along with Robert Kirkman as executive producer.  Tune in this Sunday to AMC for the television event of 2010!

For the show’s official website, please visit: http://www.amctv.com/originals/The-Walking-Dead/