Get into the Comics - Read the First Issue Free

[Rather Dashing]

Anybody interested in the comics for the first time can read the first issue of The Walking Dead here.

As a sense of scale, issues are released monthly. This one is 24 pages, and right now there are 81 issues.
The trade paperbacks contain 6 issues, or about half of a year's worth of comics.
The hardcovers contain a year's worth of issues, and are mostly collector's items for huge fans. I'm not going to even link to them, because they cost an insane amount per story arc for someone just trying to get into it. Look for the "Omnibus" if you're interested, but the first one has since gone up to $500 in price due to its highly limited nature.
And the Compendium has issues 1-48, the first four years of the comic's run. An economy-sized book for an economy-sized price.

[Bunnyman]

Thanks for the info. I wanted some background material before I played the game.

I like the Compendium. I checked at my local comic store and they only had a few of the small issues, the 2.95 ones, and I hate having to track down the other issues. The main reason I don't read a lot of comics.

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by Bunnyman

I like the Compendium. I checked at my local comic store and they only had a few of the small issues, the 2.95 ones, and I hate having to track down the other issues. The main reason I don't read a lot of comics.

The trade paperbacks were made for people like you. One book, released twice per year, containing 6 months' worth of issues. The Compendium release is for people who've gone this long without reading it and want a huge chunk of the story for a pretty cheap price, and it's a great way to go. Still, it's not something you wait for, you're obviously intended to buy the Compendium(or Compendiums at the point where we actually have two, which we should get to relatively soon), and then continue on with paperbacks and maybe get monthly issues if you're so inclined. It's a really nice tiered system, and it has worked really well for the comic's sales. I love this model for comic releases, and I'd definitely like to see it more widespread.

If you get the Compendium, you'll have read through Volume 8. You would still need to read through Volumes 9-13 to catch up to the latest trade paperback release.

[haha120]

hello~

[WARP10CK]

WOW the first issue is just like the first episode of the show impressed with AMC how they recreated the comic book scenes for the series.

[Masta23]

Originally Posted by WARP10CK

WOW the first issue is just like the first episode of the show impressed with AMC how they recreated the comic book scenes for the series.

Yeah the first episode is. As you continue reading you will find that things change quite a lot. They had to change it enough that people who have read the comics won't know exactly what is going to happen in the series.

[WARP10CK]

Originally Posted by Masta23

Yeah the first episode is. As you continue reading you will find that things change quite a lot. They had to change it enough that people who have read the comics won't know exactly what is going to happen in the series.

Yeah have read quite alot of the comics now and it´s awesome I love the stuff that I recognize from the show but at the same it´s different.