The Walking Dead Comes to Life

Exciting news this week as the earlier announcement about a potential new AMC TV drama based on writer Robert Kirkman and co-creator/artist Tony Moore's zombie comic book saga The Walking Dead was not only confirmed but according to CHUD.com, "green-lit."

Frank Darabont, the director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Mist, and the co-screenwriter of the underrated 1988 The Blob remake has signed on to direct a pilot episode for the show. And while it may be blasphemous to say this, the show will probably be better than the original comic. You can do things in television you can't in a comic, which is ironic considering so many writers use comics to realize their big-budget ideas on paper without a blockbuster budget. Here're why:

First of all, the TV show by necessity would have to put less emphasis on Kirkman's labored dialogue which delivers a rationalized, sanitized version of the characters' personalities straight from the horses mouth. Though the dialogue-intensive nature of Kirkman's epic account of how father and husband Rick Grimes survives the zombie apocalypse is largely responsible for making it a memorable series, it also kills a lot of the story's action. Now, considering that the stories action has to be selectively expanded from several 22-page installments to make up one 46 minute episode, that hopefully will change.

Secondly, it will make the story about the supporting characters. Knowing that we're going to see Rick live on to see the end of the series - the whole premise is to follow his survival, after all - drastically diminishes the story's sense of peril. Now, the story can more naturally focus on the story's massive supporting cast. If all goes well, zombie fans have a lot to look forward to.