The Walking Dead (SPOILERS)

Collects issues #1-#6.

Officer Rick Grimes wakes up from a coma in a hospital to find that he's all alone. Well, not quite alone, as he soon finds hordes of zombies all over his city. He sets off to find his wife and son, hoping that they're still alive.

Collects issues #7-#12

After the shocking end to the last story arc, the group, now led by Rick (who has found his wife and son), is on the move. Lives are lost, almost with tragic regularity as the harsh reality of the situation they are in starts to take a mental toll as well.

Collects issues #13-#18

Rick and the rest of the group come across a prison and it seems like the perfect place to keep safe from the zombie hordes. If only life were so easy for all of them.

Collects issues #19-#24

The survivors are still in the prison they discovered at the end of the second story arc "Miles Behind Us". They might be safer from the zombies, but they aren't safe from each other. It's clear by now that this isn't your standard action adventure sci-fi sort of zombie story. The grim and and the grisly elements continue to dominate.

Collects issues #25-#30

The possibility of finding other survivors draws some of the group out of the prison. They stumble upon another community of survivors but is this the happy meeting they were hoping for? Once again, the greatest dangers they face are not from the zombies, but other humans.

Collects issues #31-#36

The best volume of the series so far and not just for the gore quotient. Most of the characters are pretty unhinged at this point. The constant danger and terror is taking their toll. At the end of the last volume, some members of Rick's group were imprisoned by another group of survivors and their psychopath leader. How will they escape and protect themselves?

Collects issues #37-#42

Things seem to be actually on the upswing for the survivors holed up at the prison. Carol's childbirth goes by relatively smoothly, they have fresh food to eat after a long time and the threat from the other group seems not to have materialized... or hasn't it? The final panel of the volume turns everything on it's head and sets up the story for another dramatic twist.

Collects issues #43-#48

The group of survivors from the other camp have found the prison that was home to Rick and the rest of the group. They are determined to capture the prison and kill everyone.. or at least their sociopathic leader is. Despite all the losses the group has suffered to this point, this eighth story arc is the most tragic so far. Where does the remaining survivors go from here?

Collects issues #49-#54

The aftermath of the tragic battle in the last story arc leaves us with a much smaller group of survivors. The world is crumbling, correction, the world has crumbled around them and they can trust no-one. The remaining humans are as much of a threat as the zombies. After meeting up with three other survivors, one of them a scientist trying to make it to Washington DC, Rick the others decide to join them in their journey.

Collects issues #55-#60

The survivors hit the road for DC. They decide to take a little detours to Rick's hometown to pick up supplies at the police station. The detour seems to be going well... till it's not going so well. Cracks start to appear in the apparent unity of the group once again. This is the best story arc so far. There is less action, more focus on the characters. The story-telling has improved considerably since moving away from the prison.

Collects issues #61-#66

The survivors face up to the tenuous connection they have with their own humanity. Dealing with a child in their group who has become mentally imbalanced, almost sociopathic brings up some very tough questions with no good answers. Further encountering a group of cannibals forces them to look in the mirror almost and realize how they barely have a grip on their own humanity. Great story-telling in this arc.

Collects issues #67-#72

Another twist in the tale. The group of survivors is now part of a community of other survivors. After more than a year in the wild, so to speak, and several conflicts with other groups of survivors, it's very hard to let go of their paranoia of new people.

Collects issues #73-#78

Rick and the rest of his group are now part of a community near Washington DC. It's not smooth sailing and distrust rears it's ugly head frequently. It's not easy to be "civilized" after more than a year of doing many many savage acts. The overall story makes a very interesting transition in this story arc. I am a little worried that they will repeat ideas from the earlier part of the series in the prison but hopefully the writers still have interesting plot ideas up their sleeve.