COMIC BOOK REVIEW
The Walking Dead
By Munawar Mobin
This week, we give you hungry readers a bite into Robert Kirkman's “The Walking Dead”. We know it's been a while since the comic was first published but better late than never, right? As expected, the comic is about a group of people trying to survive the new world which is over-run by flesh eating zombies. It's basically the gist of any other zombie movie/book. The story is about former Sheriff Rick Grimes and a group of people which includes his son Carl, wife Lori and a few more characters. The comic book, in all honesty, is quite intense, and it's not just because of the frequent zombie attacks. It's because as you read the first issue, and then the second and so on, Kirkman's writing gets to you in such a way that the attachment to the characters in the story and the dialogues between them feel very much real and evident. It's what is always missing in zombie movies; with 94 issues in you can see that Kirkman has had quite a while to get his setting right and develop the characters. However, with too much time to handle a story there's a chance for it to spin out of control and digress from the actual story; this comic does not. It's been on the same road since the first issue and it shows no sign of taking a turn for the worse.
The best parts about this comic are the building up and destroying of relationships between the characters. With an apocalypse at hand, one thinks for himself and himself only, and Kirkman takes that perspective into hand very well with characters constantly doubting other people on the road and even resorting to acts of violence with non-zombie humans just to save their group. The other great thing is that Kirkman points out all the things that would be needed to survive during an apocalypse very realistically. Obviously, after three or four years, food will be a huge problem and thus, right from the beginning we see the characters hunting for food like in the primitive ages; and somewhere in between they even resort to farming, so the problems they face are sometimes even bigger than zombies.
All in all, it's a great series and it's even won an Eisner Award for the best continuing series. For readers who crave stories about things that crave human flesh, it is must read. For everyone else, the story makes it worth giving it a shot. AMC has the TV show version out too, which is worth checking out.
Last week's topic was Renegade. While we were hoping for pirates, battles, wars and perhaps a rebel out to change the world, we found a different sort of defiance. The fact that the story sounds so personal appealed to us and hence it was selected. For next week, our topic will be: Flies. Submissions need to be sent to ds.risingstars@gmail.com by Sunday noon. Word limit: 350-500 words. Good luck.
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Renegade
By Tanzia Tasnim Usha
No. There is no reason for me to be hard on myself, I thought. Why do they think that all my expressions and aim in life are wrong?
I just changed my philosophical beliefs. Living like a dead zombie is better than living in a cage full of dark curtains. I belong to the 21st century - the modern world. But they don't seem to like it at all. They believe that if a girl is kept inside the house and allowed to meet friends less, if they are told to do household works, a girl becomes a perfect Bangladeshi. And what about a job? They say after getting married, the decision is with the husband whether to let his wife work or not. But I could never wait for that long.
The wheel of my life was spinning away and I knew that if I died, there would be no one to cry for me. I don't have friends. I go to college where girls and boys want to talk with me, but I just don't have the guts to talk to them. My family almost forced me to study science. But I would rather study commerce. That's why I joined the commerce group instead of science.
I can almost feel the spirit inside me growing stronger and stronger. But there is much more to understand. There are terms and conditions in every aspect of life, which I must understand. No, there is no shame for a girl to speak in a loud voice. There is nothing wrong with having tons of friends to hang out with. There is no pain for being a girl yourself. This time when I step out in to the streets, I will hold my head up to the sky and walk with pride and glory. Yes, I have become one of the renegades. I don't want to live like the way my family wants me to.
I want to walk in the muddy streets with my sandal in my hand. I like to play with the little kids knowing that I am an adult myself. I don't care what people think of me and I don't care what they say. Is there anything wrong with me? No. I am not turning into a girl who is always thinking about herself - or in other words, is selfish. How can a person say that a girl is selfish after she has lived 19 years of her life under the dark cages that her family had gifted her since her childhood? How will you feel when you are in a coaching centre and a guy happens to ask you about a test and your mom insults the boy for talking with you? Still want to say I am selfish? To me, I am just the flower who has risen from the bud. I am a renegade.
