1. New Adaptation of anExisting Source -
For thisI have chosento look at the Walking Dead television show, which is an adaptationof
an on-goingseries of graphic novelsgoing by the same name. Reasonfor this choice is that I
enjoy the televisionshow andthe graphic novel equally, so it would be interesting to look at
the two adaptationsandthe differences between these two forms of entertainment.
Comparison of the Two -
There is a variety of changesand differences from graphic novel totelevision show, which can
only be explained with a simple answer: to introducenew possibilitiesfor the showand to
keep the readers of the novel in the dark. I will however be lookingat an importantfactor
thatmakes these two very much different, this being how different many of the scenes are
between the television show andgraphic novel adaptations.
For thisI will be lookingat how the world hasimpacted Shanein the graphic noveland his
mental decline in the television show, bothof which play outin a different manneron both
occasions. First off, I will be lookinginto the graphic novel andhow the original story
portrayedShane’sdemise. As seen on the
screenshotto the left, the whole situation
seems to havespurredover Shane’s
jealousy of Rick. Itsclear thatShane, only a
few daysof seeing his friend who he
believed had died, considering he was left
for dead at an abandonedhospital, found
his way to hisfamily and‘stole’ back his
wife. The portrayalof thisconfrontationin
the graphic novelshows thatShanehas
become a very violentperson, who seems
to be very muchin control of the situation
andtaking nofor an answer. Meanwhile,
Rick is being portrayedas a week willed
personwho is frightened aboutthis
suddenchange of attitudefrom someone
he previously knew. What is interesting
aboutthis is thatthe audience can clearly
tell thatShane hasbeen changed by the
world they live in now, andhas become
cold hearted very quickly, whilst Rick who
has only recently woken upto the new
world, is still pretty muchnew andis
portrayedas almostan innocentchild. The
scene also playsout very differently as for
one, it takesplace at the camp where Rick
first joins his family after awakening which
is still very early in the story, andsecondly Carl is the onethat kills Shane, showingthat even
Rick’sson hasbecome affected by the world they have been forced to live in.
2. On the otherhand, lookingat the way that the scene playsout in the television show, the
audience can clearly spotwhat differentiates the two adaptations. Justlikein the graphic
novel, Shaneand Rick’srelationship beginsto
deteriorate as the show goeson, from the
momentRick showsup to the point of the
confrontation. However unlikethe graphic novel,
the show takesits time to show howRick and
Shanebegin to fall apart andtheir feelings
towardseach other, buildingcharacter over time
to the pointwhere the fans slowly buildup hate
for Shane. The scene also playsoutvery differently
in terms of time period, as the confrontationtakes
place onHershel’s farm during Season2 of the
show (Issue6 in the graphic novel). This of course,
is one of the first differences as in the graphic
novel Shanenever gets to the farm. Due tothis, I
believe thatthe outcomeof the confrontationwas
changedso much becauseit allowed for Rick to
grow as a character andget shapedinto a
different person. By this I mean thatonce again unlike the graphic novel, the dialogue in the
show changesradically from Rick being portrayedas an innocent, afraid and weak man, into
the brave andpowerful manthatis shownin the show. This change is also likely to impact the
audience and their attitudetowards the maincharacter, especially as he becomesmuch more
confident andwhen the confrontationseem arrives, he is a much more relaxed character and
resolves the situationin a different way to the original resolution. Thisbrings usto another
point;Shane’skiller andhow it playsout. As soonas ShaneholdsRick at gunpoint, as
mentionedRick uses hisconversationskills to persuadeShaneto lower his weaponand
ultimately hisguard. After this point, Rick takes advantageof a now defenceless Shane and
proceeds toapproachhim for what seemsto be a friendly hug, butends with Rick drivinga
knife into Rick’schest ultimately killing him. Now when this is comparedto the graphic novel’s
version, Rick was defenceless andhad nochance of coming outalive, which goes to showthat
unlike innocentRick from the graphic novel, Rick from the show is beginningto take his first
stepsinto becominga cold blooded, ruthlessmanwho is essentially losinghis humanity. Ina
way, thischange changes the positionsofbothmen in this event by switching their roles; Rick
ended Shane’slife in the showand went on to becomingsomeonewho slowly losthis
humanity, andhadShanekilled Rick in the graphic novelhe would have withouta doubt
become the same thingRick became, if notworse. So as a whole, television showRick is
portrayedas a strongcharacter who has been mouldedby a world already dead, the graphic
novel portrayeda very weak and innocentRick, still fresh tothe new world.
Critical and Commercial Success –
Walking Dead hasbecome a large part of today’sentertainmentsince it was first publishedas
a graphic novel, with a great story filled with zombies anda group’sstrugglefor survival. So
muchso that the graphicnovels are still being publishedandis currently at issue 163, andhas
likely amountedtoa large amountof profit since then. More specifically, the issue that I have
mentionedto comparegraphic novel to televisionshow, hasamountedtoan estimated 7727
purchases, which nodoubthas the numberrisen since due to the television show’s
popularity. Asfor the television showitself, it has received a variety of ratings from all sortsof
film/TV reviewers, an example of this being Metacritic, which have a graphshowing their
ratings for all of the seasonsupto season6. As expected, the high productionvalueandthe
story have earned the showhigh ratingsfor all of the seasonswith majority of the ratings
3. being 80 or above(with few seasonsreceiving a few numbersbelow). Other reviewers have
also given a similar rating to the show, like Rotten Tomatoes, whichhas also given many of
the seasonsa score of above7/10, with a few of the initial seasonsreceiving more than8/10.
As for the viewer basefor each season, it is noticeable thatthe fan base of the television
show hasrisen considerably over seasons, froman initial 5 million viewers at the premiere of
show, to 17 million viewers upto date. Fromthese numbers, it is safe to say thatthe show is
definitely still receiving goodreception, with anIMDBscore of 8.6/10. Overall, it seemsthat
boththe television showand the graphic novelhave gained a numberof fans and has
attracted the attentionof a lot of audiences. However, there is no doubtthatthe television
show hasincreased the popularity of Robert Kirkman’screation, andhasmostlikely
influenced the sales of the graphic novels. Therefore, as the ratings show, WalkingDead has
become a very prominentpartof today’sentertainment.
Legal and Ethical Issues –
Walking Dead as a televisionshow has come across a numberof legal problems, mostnotably
the lawsuit concerning AMC (television network in which WalkingDead is aired on) andthe
firing of a previousshowrunner. Due tothe show being basedon somethingthatwas
originally created by RobertKirkman, the showhas includedRobert Kirkmanintothe
productionasan Executive Producer, andin doing soit avoidsthebreaking of copyrightlaws.
Along with this, the showalso hasthe Robert Kirkman’snameasone of the first executive
producernames shownduringthe intro, as well as mentioningthatit is basedon a the
graphic novelcreate by RobertKirkmananda few othernames which helped. The showalso
includes a lot of music from variousartists andeven thoughcomposershiredby the company
have composedalot of the music involvedin the show. As for those songswhich belongto
other artists, it would havebeen required the company topurchasethe rights to usethe
content.
As for ethical issues thatperhapsthe show andthe graphic novel may have come across
could be the mentionof religion andthe way it is usedin the story, especially in a show with
zombiesand howthe group hashad toperform some atrocities within a church. Likewise, the
violence portrayedby both the graphicnovel andthe show may be questionableand
influence the certificates, more specifically in the comic as it illustratedand capturesa still of
the aftermath or happeningof the death. A goodexample of this is the introductionof Negan
andwhat he doeswith his bat to an unlucky character, and in bothshowand graphic novel
the audience sees a horrific scene in which a character’s eyeball is essentially out of the
socket. This could scar the audience andfor thatreason it may receive a higher age certificate
to stopyoungeraudiences from viewing suchmature content.
