The Walking Dead: The Covers Volume 1

The Walking Dead

by Robert Kirkman

In celebration of the Five Year Anniversary of The Walking Dead, Image Comics presents this full-color hardback collection of the first 50 covers of the series, as well as covers for the various collected editions of the series, with added sketch material and commentary by series creator/writer Robert Kirkman, and artists Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Zombies, Art, Horror

120 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2008

About the author

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.

Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.

In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.

Reviews

[Parka · Rating 4 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

This book is presented in hardcover, roughly the same size as the comics. Inside, it collects cover art of the single issue volume 1-50, trade paperback volumes 1-8, Books 1-4 and Deluxe Hardcovers 1-2. There are also sketches and unused designs.

If you are a collector of the comics, you already have majority of the art. The reason to buy this book is probably the commentary if you're interested in how they come up with the covers. Creator Robert Kirkman, artists Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard look back in hindsight at what they like and the ones that didn't work out well.

The art is beautiful but there are a few misses as well - all that are mentioned in the commentary provided.

This book is more for the ultimate collectors. Casual fans probably can do without it. Besides, most of the cover art can be found easily online.

[Rick Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

This hardcover edition collects the cover illustrations from the first fifty issues of The Walking Dead. Each cover gets a full-page treatment (just the art without the cover lettering), and on the facing page are notes from Robert Kirkman and from the artist along with sketches and alternate versions.

The artwork is great, and the book's format does an excellent job of showcasing it. The notes sometimes tend toward the technical side of the artwork, with some decent insights for artists into the processes involved. Tony Moore writes a lot more than Charlie Adlard does, but I thought there were some good anecdotes from both artists.

[Barbi Faye (The Book Fae) · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fans of the show and the horror and gore genre! "The Walking Dead"; Image Comics presents a full color collection of the first 50 covers and covers for the collected editions of the series to celebrate the 5th anniversary. There is additional sketch material and commentary by series creator and writer Robert Kirkman and other Walking Dead artists.

[Brielle "Bookend" Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨🎨 “Every promise of pain was painted in full color before the first panel turned.” ✨

4.8 out of 5 Silent Shouts

Best for: Readers who want to stand still and look back—on the violence, the beauty, the foreshadowing we didn’t notice until it was too late.
Skip if: You need new content. This is memory, curated and framed. It doesn’t add. It reflects.

The Covers is a love letter to The Walking Dead’s visual legacy. Every major moment distilled into one haunting image. From the lonely grayscale of early issues to the emotional gut-punches of major deaths and arrivals, this book doesn’t retell the story—it reminds you what it felt like to live it, one month at a time.

You’ll pause longer than expected. Linger on the ones you remember. Flinch at the ones you forgot. And realize just how much storytelling happened before a single line of dialogue was read.

This isn’t a storybook. It’s a shrine.

[Jesse Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that Kirkman's books often have design/art commentary, I only wish that these had been included in the original graphic novels. (Hard to believe I've been reading Walking Dead since issue one, for 16 years now.)

[Fox Bragg · Rating 4 out of 5]

as a fan of the walking dead i really liked reading about the ideas behind the covers.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, nice artwork but perhaps a little too slight for the price.

[Johnathan Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because it's a different story then the show. It's very intense, and it helps create plans for if a zombie apocalypse breaks out.

[olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Walking Dead and i read this in under 45min.

[zhiniko · Rating 5 out of 5]

When are they going to make a volume 2????!?!?!?
Come on, Robert.