Welcome Speaky! The comics are a better place to start, I think.

 

Are you talking about The Walking Dead hardcover collections? There are currently 9 books, each book containing 12 individual issues of the comic.

But, there are also The Walking Dead novels, specifically a trilogy based on The Governor's apocalyptic experience starting from the first days of the outbreak. While these are normal novels(not graphic) the are directly canon to the comic universe and continuity. And they offer a plethora of new material not seen in show or comic. The trilogy includes--"The Rise of the Governor", "The Road to Woddbury", "The Fall of the Governor Pt. 1", "The Fall of the Governor Pt. 2", and a short story entitled "Just Another Day at the Office". There is a new novel in the series that continues following the story of Woodbury resident Lilly Caul; as she survives the plague. The upcoming novel is entitled "Descent" and is due out Oct. 14th of this year, and is the first of four more proposed novels.

As for the individual comic issues; there are currently 128 issues printed(obviously the majority of those no longer in print). With the newest issue, #128, being released Wednesday of this week(6/11/14). Unfortunately, it is very hard, and expensive to come by many of the earlier issues. Since you're starting your collection now; this is what I would recommend you do: start by buying all of the hardcover collections, currently 9 books in all. Stay away from the volumes, compendiums, omnibuses and volumes. The hardcovers contain 12 issues each, and are the only collective books that include all the original covers for the individual issues within, as well as extras in a "Sketchbook" section in each book, that can be fond nowhere else. They can be found very reasonably priced online; but are outrageous in the book store, so be forewarned. But ultimately, they're of much higher quality than the TPB's and they look exponentially better on the bookshelf at home. After acquiring all 9 hardcovers, I suggest you then begin collecting the issues individually. They issues come out on the second Wednesday of every month, and can be easily found in abundance in most local comic stores. But don't wait around, because they do sell fast. Upon first print release, the issues are only $2.99(USD); so typically I buy two copies of each issue, one to read and enjoy, the other to bag and board and add to the collection. Also,keep you eye out along they way for back issues, variants and specials, they're not all that common, but I have gotten very lucky with a few gems several times! Anyway; I hope this helps!


Oh yeah; almost forgot--Welcome to the forums; take your hat off and stay a while!LOL:Grin:

 

Definitely start with the comics. The Governor novels aren't as good. You should still read them though too since it's fun to get a background on it all. But you should save them for last.

 

I could be wrong, but I think @Speaky was referring to the hardcover 12-issue collections(9 books in total) when he said "books". Only because he said he ordered on for £18 which exchanges to about $30.00(USD); which imo is an outrageous price for one of The Governor novels, but a fiarly reasonable price for one of the hardcover comic collections.(I have all 9 myself, got them for $20.00 each on Amazon, worth every penny.)

That being said, I do completely agree with your advice. It's definitely best to get all caught up and current with the comics, and go back for the novels later. After you have a more thorough understanding of the story and it's characters as a whole.

 

Yeah, that's exactly why I opted for the hardcovers when I started catching up with the comics -- to get all the cover artwork that I'd missed. But after I finished volume 9, I had to buy the paperbacks #19 and #20 to catch up to the individual issues. And then I also searched around and bought some recent back issues of the comic.

The hardcover volume 10 is to be released at the beginning of September, though. So maybe that will match up well with where you'll be in your reading, [MENTION=55761]Speaky[/MENTION]. That volume will bring you through the first half of the All Out War arc.

 

They are clearly just trying to financially capitalize on TWD franchise, but I'm so interested in the story on both the TV and comic side that it does have some small value for me even though the quality of the novels is far below the bar set by the other two.

 

I was having the same problems deciding... I *think* i'll go with the hardcovers. More bang for your buck!