I'm waiting awhile before I trust this series - like after it's over and all the seasons are released on DVD!
I read the comic books and they definitely hooked me. But then the story just got darker, and darker and darker to the point where it was just unbelievably ridiculous. I mean, these poor people couldn't EVER get a break. Even when they finally come across another group of survivors, well, of course those folks turn out to be murdering lunatic rapists.
The writer has a habit of dangling a teeny tiny bit of hope, allowing you to become attached to a character, before snatching it away and plunging everyone into another festering pit of despair. And killing the character you liked in the most gruesome, traumatizing way possible. Even the good characters end up doing horrific things to each other and betraying their ideals and losing their humanity.
He describes his style as "realistic", but I think he has a very grim view of humanity. He's been quoted as saying that the only possible end for every story is death, it's just a matter of how you get there (and none of his characters' deaths are good ones - at least not in the 4 or 5 collections I read!). He also says that the whole point is to show that people are worse than zombies, morally speaking.
Maybe the TV series will be more optimistic... but I'm worried they'll decide to be "groundbreaking" instead.
I LIKE it when my heroes help each other walk off into the zombie-infested sunset! I need hope...