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Heimermann, Mark. "Old before their time: The impossibility of childhood innocence in The Walking Dead." Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 5. (2014): 266–83. Added by: joachim (9/11/14, 8:50 AM) Last edited by: joachim (9/11/14, 10:44 AM) |
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| Resource type: Journal Article Language: en: English DOI: 10.1080/21504857.2014.916328 BibTeX citation key: Heimermann2014 Email resource to friend View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: "The Walking Dead", Adlard. Charlie, Horror, Kirkman. Robert, USA Creators: Heimermann Collection: Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics |
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Many in Western culture see childhood as innocent and children as pure, even though this is often not the case. Because of this inaccurate view, many contemporary narratives push back against the feasibility of maintaining childhood innocence. One such narrative is Robert Kirkman’s serialised comic book The Walking Dead, in which children are exposed to potentially traumatic events, like death and violence, on a daily basis. The comic book juxtaposes images and situations containing children and youth against the horrific environment in which the characters find themselves, often with devastating results. These juxtapositions demonstrate the impossibility of maintaining innocence in a dangerous world. The child Carl’s rapid movement towards adulthood is also analogous to the transition towards more adult content in comic books. The movement towards more adult content in a form that some thought was, or should be, strictly for children is, in some ways, representative of the futility in attempting to shelter children from adult content.
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