The Walking Dead

We all knew that the build up to “The Walking Dead” #100 meant that something drastic was going to happen. After Rick’s controversial decision to make a trek to The Hilltop at the end of that last issue was followed by a look at Negan’s people watching over the now-emptied town, things were lined up for something tragic. True enough, this issue delivers. It is not, however, the massive rampage of blood and guts I expected it to be. Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard deliver something much smaller, but just as effective, creepy, tense and sad. You don’t quite know how it’s going to end until it does and then it seems obvious. Credit to Kirkman for setting up events so that they pay off logically there. Kirkman also reveals himself to have quite the potty mouth. Not that these characters aren’t prone to fits of language, but the Big Bad Guy in this issue goes on an entertaining tear. There’s also one or two bits of meta-commentary thrown in that made me giggle. If you’ve followed the le

Robert Kirkman has two goals with this issue. The first is to shore Rick back up from the devastation and the shaken confidence he displayed at the end of the last issue. The second is to check in with most of the cast to set the stage for the big hundredth issue that’s due out in time for Comic-Con International: San Diego next month. What the issue winds up being is, taken on its own merits, a series of people being morose, unsure of themselves and generally sad. There’s a funeral, a decision to leave, some personal revelations and then a final decision to set up issue #100. The thing is, when read as part of the overall story arc in the eventual collected edition, it’ll feel right. It’ll be the calm before the storm. And seen in light of whatever events happen next issue — and Kirkman promises they’ll be major and gruesome — this issue will likely seem more poignant than it does now. This will be a key issue in showing how all the puzzle pieces got to where they had to be, but tha

As much as has happened in “The Walking Dead” in recent issues, there’s been a feeling that everything is still building. It’s not that things have stalled out, but that the big surprise “gotcha” moment still lies ahead. With the one hundredth issue around the corner, the feeling might have been that Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard were saving something big up for then. They very well might be, but “The Walking Dead” #98 delivers a surprise arrow to the head in fairly quick order, raising the pulse of the comic’s pace and reminding the reader never to be lulled into any sense of security. Kirkman is still willing to make drastic changes in the book, including killing off popular members of his ensemble cast without any warning. This isn’t one of those noble deaths that writers like to give their characters. This feels more “real” in is unexpectedness. And then the book makes you squirm. “The Walking Dead” #98 is a great issue of the series, starting off with a character-centric dis

Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s “The Walking Dead” #97 finally takes readers somewhere that we have been headed a long time, whether characters or readers wanted to admit it. Rick and his people are killers. It’s a subtle story that could have been obvious to any reader, but since Kirkman has been executing it so slowly and naturally, it still manages to come as a nice surprise, readers realize in this issue, that Rick and his people are the bullies of “The Walking Dead.” They are the killers, the enforcers, the people with the power and skill to take whatever they want. Kirkman has built these characters so organically over the past nearly one hundred issues that this reveal feels completely unforced. Instead it’s like realizing a truth you’ve known all along. The reveal of what Rick and his friends have become through their experiences reminded me (in the best of ways) of Richard Matheson’s 1954 horror novel “I Am Legend” in which our main character, Robert Neville, the sole s

“The Walking Dead” has held great promise in recent months as Robert Kirkman has started to move the ship along a new course. With issue #95, it feels like the ship is pointed in the right direction and things are starting to happen because of it. We’re not marking time to hanging in suspense anymore. “The Walking Dead” delivers a couple surprising moments in this issue that actively threaten everyone — and it doesn’t even involve a single zombie. Rick and the gang enter the new compound and meet some of the 200 residents there. The tour includes bored sentries at the gate, a large mansion, trailers used as homes, an active farming community and a governing leader. If you were worried about the cast of the series being too large to keep track, this issue might not calm any of your nerves, though Kirkman only focuses on two or three of them. It’s when a messenger returns to the town and warns of danger to a captive community member that things go sideways in a very surprising way. Ki

Like a great song building towards a powerful crescendo, “The Walking Dead” has always had an impressive ebb and flow when taken on the whole. But sometimes, with a long month between issues, the ebb can feel a bit too long, so it’s nice when even an issue with a lot of ebb still resonates so powerfully. In this issue, a stranger has come to the community and offers a lifeline in the form of introducing Rick’s community to a larger network of communities which could include trade routes and who knows what else. Rick is naturally suspicious and handles the stranger violently. After kidnapping and questioning him in semi-secret, a small group sets out to see if he was a scout for a raiding party of some kind. When the group comes up empty, Rick is forced to consider that the stranger may be telling the truth, and their whole world might be changing. The juxtaposition between the man that Rick has become (a calculating killing machine bent only on the survival of himself and his son a

“The Walking Dead” #92 is a great case of a comic that excites the reader more for the next issue than for itself, but that’s not such a bad thing. Robert Kirkman is clearly setting up the Next Big Thing, by introducing a new character we saw briefly on the final page of the previous issue. In a way, this whole comic is standard superhero fare: two strangers meet, they fight over a misunderstanding, then talk and possibly team up. On the last page, with three word balloons’ worth of understated dialogue, Kirkman opens up a whole new world for the series to move into. It’s tense, it’s logical, and it’s exciting. Michonne and Abraham head out looking for supplies, food, etc. A brief scene back at the camp once again reminds the reader that supplies are running low. Canned foods are expiring or disappearing. Recently-made plans will take some time to come to fruition, and while things aren’t desperate yet, you can sense Rick’s uneasiness over the situation. When Michonne runs into the

“The Walking Dead” #91 is filled with little character moments, as Robert Kirkman looks to settle the cast down just a bit and deal with some of the larger issues the series has ignored. While the issue doesn’t have a single plot line driving through it, long time readers will appreciate the smaller moments. In the end, Kirkman throws in a two page tease to hint at what’s coming up next for the series. There’s not enough there to get excited about just yet, but it’s nice to know that there’s something coming, aside from the daily grind of killing zombies, gathering food, and trying to remain civil to each other. The one question amongst “Walking Dead” fans that Kirkman is starting to face head-on with this issue is the canned foods issue. The series is old enough now that the finite food supply (A) has to be running out and (B) should be expiring soon. Canned food lasts a long time and all, but cans sitting on shelves for two years or more have to be problematic. It’s a topic of con

“The Walking Dead,” nearly 90 issues and eight years (this month!) into its run, is still a book that delivers consistent compelling drama and plenty of scares thanks to strong work by writer Robert Kirkman and artists Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn. If only all comics could do so well. In “The Walking Dead” #89 Rick, Andrea, Glenn, Michonne, and the rest of our heroes have sparked a small group of the community they’ve formed into revolting against them. Ironically, it’s the well-honed survival skills of our heroes and their close relationships that has both made them leaders in the community and also marks them as a threat. Equally ironic is that just as they begin to really set down roots in the community, digging in to make it the best and safest place it can be, some members begin to feel threatened. I was disappointed that Kirkman opted for Carl to survive what I believe was a mortal wound several issues ago, especially after Kirkman had taken Carl’s father Rick into an i

Sometimes, we are reminded that “The Walking Dead” is, at its core, a soap opera. In this issue, the boy who lost a chunk of his head to a close-range gunshot wound wakes up from his coma with a touch of amnesia. How far you’re willing to stretch that willing suspension of disbelief will determine how you react to this issue. That is the big moment of the issue, right at the top, and it could leave a sour taste in your mouth for the rest of it. While a bit disappointing that Robert Kirkman couldn’t pull the trigger (so to speak) and be more realistic about the injury, it isn’t enough to sour the whole issue for me. It’s time to accept it and move on. Let’s consider this a speed bump on the road, and consider maybe that the initial image of Carl’s half-blown-off face was more symbolic than literal. We see it as his father saw it, which of course would be overblown and horrific. Maybe it wasn’t so bad, after all? Maybe? Kirkman doesn’t let up on the drama, though we’re clearly in a bi