From writer Robert Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard comes The Walking Dead comic series from Skybound and Image. Check out my review of issue #146.
The Walking Dead revolves around the life of Rick Grimes, a small-town police officer and his family, and a number of other survivors who have banded together in order to survive after the world is overrun with zombies.
After so many dead, so many brutally murdered friends and family – we’ve now taken two issues to grieve over the lost. I loved the absence of any dialogue for several pages at the beginning of this issue. Kirkman let Adlard’s art do ALL of the talking and it was very moving. You truly get the sense of how important an artist’s job is when crafting a comic book when you can dish zero speech balloons and still deliver a stunning plethora of plot advancement over that many pages. There was a lot going on in those panels and none of them needed any dialogue because Adlard is so damn good. You’re welcome Robert — Charlie can just do an entire silent issue of The Walking Dead and it would work out.
Rick takes a lot of shit in this chapter because his only option right now is to sit and contemplate on the actions his community will end up taking when so many of the loved ones impacted directly by the attack want an immediate resolution – and a violent one nonetheless. One kid goes so far to call Rick a “fucking pussy”. I don’t know if this douchebag is echoing some of the fans out there but I have a feeling he very well could be if Kirkman has listened to any of the angry readers who want nothing but carnage and death. Rick has no choice – the whisperers are dangerous as hell and he knows it.
The physical confrontation between Rick and Maggie was brief but exciting. I loved Rick’s callback to Herschel’s farm – deep dig cut there dude – I liked it. The most profound moment here is how weak Rick has become because Maggie just kicked the shit out of the guy – literally… Rick isn’t the physical warrior he used to be and that’s kind of nice to see him vulnerable, especially in the wake of his new role as some sort of president in the zombie apocalypse.
The dialogue from Eugene to end the chapter was especially satisfying and it poses some interesting options for upcoming issues. This war with the whisperers isn’t going to be “All Out” like it was with Negan and the Saviors. I’m predicting some small and nasty concentrated conflict between the two groups at first and if Eugene’s plan is any indication it’s going to lead to some extremely uncomfortable moments between Carl and his pops.
Rating: [star rating=”3.5″]