Written by Robert Kirkman
Art & Cover by Charlie Adlard
Published by Image Comics
Anyone that knows me knows what a HUGE fan I am of The Walking Dead. Unfortunately for me, my interest started with the show and then moved on to the books. Once I cracked open that first compendium though, the comic world of Rick Grimes and his companions is, in an odd/morbid kind of way, one of my favorite places to visit month to month. The book has taken a bit of a break from Rick since his altercation with Negan, focusing more on Maggie and how she’s grown as a leader, but also on the younger Grimes, Carl and his maturation into Rick 2.0. In issue #135 we saw Carl go off the deep end and bash a couple of young punks’ skulls in when they attacked Sophia. We’ve also seen stirrings of an assassination plot brewing against Maggie. In typical Kirkman fashion, no one is safe and only time will tell which of our beloved characters will make it out of this alive.
It’s amazing to me what a pop-culture phenomenon TWD has become. While I love the show, nothing can compare to the feeling of cracking open a new issue every month to see what everyone is up to. I love how Kirkman has made the threat of the Whispers has taken a backseat to the drama between Carl, Maggie, and the opposing families. You can bet your ass that Rick showing back up means that something SERIOUS is about to go down. The universe surrounding these characters has been hand built by Rick through blood, sweat, tears, and….the occasional body part. It’s comforting to me seeing Rick re-appear when we know that there’s more terror on the horizon for “the group.”
Charlie Adlard could draw this series in his sleep at this point and I love it. I’ve never been a huge fan of black and white comics but TWD is and always will be an exception. The barebones style of the book has always done an amazing job of showing just how bleak this universe is. Since I can’t say anything else about Adlard’s work that hasn’t been said by dozens of reviewers before me, I WILL make note at just how beautiful the covers have been recently. Adlard has done the unthinkable…he’s actually used parts of the story to fabricate the cover images?! I’d love to own ANY of these covers to display proudly on my wall. (My birthday is coming up in March, just sayin’)
Welcome back Rick! I’ve been on hiatus from comics recently and I love that the week I go back to my LCS, the Joker has returned and so has my second favorite character in comics….Rick Grimes! All Out War ramped up the action right away. It’s obvious with this arc that Kirkman is slowing things down and building the anticipation for something big. I can’t help but feel we’re going to see a major character death very, very soon but I have a hard time predicting who it will be. If there’s one man I trust to take us on this rollercoaster ride, it’s Robert Kirkman. Strap in folks, things are about to get messy.
4 out of 5 nerds
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
Nerd Comments