Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities The Walking Dead

The tension is definitely amping itself up. Issue 113 had me worried about one character in particular. Cannot wait for the All Out War saga. Hopefully it's just balls to the wall intense...and not filled with a lot of fluff.

Issue 114 concluded the exciting build-up bridge to "All-Out War". Yeah, it was kind of implausible that the good guys in peril all got out pretty much unscathed, but it was pretty fun to see Ezekiel's tiger in action. Nice to see Jesus in full Kung Fu mode, though I doubt he would have been fast enough to have avoided getting shot with all of those automatics around Negan.

But all in all, I was happy to have a preliminary bout before the main event instead of Kirkman just spinning his wheels. You learned a lot more about what this new coalition of allies are up against with Negan and his group. And it was a tense, edge-of-your-seat few issues.

Hopefully, we're facing some action unparalleled in the history of the series and some of the most unpredictable moments since the prison arc ended. It sure will be nice to have 12 issues in six months!

By the way, as a Gym'll's mod, I felt the time was right to edit the title of this thread from its former title: "The Walking Dead Army - Recruiting New Zombies" The Walking Dead has been a phenomenon for a few years now, so it made sense to me to simplify it. I hope you guys will agree.

Wow...been 9 years since I started this thread. A hell of a lot has happened in that time.

Here's to nine more at least.

I picked up the latest TPB, I enjoyed it fair enough but ... seems like nothing new. The Negan plot seems to be dragging out ... I think I would almost prefer Rick's crew to be crushed for a while rather than this push and pull we've seen before.

Yeah, the dragging was exactly why I was glad to see this "preliminary bout". It injected the sagging story with some much-needed energy. However, it's easy to forget the slow period between Rick and the others fleeing Woodbury until the big, bloody climax at the prison. Granted, it wasn't as long, but there also wasn't quite as much at stake and a lot more world-building here for Kirkman to do.

Hopefully, it will play out in a way that is at least as exciting and unforgettably as the prison/Governor saga without making it feel been there/done that. It's always a challenge for a comic (or any other form of entertainment) to actually top what had been its biggest moment. I'm hoping it will.



I hope you approve of and understand the thread's title-shortening. TWD is hardly a secret anymore, and the word is most definitely out!

I remember that, I thought Kirkman was going to switch tones, yet again, which was his success in the early times of the series ... keeping switching things up but I think he wrote himself into a corner ... I thought they were going to switch it from the crazy violence we have just been through in the governor saga ... and go for a Lord of the Flies, Stepford Wife thing but ... I think once he got there, he had nothing! not an insult or a criticism I think he tried something and couldn't make it work or his well was dry at the moment.

Maybe it is the same now, he is plodding along because there is this great tv show he needs to keep the book out for but ... I think sometimes Walking Dead would be better if it was irregular.

idk.

We can't all be on all the time.

It's a fair criticism, Peebz, and one that I don't disagree with. It doesn't help that Negan is basically a kind of weird caricature in his characterization. His comical overuse of "fuck" in his dialogue, his obsession with Lucille and his kind of offhand and inconsistent way of with dealing things often give me "wtf?!?" reactions. There's a little bit of nuance to him here and there, but he's a weird dude to try to get into.

I guess, though, that people give the comic book's Governor a little more credit than he might deserve. I mean, he was just so completely evil and over the top himself. Just a vile, evil, despicable pit bull of a bastard. There was the Penny thing, of course, but it didn't humanize him all that much.

And then, there's Ezekiel and his Tiger--two really over the top additions that I don't quite know what to think about at this point. I guess you can say the shame about Michonne's intro, but I still have to wait and see.

I just want and hope that Kirkman can bring it all home and am overall fairly optimistic that he will.

I am looking forward to the All Out War arc coming. 12 issues in about 7 months should give him some room to give us grand battles and smaller personal moments. I also think we'll say goodbye to a lot of characters that we have met over the last few years.

If he were to kill off one of the few remaining characters so soon after Glens death, not sure how that would be received...on the other hand, it would be a vallsy move in a way and really cement that nobody is safe.

The issues since 100 have dragged at times, but the tension for me has continued to grow...so much so that I am really anticipating the big arc.

There are some characters like Ezekiel, and Jesus that seem too good to be true, but I am looking at it this way...I am going to trust Kirkman to pull this off since he has not really let me down so far.

I really do like Jesus as a character. Probably the best addition to the cast in a long, long time. Possibly the best since Michonne, or possibly Abraham.

Finally got and read 114. I saw a lot of bitching in other forums about Jesus and what he was able to do. I found what he did to be plausible. Sure, he comes across like a fighting expert...but who's to say that he wasn't that before. We know nothing of his background, and I cannot wait to find out some of it...even if it through expository dialog.

It was funny seeing Negans reaction to what broke up the standoff. I think anyone, including most of Ricks crew were probably unprepared for what they saw.

I am starting to like Carl even more and more here in the comic. Always liked him, as opposed to the television Carl who finally got his act together in season 3. He is one twisted kid...through no fault of his own. Thing is, the longer he survives, the harder I think it will be to take him down. He has survived so much so far, a lot of things are not going to phase him in the slightest.

I really like the gay couple. The runners. They just happen to be gay, seem pretty average ... and not like Rick's kick ass crew ... which is why I find them interesting. There is something about these guys being a bit more normal and being stuck in this gory action movie that interests me and connects with me for some reason.

probably what was so compelling about Glen.

I had a thought when listening to a story about Disneyland ...

How come the Walking Dead never shacked up in an amusement park ... could be creepy and scary and might sound like a good idea at the time if you found a fortress with restaurants and parks.

I think that might have been the natural step before the recent "bunker village" story line ... which I think has been a colossal failure.

....er, Peebz--you haven't seen "Zombieland"?

Anyone else get the 10th Anniv. Edition of #1?

Colorized version of the first issue (nicely done with muted colors) imo.

The thing I liked was the original pitch and art pages from their pitch. Interesting to see the characters at such an early stage. Really glad things went the way they did with the series and that Rick did not end up as presented therein.

Hoping to get issue 116 this weekend...

So, I picked up the last three weeks of comics yesterday and something about Walking Dead #127 made me read it immediately. That “something” was evident on every single page as well: this was by far one of the best comics I’ve read in quite awhile!

All-Out War was good—I’d even say very good in terms of the action and suspense—but it was still a bit standard for TWD in comparison of what we’ve seen before. More importantly it certainly felt like a “season finale” type moment, clearing the board for what’s to come next. The question was: what *could* come next? Is Kirkman out of tricks? Has the series kind of meandered along to where it really isn’t going anywhere?

The hard answer is FUCK NO. #127 provides a clear move to show that the Walking Dead can still be fresh, and can surprise the hell out of us when it wants to. It was a most welcome issue and one of the best, most enthralling I’ve read in a long time.

Clearly, the show has had an impact on Kirkman, and perhaps the most positive way is that its shown him how to move a series forward in a way that allows for maximum character and story growth without showing us every miniscule detail in getting there. Much like a new season of the show would start, #127 starts us off a little in the future and provides a plethora of story moments to make us excited and intrigued about the future of the series.

He also smartly makes the decision to open the series by focusing on characters that we haven’t gotten to see enough: Rosita, Aaron, and others are prominent, with Jesus also getting more screen time to make him even more damn awesome than before. Rick, Michonne, Carl and Andrea are nowhere in sight and that’s a welcome change, though of course we’ll get those main characters shortly. Kirkman has for too long let these characters fade into the background, though a few of them had important moments in All Out War. Here, they are at the forefront and shown to be capable and interesting. That is a welcome sign.

This is balanced out by introducing a whole new slew of characters, which I also found welcoming. The Negan story was drawn out for quite awhile, and the introduction of new characters makes me feel there is more ‘newness’ to come, which I’m quite excited about.

This all leads to “new look Rick” (which I hope becomes a thing that I’ve coined), and the new status quo of Alexandria—not to mention the other settlements. This is fascinating stuff, and an interesting progression of the character. I love how the relationship with Andrea has evolved, and I’m happy to see the Rick / Carl tensions are not cliché but a natural evolution of a father / son relationship that happens to be in a post zombie apocalypse. The final page also gives a nod to the role of another important player in the community and while this isn’t my favorite twist of the issue, it’s at least interesting enough in the dynamic between the two characters to make me intrigued.

Beyond all that, I just loved the opening: an enormous mega hurd of zombies being hurded in a cowboy / knights of the round table mash-up by the supporting cast. It was dynamic to look at and dynamic to think about. When Rick first began discussing the community, I had hopes that this could be akin to the founding days of Ancient Rome, and how primal yet brilliant that time must have been. Here, we see that played out to an extent and I’m incredibly interested.

#127 was what I needed. TWD is back to being the #1 comic I want to read every month.

I had drifted away a little from TWD after 100. I still picked it up, but some of the enjoyment had gone. 127 was like seeing the people in the original Survivors series finally get a move on. A lot of the recent cast additions haven;t really grabbed me.. Perhaps more panel time will help, and having some newer faces is welcome.

I must agree that issue 127 was the best issue in a loooooong time! It was just the palette-cleanser I needed after what I felt was a very unsatisfying "All-Out War" storyline. That arc certainly wasn't helped at all by Kirkman basically only killing off characters no one would ever miss. I'm not bloodthirsty, and I don't know if I could ever take the complete bloodbath that was the prison arc--but did we really lose anyone we'd miss at all?

I sensed a time jump was imminent, but I'm glad it was only a couple of years. It was just enough time to allow us to gloss over some of the nuts and bolts of what we would have had to sit through and watch develop, but not so much that we would have missed anything crucial. There's a little bit of mystery because certain characters didn't appear in the issue at all. But one can infer where they are now residing without too much effort. And, of course, there are both a number of new characters to pique our interest and the promise that many of the long-suffering background characters will finally get some time in the spotlight.

I particularly love how Eugene has emerged since a character he was associated with died and how his importance to the survivors has only grown during the time skip.

I'm optimistic that this is just what Kirkman needed to do to right what I felt was a tottering ship the past few years. Hopefully, this great issue will not be a fluke.

I wasn't a fan of that character's survival in the previous issue, but I did see, more and more, the rightness in what Rick decided to do in the larger sense. What we're seeing now is the apparent realization of Rick's dream as stated in issue 96 and the conclusion of the "A Larger World" arc. And I liked particularly how time was taken to show that Carl is no fool to undercut what most of us must have been thinking as the scene progressed.

Good thoughts, and I agree on all counts.

It'll be interesting to see what Kirkman does with that character. We've seen similar things before (such as another series that started about the same time that is coming to a conclusion now). The universe of TWD is unique enough where Kirkman can play things his own way, so I hope he does.

I'm hoping the Priest character will now get some screen time as well. That character has a lot of potential in light of what he's said and done before.

Have to say, TWD is keeping the momentum going after the game-changing #127. I'm loving every issue and just utterly fascinated with where each issue will go.

For the first time in a long time, I think I'd say the Walking Dead has re-entered my Top 5 Comics list. And for the first time in awhile, I'd say the comic is as good or better than the show.

TWD 144 was pretty fucked up! LOVED it!

Yup, I whistled at the final pages of it.

I knew something was going to happen given the news that I've had to go out of my way to avoid, and I wasn't let down. Awesome, crazy moment in #144!