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

I haven't read an issue in over three years. But in Lash's memory I'm going to start the series over again from issue one and catch up. I will never be able to read this book without thinking of Lash so I will use it to keep his memory alive for me.

So I know Negan getting free is timed to line up with the buzz of the show but I kind of like it. I think the combo of the Whisperers, Negan and the multiple "cities" will make what is coming different enough from what's come before. So I'm excited!

I think the comic has consistently been better than the show for awhile again, and that's not a knock on the show, which had been pretty good (other than that awful season finale ending). The comic has just really been enjoyable issue by issue.

Still getting it in the HC trades as I always have, but saw the cover for 156 in the DCBS listings for May-for-July preorders...

I'm only up to the end of the Third Compendium, which ends with the Whisperers marking their border. I like them as a new and different threat and it did seem to re-energise the book, but Kirkman still has a few writing issues.

I don't understand why Ezekiel gets prominence over Rosita in that reveal sequence (other than the immediate impact on Michonne). Maybe it's because I'm reading it in bulk, but in my mind she was a much more significant character than he was. I thought it was misplayed.

Jesus has got to be the most annoying character ever. It's like he took all the criticism that Michonne was a Mary Sue and said, "Oh yeah, get a load of this guy!"

Wow. Michonne, a Mary Sue? Has the definition of "Mary Sue" been extended to define any character who's a bad-ass? Sorry, don't see that one. She's a flawed character who has been through a lot, including having the most horrific arc imaginable in the Governor storyline. I know I'm only recently learning of the concept of Mary Sues, but the definition must be extremely broad if it relates to Michonne in such a way that you can interpret virtually any character as such.

I honestly don't think it's such a bad thing to have a character like Jesus who is both likable and more than capable in a fight and seemingly without having had his conscience completely worn away by the zombie apocalypse.

Honestly, the more I hear and read about the concept of Mary Sues, the less I want to hear about it. In many cases it seems a real stretch and is more about the reader than the character.





While it's true that Rosita had been around much longer than Ezekiel or any of the others, but was she ever really all that well-developed or beloved a character? In the comic she's about as significant and important as Father Gabriel, maybe just a shade above him--which is to say she was never all that big a part of the cast. What makes her seem so much more important is her relationship to both Abraham and Eugene whom she first appeared with and was romantically involved with one and then the other, both of whom are or were very significant. If anything, it's sad because she never reached her potential, and a storyline for her was literally cut off by her end.

I'd argue that no one who got butchered would really be missed. Ezekiel dropped in with a bang, but quickly lost both his tiger and any edge his character seemed to have with some disappointing moments in All Out War. The most effective part of that sequence was the statement it made by the Whisperers' actions. Plus, Kirkman said in the lettercol that the main reason Ezekiel was saved for last was that the lead up to that reveal hopefully made readers fear it was Michonne because at first only the dreds were visible.

Anyhow, it was a unique and exciting moment in the series, but it was pretty much characters that we barely knew. Overall, I've been pretty pleased with the direction the series has gone in since the time jump.

So I've taught a class on comics at my university twice now (it even gets Literature credit from the university).
The class is always packed. I teach it across genre - sci fi, superhero, horror, western, memoir, manga and romance.
I use Walking Dead as the Horror book and it KILLS. Every time. Vol. 1 is just a lovely, tight bit of storytelling and it shows how the TV adaptation is stronger in some areas and weaker in others.

Just my two bits

Andy, that sounds like such an awesome class. Like a lot of people on this board I suspect, I took a lot of Lit classes in college and loved them / thrived in them, such as Irish Lit, 19th Cent Russian Lit, etc. I would have LOVED if my university had a course on comics then and a teacher like you to know which books to utilize.

The first volume of TWD is a great choice. Concise and effective, and delivers both the "oomph" and themes of the series.

I finally went to my CBS this week and picked up the 3 months worth of comics backlog I'd let build up. As always, while the rest of the stack gets filed away in my severely backed up (I just figured out it goes back to last October!) "to-read" pile o'floppies, I always take the TWD's out of the batch and read them pretty much on the spot.

So I read 154-156 back-to-back-to-back. A pretty intense and cool batch, highlighted by a pretty important character's life hanging in the balance and a fairly shocking move by Negan in the Whisperers group.

It's really weird what Kirkman has accomplished with Negan for me. A character who was little more than a trollish twat to me in the beginning has turned into a character whose panel time I most look forward to. There's something about his outlook on things and especially his humor rhythms that entertains like no other character does right now. I don't know if I love him, love-to-hate him or hate-to-love him, but I'm suddenly finding myself entirely not in a hurry at all for him to be killed off. In fact, I really don't want that. It's weird because this is the guy who smashed Glenn's head in!

At the very least, I can see why Kirkman not killing him off at the end of "All-Out War" was actually a good move.

Lardy and others: whatever you do, avoid spoilers of the latest issue (the one right before the Whisperers War)!

I avoided them and got to enjoy it cold--and it was fantastic! And like so many times in TWD's past, there was a moment that was a sudden 'holy shit!' moment that knocked me backwards.

Yeah, that one (156) was in that batch I described in the post above yours. I'd heard something shocking happened in it and was expecting the exact opposite outcome than what we got.

I'm curious, btw, to see what you think about my thoughts on Negan in the post immediately prior to yours, Cobie....

Okay, wild! Then to get back to you first post, I totally agree with you regarding Neegan's role in TWD and where we are now. When I think about Neegan, the most important thing is how damn interesting and dynamic he is: I want to know what he's going to do next and how it will influence the series.

I think what you suggest in the spoiler box may be what Kirkman wants us to consider but ultimately it won't be that simple (or outright false). I'm certainly curious to find out!

Ever since the "two year jump" (or however long it was), it's like Kirkman has been on writing viagra. And his writing of Neegan, who it would be easy to loathe and want to see disappear, really exemplifies that.

Yeah, it could go many different ways. I hope Negan survives this and finds a new role somehow. Because he's, by far, the most interesting character in the book. I think 2nd place is a good ways behind him, in fact, and is probably Eugene right now, surprisingly.

As powerful a character as Negan is...

Yeah, about Alpha...

I...just read TWD 167. That was...rough.

Yeah, it was...

Didn't know you read TWD, Ibs!

I don't follow it consistently, Lardy. It's too long-running for me to jump into now. But I have read issues here and there, your post made me want to check out the latest one.

I guess you have been following since the beginning?

No. I started reading the trades based on recommendations right here on LW, probably when the series was in the 30s. Once I caught up after buying TPB vol. 6, I've been buying TWD as singles ever since--so since issue 49.

Cool! I'm tempted to get into the series, but I don't have time to invest in such a long-runner right now.

So, Cobie.......have you read the latest issue yet?

I just read it last night (and in fact, had avoided this thread until I did since I could tell what was coming).

What an issue. Kirkman, recognizing that everytime he does one "of these" (re: major character deaths), has to do it differently, and was smart enough to telegraph well in advance of the issue what was going to happen. That made it much more personal, and in a way, much more relatable--the death was done in a way very familiar to people who have every had a loved one die in the hospital or in their own home. What made it work for me was that he really allowed Rick to be human and show weakness here, more so than he's ever done before. It was harrowing for Rick, right up until the end, and I think Kirkman had to make a pretty brave choice to go as deep into Rick's doubts as he did here. He also was true to Andrea's character and how far she's come over her years-long arc; not only was she a rock for Rick by reminding him of what the sacrifices have met, but Andrea's scene with Carl was perhaps the scene-stealer of the issue for me. There is a vocal fanbase who feels Carl will be too cold as he ages, almost a sociopath, but Andrea seems to understand Carl better than anyone and she pushes him to grieve in his own way--in the way that will keep him strong.

Above all that, the final pages were the best part of the issue. We see Rick at his weakest in franchise history, and then we see him perhaps show his greatest strength, which can only be done with the support of the others--through the community he built. Powerful stuff. This message made the issue so much more than just another death and made it perhaps the most powerful issue of the series. In fact, one could argue that if Kirkman ever wanted to end the series, this issue could be a pretty fantastic ending. (Not that I want him to, just how it really brings the entire franchise full circle in a way).

At first, as I was reading, I found myself *not* getting emotional which alarmed me--was the issue not effective enough, or was I just numb to it? But I think since we expected the outcome, a lot of us had already put up "shields" for such emotions. To Kirkman's credit though, he lured me in. While I was sad for Andrea, as well as Rick and Carl, it was the message about the community which hit home.

I didn't tear up either. I think I read it with bulging eyes and gaping mouth, probably because I was in some form of shock. You see I skipped visiting my CBS in April, so my last issue read was 2 issues prior with the cliffhanger ending. Kirkman has done a large number of fake-out cliffhangers, so I was semi-convinced that that was just a graze from a gunshot because there were a lot of bullets flying. Then, before I picked up the issue in question, I saw some blurb or other from Bleeding Cool that referenced a major death. So I was like, "fuck, it WAS a bite, wasn't it?" Still, it's one thing to know what's going to happen and then watch it unfold.

It really was a masterpiece. So powerful and so full of humanity. Kirkman really didn't hold anything back and even gave us what I think is the longest single issue of TWD to date with no price increase, no hype and no variant covers. It was simultaneously unrelentingly brutal and mesmerizingly poetic. I don't know if there's ever been a single more powerful issue of the book. It's possibly a contender for best single issue of anything.

And the unthinkable happens. Absolutely devastating but so beautifully done. And instead of the usual snarky letters page we get a brief, heartfelt message from the writer himself. Stories like this are why I still read comics.

Yeah, great comment on the letter's page at the end. That was a really great letter from from Kirkman to the fans and made the issue all the better for me. As we’ve talked about, the “jump forward” in time really helped restore a lot of vitality to the series, and this helped the Whisperer War feel fresh and different from prior “wars”. But its this issue that really cements home how strong the series still is right now. It’s taken years and years to get to this point in the series, and Kirkman is in touch enough with the series to recognize the power in these moments.