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

I picked up 98, missed 97 ...

was shocked to see that no one is sacred ...

in fact a couple issues ago when Andrea was going on about her and Rick being the "ones that survive" I just thought oh no she din't ...

Even after all weve been through reading this series, I can still be surprised. The death in #98 caught me off guard, and Kirkman smartly made it matter-of-fact and without overdrama.

I have a bad feeling in my gut about #100. Really don't Wang to lose one of my three favorites. (The big three besides Rick & Carl).

Lardy totally agree about the one who lived through #98. I suddenly am interested in him again and want to see him evolve. Even his conversation on the first few pages helped refine his character for me.

Just read 98 - 100.

Wow, the death in 98 was hard to take, but it was nice to see the other one take a stand...as it were.

99 was a nice bridge to 100, setting everything up.

100 - HOLY CRAP! That was freakin brutal.

100 was seriously fucked up. I'm still a little shaken, having put it down just a few minutes ago. Reminded me in many ways of what happened to Tyreese. This was a big one, and the implications for our characters are huge.

Thing is, I'd wager this Negan/Saviors arc has barely just begun. No way they can be taken care of in just a couple of issues. They make the Governor's group look like a boy scout troop.

I sincerely hope Rick eventually gets to keep that promise he made to Negan.

I really hope so as well.

This has got to be another 6 - 12 issues at least. Anything less would feel like it was being shortchanged.

I'm thinking quite a bit longer. Remember the number of issues between Rick, Michonne and Glenn stumbling into Woodbury and the exodus from the prison? Something else else around that many or longer. A lot of it depends upon where you start counting, but I'd say it began around the point where Jesus takes the group to the Hilltop.

True. But there is a time line in place already. Not saying that the thing will be over then...but there is something brewing.

I'm still F'ing stunned.

Wow. Issue #100 was not for the light hearted. I actually think that was the most graphically violent comic book I've ever read. I've read lots of graphically violent comic books.

The tension just built and built. Those who were worrying that this book was losing steam or relevance have been proven wrong. This is definitely just the beginning.

Dev, what timeline? Do you mean the length of "Something else else to Fear"? If so, I don't think the whole Saviors threat will be complete in 2 more issues!

Pretty sure I've seen more violent moments in comics, but I can't recall something so graphicly brutal being done to such a beloved character before.

Perhaps so. One of the amazing things about TWD is that it feels so real in spite of the fact that it is a zombie comic book. What could easily be dismissed as "cartoon violence" if presented in other books takes on a real and human impact in this series.

No, I meant in the book itself. They said something about a week. So, they have that 'timeline; until they are supposed to see them again. Just an observation is all.

I think Kirkman chose the character very carefully. Same as with the one in 98.

I wonder if they'll proceed to the Hilltop or go back to the Community. I'm guessing the latter.

I really didn't like issue 100.

That was unnecessary.

At least I got the Frank Quitely variant cover.

... I think I'll give it up, I felt this way before but then the book changed radically ... but now it's back to ... the crazy over the top horror stuff ...

its too realistic for me to be such a graphic horror book ...

I've just read TWD TPB #16 (covering issue #s 91-96) and so it's time for my 6-monthly review -

First things first, this bunch of 6 issues were slightly more enjoyable than the wretched previous 6 (mainly thanks to the introduction of Jesus and his community finally breaking the boring monotony of Rick and co's story) but I am seriously beginning to wonder if TWD isn't on a downward spiral now.

Kirkman just seems to be losing it with this book IMO. Whereas in the past, I would have protested against anyone who called him a "bad writer" in terms of dialogue and characterisation and so on (and there are plenty who do so on other websites), recently I have begun to notice things that make me think "Hey, maybe they're right?"

But worst of all, he seems to be losing control of the story too. TWD used to feel like a fresh, exciting take on the zombie survival genre. Now it's starting to feel repetitive and familiar.

Is there ANYONE in this thread who prefers the post-prison arc issues of TWD to the pre-prison arc issues? I'd love to hear some reasons why if so.

As for my other big bugbear with this book - the completely unlikeable main characters - well, that's still 100% there. I keep wondering how much more I'd be enjoying this story if Rick and Carl weren't in it. My heart almost skipped a beat when we finally got to Jesus' community and the tantalising opportunity to get to know a whole new cast of characters in place of the ugly few that Kirkman keeps forcing on us came up.

Kirkman has really dropped the ball with the characters in this story IMO. MLLASH complained a couple of pages ago that he killed off too many interesting ones too quickly and that is soooo true. It wouldn't have been so bad if he would do something with some of their replacements however, but he doesn't do ANYTHING with them. Eugene, Rosita, Gabriel and even Abraham have been around for about, what - 45 issues now(?) and what do we know about them? Almost nothing. What important roles have they played in the plot? Almost none.

Compare them to how well we got to know the pre-prison arc characters and it seems like Kirkman has just stopped caring about that aspect of his story.

As for specific events within this TPB -

* I am totally not feeling this romance/whatever it is between Rick and Andrea. They have much more of a Dick Grayson/Donna Troy vibe going on IMO. Putting them together seems cheap and uncreative.

* When Jesus said that after talking to Carl he realised Rick was "good people" I almost coughed! I don't know what book Jesus has been reading but the one I've got depicts him as a junior sociopath!

* Which brings me to possibly the most annoying scene of the book IMO, and yet another example of Kirkman's hypocricy when it comes to Rick and Carl and their actions versus everyone else's. So Kirkman has Jesus yell at a bunch of mourners at a guy's funeral that the guy was "nothing more than a coward" and "deserved to die" for the actions he did to, presumably, save the life of a loved one. Now I'm not saying that Ethan's actions were correct but we have repeatedly been shown in this book that it is justifiable and OK for Rick and Carl to go to extraordinarily harsh lengths (including killing children) to protect each other. Yet when some random does it, it's not OK and Kirkman has to make a point of dissing the guy and his choice at his own funeral. I find the double-standards and favouritism that Kirkman shows Rick and Carl in this book sooo aggravating. They now just seem like the very definition of Mary-Sue's to me.

* I have found the depiction of Rick's housing community to be completely false for a while now and after this TPB I think I want this whole storyline behind us and never mentioned again. First of all, the "inner circle" of the place (judging by the council/whatever meeting in issue #91) seems to consist solely of Rick, Abraham, Andrea, Michonne and Nicholas - and the latter only seems to be there because Rick lets him be. So all the people who actually built and lived in this community for however long before Rick turned up have completely left all the running of it to these newbies who have a habit of fighting and pulling guns on fellow community members (who've been there longer) at the drop of a hat? That is just not believable to me.

* But much worse than that - it's been what, a year or two(?) that they've been living there and they're only just NOW thinking about farming their own food?!? I'm sorry but that is all kinds of ridiculous. If society crumbles, where you get your food from will be one of your first, if not THE first, concerns you would have. And if scavenging for it was as dangerous as it is in TWD universe, growing it yourself would be an option on the table VERY quickly. There is NO WAY it would take this community 2 years or whatever to start thinking about it. This is just an example of bad writing IMO.

* I am really over Rick's speechifying. I found his famous "We are the walking dead!" speech from the prison arc to be beautiful and moving and powerful and shocking and an example of everything that Kirkman was doing right with the book back then. His speech at the end of #96 here was just kinda obvious and redundant. It should have been obvious to Rick and co. for a while now that the community/ies was their best chance of recreating their old way of life, not be a sudden realisation 5 TPBS later. It's not good writing when the readers are 5 steps ahead of the characters.

Anyhoo, I'm definitely in for the next TPB to see what Kirkman has in store for issue #100, but after that... we'll see. It seems weird to me that I find the show so much more enjoyable than the comic it sprang from now, but there we are.

Actually, I was really excited about the post prison arc because I thought they were going to do something completely different (especially since the violence has gotten stale for me and gratuitous is an extreme understatement) ... like stepford wives, or some sort of lord of the flies social commentary but ... it seems they did a bit of that and then ... didn't really succeed in pushing it very far ... so now we're back to what they've done before just bigger and with more gore.

For me, I'm afraid it's about to turn from a comment on zombie movies to ... a george romero knock off.

That may be harsh but I'm still pissed off about issue 100.

I don't need that imagery in my brain !

I don't think that "thinking of the worst thing you can do to characters" is writing.

<--- sassy.

Yikes, I just set down issues 99-100. That was VERY VERY hard to take, especially for a character who has:

1. been around since the first issues

and

2. has been brought to life so awesomely in the TV series.

I almost feel like Kirkman wanted to single out one of the beloved TV characters to kind of show that *he* was in control of these characters, not the TV writers. That is of course all a big guess/assumption on my part but that IS how it 'feels' to me.

I'm definitely still on board, as I am very curious as to how this will play out. I don't know that this "arc" will EVER end... this may in fact very well be the new reailty of this comic. It's Negan's world now...

In hindsight I think Kirkman HAD to kill who he did in issue 100. Maybe not that specific character, but any one of the handful who've been among the core group since, well, forever. After a certain character survived what appeared to be certain death last year, it was beginning to look like those characters were invincible. In a world such as this one, NO one is truly safe. To prove it to us and to himself, Kirkman HAD to do what he did in 100 and in the ugliest, most brutal way possible. Otherwise, TWD loses a big part of what makes it appealing.

Undeniably, it hurts a lot for us longtime fans of this book. I honestly don't know who else among the Big Five I would've chosen to die instead. I'm pretty damned attached to all of them. None of them is a safe choice. And that's why it had to happen.

Throwing this out because I'm curious what others think.

Put yourself in Negan's (reprehensible) shoes for a moment...

Wouldn't it have made more sense from his perspective to have singled out either Carl or Sophia, as neither one is really much use to him (for all he knows) when it comes to his primary objective (the gathering of possessins that he can take half of)?

I honestly thought Carl or Sophia was going to be singled out. I was leaning more towards Sophia, considering her TV character's fate.

if YOU were Negan-- who would YOU have chosen and why?

Though I can see his logic to an extent, I would have taken out Rick. None of the others present were as dangerous to Negan as he and Michonne. But Rick, particularly is their leader. And though Michonne is deadly, she's never really shown an inclination to lead. I know it's in Negan's interest to break Rick and not make him a martyr, but without him, it's unlikely any of the others in the Community would step up to revolt against Negan's people.

Of course, maybe Negan doesn't know that. But that's who I would've taken out if I were a megalomaniac like him.

THE WALKING DEAD: MICHONNE SPECIAL
story ROBERT KIRKMAN
art / cover CHARLIE ADLARD & CLIFF RATHBURN
OCTOBER 10
32 PAGES / BW / M
$2.99
This special issue of THE WALKING DEAD presents THE WALKING DEAD #19, featuring the first appearance of Michonne as well as the Michonne origin story that first appeared in Playboy Magazine. Just in time for Michonne’s appearance in THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 3!

So yea. Wow. Just wow.

That was tough.

Not sure I'm even ready to talk about it yet. This one hurt.

Yeah, I know, Des. I'd argue that it HAD to happen, though (see previous page for my reasoning). I wrote the comic a letter defending it and explaining why. I hope it sees print.

But yeah, it hurts.