Stefano GaudianoKirja-arvosteluja

1076

1270

There’s something lacking in recent volumes, but I’m glad at least there were real stakes this time I think they even addressed that in the dialogue when characters were saying ‘We don’t die.’
I’m interested in what’s happening with Negan, but not sure about taking his behavior at face value, or even if I do, if I can ever root for him. Kirkman’s dong a nice job keeping the reader guessing about Negan’s motivation.
Lots of great spreads this issue, and I still look forward to the next installment.

Well, the whisperers weren't as frightening as I thought they would be, but I don't think we've heard the whole story yet. Points for coming up with a new way for people to go crazy in the zombie apocalypse. If they really did want to settle things peaceably, looks like Carl's going to muck that up, but I can't really blame him. I'm curious to see where Kirkman goes with this.

3.5
There was an excess of chatter in this one, but once the action started, it was quite a ride. It was good to get a glimpse at Negan's back story, though he's still a crazy git who's not to be trusted. I'm foreseeing a pretty bad end coming for this storyline.
There were some good spreads in this volume, but my favorite piece was an extra large panel of Maggie and Hershel after the battle at Hilltop. Fantastic.

Well, my goodness! I'll bump my rating up a star just for that ending.
It started kind of slowly, and I'm not a huge fan of Rick's motives right now, but what a bang-up time once the Whisperers' border was crossed. A new plot element, likely a new danger, is in the works too.
OK, Robert Kirkman, I'm interested again.

2.5 stars
Dang it.
The art is swell, but the story is just getting a bit boring. I know that's probably hard to believe, given the way the last book ended. There were flashes of action in this volume, but also a whole lot of talking. And the Negan storyline continues to be vexing and dumb.
I hope more happens in the next book and that Rick maybe does more and says less.

Some interesting turns in this one. I'm starting to wonder if I need to wait until the larger volumes come out before I read on. I don't seem to retain what's in these shorter collections as well. I'm intrigued by the new group, and Princess seems fun. I'm a little bored with Rick and Dwight's drama and I'm worried about the Sophia-Lydia rivalry that's brewing (mainly because I don't know if Sophia will survive it). I'm not sure what to think of Negan's story, but I'm curious to see where it goes.

I wasn't thrilled with this one. The big shockers of the book were nicely illustrated by the two-page spreads that I love, but I found It easy to tell when one was coming in this volume, which bothered me a little, like it took away some of the punch these usually pack. The last shock in particular was powerful, but when I thought about it for a few minutes, I couldn't imagine how something like that could be pulled off by one person, which is what was implied.
I'm tired of them keeping Negan alive. I think their reasons are ridiculous, especially in light of the less dangerous character who was punished with death in this volume. I know it was different people deciding that, but I don't know why that same person hasn't taken Negan's situation into her own hands anyway.
And Rick needs to shave.

Better than the last installment-interesting new direction and new threat at the end. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop with Negan. I'm actually surprised no one has sneaked into the jail and put a bullet in his head. And we still don't know what passed between Carl and him when he had Carl hostage. I thought there was more than met the eye there. Maybe I'm wrong. Why does Carl visit him?
I'm not always thrilled with Rick in this installment. The new look, for one thing. May they never do up Andrew Lincoln like that in the show. And the beat down he gave the guy who wasn't vigilant on his watch. Not loving that new aspect of Rick's character at all.
It was a slow ominous build in this book; the next one should be a page-turner. Just when they think they can take a breath, some new threat emerges-this one looks to be a doozy.

A page-turner like always. My only complaint is the waiting I have to do in between volumes.

Hell of an ending....

the walking dead reminds me a lot of invincible, another robert kirkman book. it's very binge-able, as the story rarely has slow points where you can sit down and breathe. i actually can barely remember any instances of an issue just being a long origin story where we see how someone was before the outbreak, and how that led them to the actions they would later make. this probably leads to the biggest flaw of the series, which is that it can be hard for care for certain characters - often times we barely know them before they get blown up or eaten and have their role replaced by someone else. sure, part of the point is to show how little time these characters end up having to spend with others, but it also just makes it feel too cheap. up until the saviours arc, the series felt like a guilty pleasure read: lets throw action and sex and at the end of every issue there's some big reveal of cliffhanger that makes you want to open up the next one. often times the biggest faults of the walking dead feel like the fault of the medium itself, even though that's not necessarily true: comics don't HAVE to be like this, they just often are.

at some point though, the series does become legitimately enjoyable and something i respect. i think eventually, as a lot of the characters that actually make it through the series change as people, we feel real progress. characters like rick, andrea, negan,
and i have to even give props: carl could have been FAR more annoying here. i think what they did with michonne was needed as well, because without flaws she was just "le cool samurai lady", which is more appropraite for funko pops than pieces of fiction. these changes make us care about the characters and what will happen to the world, as opposed to just endless mayhem.

i'm not sure if robert kirkman had this vision for the walking dead all along, but i doubt it as a reader. i'd say there's a lack of interesting character progression for quite a while, and negan is pretty much the only interesting villain in the entire series. alpha and the skin walkers are kind of interesting, but the governor just felt like a one-dimensional, extremely edgy boring villain. apparently he's more nuanced in the show, but the show looks like dog shit. and even then, negan is very 2011 online deadpool type humor. perhaps that makes it more impressive that the series does eventually become interesting, that it feel like it has things to say.

spolier talk: even the way both series change over time is quite similar. we see large timeskips, and sort of "epilogues" where our hero's kids and grandkids create a more ideal world to live in. as well, it's easy to notice some common themes: both mark and rick struggle with losing their humanity or life ever going "back to normal", and both struggle with playing god, especially when deciding if someone should receive the death penalty

however, the lessons on capital punishment seem different here. in invincible, mark ultimately regrets not killing the big baddy when he could have, as it would have prevented a lot of conflict. but in the walking dead, rick sparing negan actually works out really well: negan seems to have genuinely changed as a person with actual remorse, and helps rick a lot. i was actually surprised, reading everything past the timeskip i was sure that negan would show his old ways eventually, but what happened was a better choice.

there's still a lot more i could say about the walking dead: i did read almost 200 issues, after all. you can make a lot of lazy analogies about what the zombies represent politically and whatnot. but the walking dead did pretty well for a comic book that spawned a shitty-looking show, and turned from a guilty pleasure to something i legitimately looking forward to reading, as opposed to a time-killer. gotta hand it to robert kirkman, he can write some interesting stuff, and series like these show why image has been so beneficial for the comics industry.

The Whisperers, and their leader, Alpha - super creepy.
Then, another community found. And, of course, the dead.
Definitely, this was the series in decline. I almost didn't finish this, but am glad that I did, as they wrapped things up pretty well at the end. I'm a little curious about the television show, but I'm going to give it some time. Sort of 'zombied' out at the moment...½

Rick and the other survivors, run afoul of Negan and his ‘New World Order’, and his bat “Lucille”. And even though he is a horrible person, I actually liked Negan! Despite his vulgarity, he made me chuckle more than a few times! A good edition to the tale!

From Chapter Twenty-Two: A New Beginning, I didn't really like the story. The abrupt change in the story was too jarring. I actually thought it was going to be some kind of lame 'dream sequence' thing at first, and then was a little disappointed that it wasn't. I've checked out the next compendium, but I may not read it all if the storyline doesn't get better.½

Kind of boring for a war. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for it. The art, the writing, the character development, none of it really captured my wonder.

Liked this one a lot. Nice character interactions, fascinating plot development. Man, a lot happened in this volume. P. S. I still don't get Negan.

Now THAT'S the Walking Dead I've been waiting for! Death, blacksmithing, zombies, technology, horses, mayhem! Woo hoo!

Art is getting a little lazy. Hands often look like the turkeys children draw for Thanksgiving by outlining their splayed hands. Also, on the FIRST page the artist forgets Rick is missing a hand...one panel after drawing him without the hand.

The story told in this volume is a bit slow, by necessity. I'm also a little surprised and confused by their decision at the end of what to do/create, as it seemed like they already did/created it over their past few years. I mean, I can see brushing up and making it more organized, but this volume makes it seem like they are as inept as the television show's original Alexandrians.

I still love the series and these are nitpicky points.

I've got three words for this volume.

Holy shit!

...and...

Negan!

I don't think I've ever rated a series so high as this one. Kirkman and company always seem to breathe new life into a concept that should be running on fumes by now.

Not a lot happens here, this volume is more of a set up for what comes next, obviously, but it opens up the character of Carl Grimes so much more. I'm still getting used to this new, older world, and I do miss Rick and Michonne, but there's some work being done here to lay a groundwork for the next few years.

Still loving it.

After the white knuckle ride of Vol 28, Kirkman's back to world expansion and character building again, which is never a bad thing. I enjoy the hell out of the action volumes, but I also really enjoy the nuance of these volumes, and this one is no exception. Rick, Dwight, and toward the end, Negan all get some spotlight, and in each case, it's illuminating.

Such a great series.

This series is simply a big, unstoppable monster that consistently delivers. Read it.

I enjoyed this one. Not quite as much as previous ones, but it got the job done.

Unfortunately, I find many of the newer characters a little interchangeable. This series has a large cast and the art, while quite good, doesn't (at least for me) do enough to make some of the characters distinctive, so I find there's time when I'm reading a character exchange, and I'm lost for a bit until I puzzle out who they are.

The second complaint was that this one felt rushed. There was a LOT of action here, but with some pages with 16 panels, sometimes rocketing from one plotline to another to another, I just wanted it to slow down a bit and show us the consequences of all this stuff. Even an interesting Negan plotline seemed to get short shrift.

Hey, they can't all be classics, right? And this is leading to an even greater calamity, but still...

Another "transitional" collection, as it moves from Alpha's open declaration of hostility to the inevitable war to follow. This had some really good moments in it.

Kirkman and company seem to be going from strength to strength here.