Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Walking Dead #101
Image Comics
Kirkman, Adlard & Rathburn
Walking Dead's follow up issue to the brutal death of one of the main characters is a complete shift in the pace of this arc and series overall. This comic book simply races from scene to scene and doesn't stop to provide any emotional attachment between the living characters and their murdered friend. However, the book manages to rise above this abrupt storytelling shift because it leaves a lot to the imagination at the end of the story, particularly about the events that we did not witness. It's a good comic book.
The comic opens up nice and slow as Negan and crew drive off leaving Rick and company staring at their dead friend's corpse. Maggie lets her rage out on Rick in a series of left and rights to the face. Just as the small group appears to be coming completely apart as weapons begin to get raised against one another it all just stops. It seems all very natural though. They realize they can't stay where they are and they continue to Hilltop as Maggie had wanted to do in the first place.
From here the book moves quickly, perhaps much too quickly. Rick and company arrive at Hilltop, they briefly explain what's happened and then they say their good-byes to Maggie and Sophia and they leave. Within no time they arrive back at their development to find it has been attacked.
The oddity here is how quickly they manage to get to Hilltop and then return to their community. Especially when you consider how much time it seemed to take them to get lost on their way to Hilltop in the first place. The other strange piece here is how Rick doesn't mention the murder to anyone he comes across at his community. He also doesn't ask for anything from Hilltop's people, which was one of primary purposes in going to Hilltop. When you consider how Kirkman typically pours over these details in his previous issues it seems so out of place that he completely ignores them here.
Adlard is a terrific artist. He captures the emotion of the characters so very well. He also has the ability to provide some extremely grizzly images and thankfully here he doesn't. There is no revisiting of Glenn's crushed head. On the flip side, though, he seems to leave out the details of Rick's injuries sustained from Maggie's pummeling. Overall, it is a strong effort from Adlard.
It's hard to be believe that this arc isn't over yet. That generally means Kirkman has something twisted up his sleeve. This issue resets the pieces as we brace for the next dramatic ending. This series is a must-read each and every month.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
