Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Walking Dead #151
Image Comics
Kirkman, Adlard, Gaudiano & Rathburn

"Walking Dead" takes an issue to show some training and for Rick to have a moment where he realizes he just isn't up to the day-to-day danger anymore. The comic is a very average read. Part of the problem is that the cast is just too big to really wrap any emotion around more than a handful of characters. The artwork is rock solid, which helps this issue along. This is worth a look but really highlights some of the problems with the series as a whole.

The comic starts with a group of characters luring out zombies in order to train with guns. Things don't go as planned and they get surrounded. Eventually Rick needs to be saved and finds Dwight stepping up to lead the group. The sequence is the best in the book as Rick comes to realize he is a liability in the field and that Dwight is a good leader to have around. This, just after, Dwight left his community effectively resigning his leadership.

The book takes a dive from there. Rick has a conversation with one of the characters that attacked him. He has a conversation with Michonne about how much he needs her and about whom to put in charge of the Kingdom community. There are also a couple of other moments with other characters here and there.

The problems with the size of the cast are glaring as early as the recap on the inside of the cover. The paragraph mentions Morton and Vincent. For the life of me I don't recall their names, faces or anything else about them, including which one is already dead.

As the book moves to the Michonne conversation, when the Kingdom is mentioned, not only had I forgotten about it, but the question comes to mind: when is the last time Kirkman showed us the place? Have we ever seen the place since the war several years ago? Do we even know one character's name in the entire community? Who has been leading them since Ezekiel died? Maggie makes an appearance and it turns out is still in Rick's community. Who runs her community when she's been gone so long? Too many undefined characters, too many communities and each getting too little panel time. This makes the individual issues really difficult to read.

The comic ends with an interesting cliffhanger that could open up the book. There could be more characters, more danger or it could be a red herring. We'll see.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe artwork is very solid. The characters have applicable expressions for the dialog and the situations. The book depicts the action in the beginning of the comic very well. This helps make the opening of the comic even more memorable. The artwork helps to move this issue along nicely.

"Walking Dead" provides an exciting opening to this issue. The group are training with zombies when things get out of hand. The remainder of the issue is much slower as Rick gathers information and has conversations with various characters. The comic struggles with the larger cast, especially when it tries to bring the other communities into the mix. Without the deep character looks that Kirkman previously provided, each of these characters, outside of the core few, feel so generic. This has been a problem with the series for a number of years now and the problem is beginning to multiple with each individual issue. The artwork is very strong, especially with the heavy action in the beginning of the book. I recommend checking this out, but this is as average an issue of "Walking Dead" that you will find.

3 out of 5 Geek Goggles

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