The Walking Dead Issues 37-105

A friend of mine lent me The Walking Dead issues 37-105 (plus the Michonne special).  He found out I was reading the graphic novels, but rather than having to wait to get them all from the library, he just brought everything I hadn't read yet.  The library currently has the graphic novels up to #16, which ends with #96, so I'm actually ahead of the library now (and the graphic novels in general - #18 comes out this June and collects issues 103-108).  I ended up reading them all during the last three days.

The story has really taken some crazy turns (warning - spoilers!)  The Governor wasn't killed by Michonne; after he's healed as best as possible, he comes after the survivors living in the prison.  He attacks several times; his last attack is successful because Michonne and Tyreese followed him and Tyreese got caught, plus some people (like Dale, Andrea, Glenn, and Maggie) left.  Without everyone back at the prison, the Rick and company were overrun.  Rick tried to get his family out but Lori was shot and killed, along with the baby girl she had only recently given birth to.  Rick and his son escape.  The Governor was killed by one of his own people (after she discovers she killed a baby).

Rick and Carl make it to some houses, where Rick quickly falls ill.  Carl manages to fend off some zombies and help his father recover.  Once they're back to full strength, they go off and find first Michonne then later the rest of the survivors who had left before the Governor's final attack.  They then meet Abraham, Rosita and Eugene.  Abraham asks them for supplies; he is on a mission to bring Eugene to Washington D.C.  Eugene claims to know what started the zombie outbreak and believes he can cure it.  The survivors tag along.

After some trials and tribulations (Dale is killed by some cannibals, but they caught him when he was going off to die because he was bitten), they arrive at D.C. only to realize Eugene lied.  But they find a group of survivors who have made a community.  Despite some rocky beginnings (the community believes their walls will save them and they are living without really thinking about the dangers outside), Rick and crew are eventually accepted into the community.  They even manage to fight off a zombie herd with few casualties, giving Rick a more optimistic outlook on the future, assuming his son survives (Carl was shot in the head during the herd attack by someone quite accidentally - he reawakens though, but missing a few memories).  They are then approached by another group who wants to open up trade.

Rick is extremely wary at first (with good reason - remember the Governor?) but eventually accepts the new group's invitation.  He then finds out that this new group is being bullied by another group who calls themselves 'The Saviors.'  Vowing to deal with the Saviors, Rick and company encounter them on the road back but kill them.  Then a group attacks the main gate (and end up mostly dead as well).  But the third attack happens in two places; while Andrea successfully deals with the one on their community, Rick and a few people are stopped on the road.  The Saviors' leader, Negan, brutally kills Glenn and tells Rick that they'll be back in one week for half of the community's stuff.

Rick hatches a plan to appear to give in to Negan, but in reality he sends someone to follow them back to their compound for some intel.  He tells very few people so that Negan won't know something is up when he shows up.  Unfortunately he doesn't tell his son, who stows away in Negan's van and tries to kill him.

So that's pretty much where the story left off.  Every time I think I'm losing interest in it, something happens to change my mind.  As I've been saying all along, it's a brutal story, but it's also really good.

Oh yeah, the Michonne special.  That one was just okay.  It starts off giving some background into how she started on her path.  But when she gets to the prison, it just reuses the same stuff I'd already read back in Volume 4.  So overall it really wasn't worth the read.