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.

Library Book: The Walking Dead Volume 6: This Sorrowful Life

The Walking Dead Volume 6: This Sorrowful Life was a bit of a let down.  Rick, Glenn and Michonne were all taken prisoner by the governor of Woodbury.  Rick lost his hand, Michonne was tortured, and Glenn was largely left alone.  In Woodbury, they stage fights to the death in an arena filled with zombies, and the governor said he'd be sending Rick into the arena once his arm healed up.  But when the opportunity arose, it wasn't Rick who went into the arena but Michonne. 

Anyway, This Sorrowful Life is all about escape.  The three of them need to escape Woodbury and the governor.  In some ways it was relatively predictable, which lessened my enjoyment.  And where Volume 5 had some nasty stuff in it, Volume 6 actually showed some rather nasty stuff (not everything, mind you, but way too much for my liking).  So overall this one wasn't my favourite by any stretch of the imagination. 

But it did end on a real cliffhanger, so I'm going to get the next volumes from the library as soon as I can.

Library Book: The Walking Dead Volume 5: The Best Defense

Alright.  The Walking Dead Volume 5: The Best Defense was a lot better than Volume 4 in my opinion.  It's got some nasty stuff in it, but overall the story was just plain better.

Things start out alright.  In an attempt to get the generator discovered in Volume 4 working, Rick and the survivors decide to syphon some gas from cars parked outside of the prison.  The plan seems to be working, but Rick and Glenn see a helocopter in the sky.  The helicopter crashes, and they decide to try to find it (with some help from Michonne).  They arrive at the helicopter's crash site just before dark.  There are no people present, but they see a lot of footsteps.  Having come this far, they decide to continue on in an attempt to find wherever the footsteps came from, reasoning that there must be more survivors around.  They find them and are welcomed into the community by the governor.  Unfortunately that welcoming isn't exactly warm.

As I said above, this volume has some nasty, nasty things in it.  The governor is not someone you want to cross.  And he knows they must have come from close by, having reasoned that they arrived on foot without supplies.  He wants to know where they've come from and he has every intention of finding out, no matter what the cost.

Despite the nastiness, I did enjoy reading this volume (a lot more than Volume 4).  I'm actually quite excited to see what happens in Volume 5 (which I luckily also have and can read right now!)

Library Book: The Walking Dead Volume 4: The Heart's Desire

Volume 4 kind of surprised me a little bit at the beginning.  Rather than continuing immediately with what Rick and company were up to, it introduced a new character along (Michonne) with a character from Volume 2 (Otis).  But it did jump right back to the story after that.

At the end of volume 3, Rick and company were being kicked out of the prison they had found by one of the inmates.  But when he got his weapons, he accidentally released a hoard of zombies.  Everyone helps to clear the zombies out, wasting a lot of bullets in the process; the inmate is shot in the confusion and everyone can stay. 

On the outside, the two characters who were introduced at the beginning of this volume made it to the prison.  Dealing with some zombies on the outside, those on the inside go to see what happened once their zombies are disposed of. 

Michonne is a mysterious but deadly lady.  She's survived for who knows how long on the outside by herself, bringing along two armless zombies who generally keep the other zombies away from her. Even though they were important to her in the past, she doesn't hesitate to dispose of them in order to get into the prison. 

Everyone is still reeling from the events of the previous book, but for the most part they seem to be recovering from things nicely.  Allen even volunteers to join a small group who are cleaning out the zombies from one of the other buildings.  But things start to spiral out of control when Allen is bitten...

The Walking Dead: The Heart's Desire was in many ways darker than the other volumes (well, volume 3 was pretty dark, too).  Friends are turning on friends now, and no one is sure whether Rick can take the pressure of leading everyone anymore.  A friend of mine warned me that the story gets depressing and I'm really starting to see that here.  I've got two more volumes out from the library right now though, so I'll give those a read then see if I want to continue from there.

Library Book: The Walking Dead Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars

Volume 3 of the Walking Dead continues Rick and company's struggle to survive in a zombie apocalypse.  At the end of volume 2, they found a prison that they wanted to use as a new home.  So this volume is their struggle to clean the place up.  But they are not alone; they find a couple of prison inmates who have been stuck there for months.  Everyone tries to work together to clean the place up.  Rick even extends an invitation to Hershel's family, asking if they wanted to come and live in the prison, too. 

All seems well for the survivors until they find two of the girls dead with their heads chopped off, clearly murdered by someone in the prison.  Now everyone starts turning on one another with no clear idea of who the murderer is...

The Walking Dead: Safety Behind Bars was, like the first two volumes, a great read that I didn't want to put down.  I'm looking forward to the next volume, which I have on hold.  I'm also thinking I really need to watch the tv series because I am liking this story!

Library Book: The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us

So yes, after writing that last blog post, I immediately started reading The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us.  It picks up pretty much exactly where Volume 1 left off.  Rick and company are finally breaking camp in search of a safer place to live.  They pack up the RV and begin their search. 

They first find a gated neighbourhood which seems perfect.  There's lots of canned goods and the houses are big; every family will have a good life.  Well, that plan is interrupted when they realize the whole place is infested with the undead!  The group escapes, but not without casualties.

They spend a week foraging, desperately looking for things to eat when Carl, Rick's boy gets shot.  The perpetrator, a scared individual named Otis, thought they were zombies; he brings them to his friend's place.  His friend Hershel is a veterinarian and is able to save Carl's life.  He invites everyone to stay until Carl is better.  But relations between the Rick's group and Hershel's family start to deterioriate when Rick discovers the undead Hershel is keeping in his barn....

The Walking Dead: Miles Behind Us was another excellent read by Robert Kirkman.  I'm looking forward to whenever I'm able to read the next volume!

Library Book: The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye

I've been wanting to read The Walking Dead for the last week but haven't had the time before now.  Luckily I found some time today and read the first volume, Days Gone Bye.  This is the story of Rick, a cop who was shot on the job.  He wakes up from a coma to find the world a changed place.  The hospital is abandoned, except for monsters that attack him.  His house is a wreck and there are squatters in the neighbour's house.  And he can't find his wife and son.  So he sets off to Atlanta, where his wife has family, in the hopes that she went there when the zombies first appeared on the news.

I'm going to give my spoiler warning now.  I get the impression that The Walking Dead is the continuing story of Rick, so much like Everworld, if I keep posting about the series I won't be able to avoid giving spoilers.

Rick arrives in Atlanta, but instead of the safe haven it was supposed to be, the city is overrun with zombies.  He is saved from certain death by Glenn, one of the survivors.  Glenn leads him to their camp, which is just outside of town, where Rick is miraculously reunited with his family.  The little camp then tries to survive until the army comes, but the weather is getting colder and the zombies keep finding them in greater and greater numbers...

Days Gone Bye was an excellent introduction to the series.  I can't wait to read more (and luckily don't have to - I'm going to start volume 2 right now!)