The Walking Dead #102 Review

Spoilers within.

Rick Grimes and his allies suffered a terrible defeat in Walking Dead #100. Their new enemy, Negan, beat series regular Glenn to death with a baseball bat while they were forced to watch helplessly. One would assume the next logical step for a group of heroes hardened by years of battling zombies would be to strike back at Negan. And with Andrea's group capturing a prisoner at the end of issue #101, the stage is set for some major payback.

Instead, issue #102 delivers something different. This is a very downbeat, even depressing follow-up to recent events as we see Rick and the others come to grips with the enormity of the challenge facing them. Robert Kirkman succeeds in conveying why Negan poses a different threat to our heroes than the Governor did, and why the response can't be the same. On one hand it's disappointing to see some of the book's forward momentum drain away as the character's stop and take stock, but on the other, it allows for some strong character work and enjoyable interactions among the series' major players. And while one of the weaknesses of this book is that newer characters are rarely as memorable as the original batch, the Jesus character is quickly bucking that trend. The tone of the issue is nothing if not melancholy, but there are enough surprises and hints towards the future to keep things interesting.

Charlie Adlard faces a challenge in keeping the eye engaged throughout this issue when most pages feature talking heads. He manages, much as he always has during the book's many shifts between action-heavy fare and quieter, more character-driven issues. The use of light and shadow heightens the dramatic intensity in many scenes, while some really effective panel framing towards the end highlights the growing gulf between Rick and his allies. Even if our heroes aren't charging into battle right away, the book remains more interesting than it has been in a long time.

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Source : ign[dot]com