By Kirkman, Adlard, Gaudiano & Rathburn
Publisher: Image
ISBN: 9781632150301
The behemoth that is the Walking Dead keeps ploughing forward, daring to take risks that leave you unsure just who will still be alive by the end of the book. Like the TV show (and indeed Game of Thrones) this makes for a more edge-of-your-seat read now we’re all so acclimatised to the false peril so many characters find themselves in. Even in this volume I couldn’t be 100% sure if Rick Grimes was indeed going to make it, which is saying something this many books in.
So the second book in this story arc picks up with Rick’s community recovering from the explosive attack by Negan and his soldiers and counting the cost of just who and what they’ve lost. Meanwhile Negan thinks of it as a victory as he sees the smoke and fire left in his wake. Eugene’s small team of ammunition makers, based way outside of the community’s walls, are staying silent for fear of attracting the attackers’ attention, but a foolish toilet break (indeed) brings destruction of a different kind and Negan becomes aware of them none the less.
Rick’s plan is to end this as quickly as possible, which means regrouping at the Hilltop and making a stand there. But there’s a lot of supposition and speculation flying about concerning just what Negan will do when, and it ends up being more of case of who will underestimate who first.
This is still a great book because it’s first and foremost about the struggle for survival. The zombies are a threat, but they’re one of many, alongside hunger, exposure and baseball-weilding madmen. It’s character-driven storytelling, so when just about anyone falls foul of a walker or a bullet you feel a sense of loss. If you’ve seen any of the TV show then don’t think for a moment that you don’t need to read these either – the TV show has found its own path, like a parallel universe – so there are still plenty of shocks and surprises to experience here.
And if you liked that: You might like Kirkman’s take on superheroes with Invincible
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