Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
The Walking Dead #145
Image Comics
Kirkman, Adlard, Gaudiano & Rathburn
"The Walking Dead" does something this issue that is hasn't done in a long time: it sticks with one set of characters for an entire issue. After the shocking deaths that were discovered at the end of the previous issue, this issue is spent with Rick, Andre and Michonne dealing with the aftermath. The book is packed with drama and definitely hits all the correct angles to the arguments of what to do next. This is a very solid issue from this series and shows how strong characters can drive a good comic book. This is one to pick up.
Rick, Andrea and Michonne drive the conversation about what to do next. Although, with Carl's girlfriend present, Michonne loses her cool and attacks her for what "her people" did to their friends. The dialogue is fierce but the entire issue has similar tension so it all flows together nicely. It was fairly clear that Michonne couldn't bring herself to kill the kid.
As is the case with every crisis, everyone looks to Rick for answers. Do they charge back in there and start killing? Do they regroup, storm back by force later? Do they sit and wait and then attack? Rick is not sure what to do but he knows that he's outnumbered and can't compete with the zombie hoard that his new enemy seems to have on hand.
The challenging spot with this issue is how easily they return to their community and call everyone together. There is no sense of how long the trip takes back and forth, how long they are gone or how long people noticed others were missing. This reads like one of those endless days that you see in movies where characters pack way too much into a day than is possible (Wedding Crashers).
The artwork is chilling. The heads on sticks is one thing, but the emotion around the heads and watching them turn into zombies brings the art to another level. The piece to the artwork that stands out to me is how the horizon is used to provide a vastness to the field where the heads are on display. It makes the characters seem so much more isolated and it makes the heads stick out so much more. Even the cover is chilling. This is one of the better installments on artwork in some time.
"The Walking Dead" provides a dramatic issue as the core characters deal with the fallout of their loved ones being murdered by a neighboring community. They try to deal with their grief while determining their next steps. The artwork provides a stunning visual story in this issue as the tension builds throughout the comic. This is one of the better issues in the series in a while. This is what is best about this comic book.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
