Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Walking Dead #141
Image Comics
Kirkman, Adlard, Gaudiano & Rathburn
The Walking Dead provides another tense issue this week as Negan and Rick have a great confrontation. The comic book manages to stick with one story line for the most part, which is a credit to the book. Spinning multiple plates in the same issue is not Kirkman's niche. Focusing on one set of characters and letting the tension build page after page is what Kirkman does best and that is how this issue is constructed. This is a very good read.
The recap explains a lot of background. However, much of what is in the recap is not touched upon in the opening of the book. The opening of the book brings Rick back to his community and leads him to check on Negan. Negan is waiting for him in the unlocked cell.
Negan and Rick have some excellent words. There isn't a physical confrontation but the pair get close to some brawling on a number of occasions. The part of this that is really intriguing is how Kirkman reverses the protagonist and antagonist here. Negan has some sharp words for Rick and they ring true. Rick then leaves and behaves exactly how Negan predicted. Negan comes out of this looking fairly decent while Rick looks like a dictator. When you combine this with Rick's physical problems, he suddenly appears very vulnerable.
The comic book ends with a surprising twist to one of the other plot lines. While the plot was mentioned in the recap, the plot resolution was surprising that opens up some interesting possibilities down the road. It also made for a fantastic splash page.
The artwork is great. The back and forth between Rick and Negan are captured beautifully in the artwork. The comic book has a lot of tense moments and the artwork brings these scenes to another level. The book looks fantastic.
The Walking Dead seems to be hitting its stride with the plots that have been building for some time now. This issue brings Rick and Negan face to face, which has been waiting in the wings since the end of the war. The comic throws a nice twist at the end to bring the reader back for more next month. These kinds of issues are what make The Walking Dead such a great read issue after issue. The tension, drama and confrontation are all seat-of-the-pants kind of moments that Kirkman and Adlard excel at. This was a very good read.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
