By: Robert Kirkman (writer), Charlie Adlard (art), Cliff Rathburn (grays), Rus Wooton (letters) & Sina Grace (editor)
The Story: As the walled enclave turns into a zombie-filled death-trap, Rick & Gang make a break for it.
What’s Good: [Spoilers ahead. If you haven't read the issue, just skim to the bottom, see the "grade" and come back after you've read it!] Wow! Damn! That’s all that can really be said after an issue like this one. One of my criticisms of The Walking Dead over the last few issues was that I was starting to feel like certain characters were “safe” and that (unfortunately) Kirkman was going to have to kill someone to make me really buy into the long-standing notion that anyone could die at any time in TWD.
Well, we don’t get a straight-up death of a major character in this issue, but we DO get something pretty traumatic that could lead to death. Actually, I don’t see how this injury is anything but fatal. The events of this story could play out in so many tantalizing ways. If Carl dies, will Rick really have the balls to put a bullet in his own son’s head when he reanimates? There is an interesting parallel with Morgan who was unable to “kill” his zombified son. If Carl dies, what will become of Rick? Will being without his child be a lifting of a burden in a way and free him up to be a better leader…. or…will it ruin him?
So, many other superstar moments in this issue. Michonne spilling her guts to a dead man before getting her “game face” back on. Goodness do I love Michonne! How about Maggie and Sophia making a decision to stay behind and Rick being 100% willing to leave them because he doesn’t want to waste the time to try talking them out of it? Amazing, considering all that Rick & Maggie have been through together! How about Ron & his mom getting gobbled by zombies and Rick chopping off her arm to get her to let go of Carl? Sheesh! Only a few moments earlier Rick and this lady were being all snuggly and now he is ignoring her pleas for help and hacking her arm to save his son. What about how blatantly clear it was that the residents of this enclave simply can’t hack it when the shit hits the fan? Our original gang is basically dealing with the zombies like they are old pros whereas the “civilians” are peeing their pants and firing guns wildly. How about Andrea coming up with a pretty decent plan to help her friends inside the wall? Did you really think she’d turn tail and run? I know that if I ended up being in The Walking Dead, I want to be on the team with Rick, Andrea and Michonne.
Everything in this issue is just golden in its awfulness and this issue is a perfect example of the train-wreck that TWD can be where it is awful, but you cannot tear your eyes away!
What’s Not So Good: As a rare thing, I’m going to pick on Charlie Adlard a little bit. I’m a big fan of the guy, owner of some original art, etc., and even though I think most of the art in this issue was quite strong, there was some serious confusion going on in the mad scramble through the zombies. I found myself repeatedly flipping back and forth trying to figure out what the heck was going on, who was running, who was getting chewed on, who was hiding in the church, who was shooting, who was holding onto who… I appreciate it is a messy scene, but it should have been a little easier to tell what was going on.
Conclusion: Wow! The anything can happen vibe is back in The Walking Dead! And in a BIG way. The events of next issue are going to be very pivotal to the futures of some of our major characters.
Grade: A-
- Dean Stell
PS: As an aside, I’d love to hear from folks in the comments section some feedback on SPOILERS vs. NO SPOILERS in these reviews. As much as I hate spoiling things for the minority of trade-waiters out there, it is incredibly difficult to have something to say about these issues without going into spoiler territory. I kinda think it’s more for to give a spoiler warning and then just go to town analyzing what was good/bad in the issue. But, I’d love to hear your thoughts…
Follow Dean on Twitter.
Follow WCBR on Twitter and Facebook.
Filed under: Image Comics Tagged: | Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn, Dean Stell, Image, review, Robert Kirkman, Rus Wooton, Sina Grace, The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead #83, The Walking Dead #83 review, Zombies
Spoilers are fine for comics that have a huge following like Walking Dead. People are going to be reading the comics regardless, so they are fine. So long as the warning is intact, no problema!
I agree on spoilers being okay, as long as you post a warning (just like you did here) before the big ones. I’m reading Walking Dead in trades, and had no problem skimming the review to get the gist, and bypassing parts that seemed like they gave too much away for my taste. I think just keep the warning, and you’re good.
I’m fine with spoilers in reviews. This issue was messed up. Best thing I read this week. I think it broke my soul. There were a few other supposedly shocking moments in other books I read but nothing fazed me after reading this first. Chopping her hand off was brutal. I don’t know if Rick can come back from losing his son. That is all he has. Oh, Kirkman. Also, I found no problem with Adlard’s art. I knew who was who, although I can usually remember names and characters well. I just hope at least a few community members survive, to mix up the cast.
Yeah! One vote for spoilers.
It is just really hard to review an event driven book without doing spoilers.
It was brutal, huh? I know you read mostly non-Big 2 comics. My pull list is about 50/50 between Marvel/DC superheroes and “other”. But isn’t it amazing how the impact of an issue like TWD #83 or Butcher Baker #1 just makes Batman or the X-Men feel like lightweight drivel?
I should clarify…..”lightweight drivel” sounds bad. There ARE outstanding issues in those genres, but due to editorial concerns they’re just never going to have chopping of hands with hatchets, or graphically devoured children or lubed up hookers. I’m sure the creators writing those stories are frustrated by those restraints too.
Yeah, that’s why I love creator-owned comics. Although Butcher Baker didn’t shock me all that much. Nothing really did after reading this issue. Halcyon was probably my favorite thing this week after Walking Dead.