Artist: Charlie Adlard
The Walking Dead has been a series that I have enjoyed for a few years now, also having enjoyed the TV series that spawned from it. Due to the most recent season coming out on Blu-ray and DVD recently, as well as the fact that the series itself has reached it's ten year anniversary I thought I'd go through my graphic novels from the start, reliving the events that Rick and the group have went through over the last ten years.
Plot
As Dexter tries to force the group to leave the prison a swarm of zombies attack, making the situation even worse.
Review
This was a brilliant volume, and although it wasn't as good as the last two it was still amazing. Robert Kirkman once again did a great job of continuing the series, following up on the suspenseful cliffhanger from last volume perfectly. Kirkman did however also manage to make this relatively new reader friendly, as although you'll probably question how the series came to this dramatic point, it doesn't take away much from the story in this volume, with it being relatively easy to get into. Kirkman did however also make this even more enjoyable for people who have read the series until this point. The story was however much slower than the last couple of volumes, as although it had some dramatic developments, it didn't have as many shocking moments that the previous volumes excelled at giving. It did however once again have some brilliant character development, with Kirkman continuing to keep this a character driven series.
The artwork from Charlie Adlard was once again outstanding, being very dynamic throughout. The detail in Adlard's artwork was also amazing, with the entire volume being very consistent throughout, despite the odd imperfection. I also really enjoyed the way Adlard showed the characters emotions and facial expressions, as although it was a bit stiff and awkward at times during this volume, it was mostly very well handled, adding a lot of depth and drama, also adding excitement during certain sequences. I did however feel that the layout of Adlard's art wasn't quite as good as it has been in the previous volumes, as although it was still very dynamic, having some very exciting moments, it didn't have quite as many, feeling rather normal most of the time, though I do think that was mainly down to the story. Cliff Rathburn also once again produced some fantastic grey tones, really helping to create the perfect mood for the volume.
The last volume of the series ended on a cliffhanger, with a prisoner named Dexter trying to force the group to leave the prison. His attempt however is put on hold due to a swarm of zombies arriving from an open door. Now I felt that the cliffhanger in the last volume was amazing, as although this volume as a whole didn't live up to that, this opening sequence did. It was very exciting and explosive, also having plenty of suspense. I did however feel that it was slightly short though, and would have preferred it to have lasted a bit longer, and for it not to have ended as abruptly.
This volume would also see the introduction to what has become one of the series most popular characters, Michonne, a sword swinging woman who arrives with two chained zombies. Now I loved the introduction of Michonne, as she is a very interesting character. I also loved seeing the way that she was developed in this volume, as she had a very mysterious nature to her. It was also interesting to see how the group reacted to this new arrival, and how she would interact with certain members of the group, and especially her interaction with Tyreese.
After finding out that they're already infected in last volume, they would try and stop the zombie bite from killing a certain character in this one. Now I won't go into any more details, as to avoid giving away any more spoilers than I may have already, but I will as usual say what I thought of this development. First of all it was a great way off following the discovery that they made in the last volume, and the entire development would add much needed suspense and excitement to the story. I also felt that this development was very well paced, as although it was rather fast paced to start off, I felt that this was crucial, helping to give more suspense. On top of this I found some of the characters reactions to this development to be very interesting, showing how far things have developed since the start of the series.
WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD!
Now I don't like spoiling story plot, especially since I may have already given some spoilers. I did however really want to talk about this sequence, and with the volume not having as much excitement as the last couple it gave less talking points. The sequence I'm talking about is a fight sequence between Rick and Tyreese. Now I won't go into any more details as to why they're fighting, nor the outcome of the fight, but I will say my thoughts. The sequence as a whole was simply amazing, and a brilliant development point. I also loved how it showed the stubbornness of both characters, and if I'm being honest given their strong characteristics, this was something that was always going to happen, and I'm glad that it did.
Final Verdict
Although not quite as good as the last couple of volumes, this was still an amazing volume, and a terrific continuation of the series. It had some very exciting moments, as although there wasn't as many shocking moments, there was a lot of drama and suspense throughout. Due to all this I'd highly recommend this volume, though I probably wouldn't recommend it as the first to try for new readers.
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