The Walking Dead (Volume 8):
Made To Suffer 
Things that have been brewing for volumes finally come to a head in the latest collection of The Walking Dead. Collecting issues 43 through 48 of the popular zombie comic, Made To Suffer sees the big confrontation between Rick and his band of friends, and the villainous Governor who manipulates his small populace of survivors to do his bidding. At the end of volume seven, The Calm Before, we see an army barrelling in on Rick's safe prison, and the first chapter of volume eight goes over the events in the enemy camp between Rick's escape from their clutches and this new attack. After this one issue seen through the enemy's eyes, it's back to Rick and friends as they defend all that they've worked so hard to build against the treacherous invaders. By the end of the volume, all has changed and the book will never be the same. I think this is in the book's best interest. Things were getting a little safe, and subsequently, a little boring, up until the introduction of the Governor. With the way things shift by this volume's end, the series should get interesting again, perhaps moving away from the torture-porn of the last two dozen issues (which were fantastic, mind you) and move forward to some genuine horror. The zombies haven't seemed to be much of a threat for awhile, so I'd like to see them at the forefront of the pages again. It's interesting to see humans act more monstrous than the zombies, but...this is a zombie comic and I want to see some living dead! Adlard illustrates as competently as ever in a story with great action scenes and plenty of face time with long-time characters before...things hit the fan. I'm looking forward to see where Kirkman goes with the book following recent events. If the series thus far has been any indication, it should be one hell of a ride.
Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard & Cliff Rathburn
.
Things that have been brewing for volumes finally come to a head in the latest collection of The Walking Dead. Collecting issues 43 through 48 of the popular zombie comic, Made To Suffer sees the big confrontation between Rick and his band of friends, and the villainous Governor who manipulates his small populace of survivors to do his bidding. At the end of volume seven, The Calm Before, we see an army barrelling in on Rick's safe prison, and the first chapter of volume eight goes over the events in the enemy camp between Rick's escape from their clutches and this new attack. After this one issue seen through the enemy's eyes, it's back to Rick and friends as they defend all that they've worked so hard to build against the treacherous invaders. By the end of the volume, all has changed and the book will never be the same. I think this is in the book's best interest. Things were getting a little safe, and subsequently, a little boring, up until the introduction of the Governor. With the way things shift by this volume's end, the series should get interesting again, perhaps moving away from the torture-porn of the last two dozen issues (which were fantastic, mind you) and move forward to some genuine horror. The zombies haven't seemed to be much of a threat for awhile, so I'd like to see them at the forefront of the pages again. It's interesting to see humans act more monstrous than the zombies, but...this is a zombie comic and I want to see some living dead! Adlard illustrates as competently as ever in a story with great action scenes and plenty of face time with long-time characters before...things hit the fan. I'm looking forward to see where Kirkman goes with the book following recent events. If the series thus far has been any indication, it should be one hell of a ride.
Comments