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THE WALKING DEAD #25

In which our heroes get some zombie-proof duds. And guns. Lots and lots of guns.

by Frank Pittarese

THE WALKING DEAD is a great book, but in recent months, it’s been a difficult read. The cast has expanded to the point where it’s hard to remember who everyone is and what their relationships are. The fact that it’s a black-and-white book doesn’t help. Artist Charlie Adlard definitely tries to keep the characters looking unique, but clearly something isn’t working. Writer/series creator Robert Kirkman has been sticking several pages of “Who’s Who” bios in the back of the book for awhile now, but that’s the last place I want to go in a series where, at any point, a character might be eaten. One-paragraph of “Last Month in THE WALKING DEAD,” stuck in the inside front cover, would do this series a world of good.

This issue, though, was a breeze. We see few characters than usual, or at last it felt that way, and it was much easier to focus on the story, without having to go “Huh? Who’s this guy again?” every couple of pages.

This month, the survivors of the zombie plague further explore the prison they’ve secured. As their interpersonal dramas (a terrific factor of this series) play out, the prison armory is finally discovered. Soon, decked out in their (hopefully) zombie-proof, riot-control gear, a couple of guys venture outside the prison gates on a gas-retrieval mission…but they find something much more interesting when they get there.

It’ll be interesting to see where this new twist takes the series. Without spoiling anything, wonderful things could be in store for the survivors, or things could get much, much worse. My hope is for the latter. They’ve been in the prison for quite a long time (in terms of reader-months,), and the danger-element has decreased now that the zombies are out and the crazy prisoners have been dispatched. It’s time they got on the road again.