THE WALKING DEAD #16 REVIEW

[James Groves]

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/image/WalkingDead16.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/image/WalkingDead16t.jpg" align=left alt="The Walking Dead #16"></a>Reviewer: James Groves, JamesandtheDragon@hotmail.com
Story Title: The Walking Dead

"...So I could cut off your head."

Creator, Writer, Letterer: Robert Kirkman
Penciler, Inker: Charlie Adlard
Gray Tones: Cliff Rathburn
Cover: Tony Moore
Publisher: Erik Larsen

Robert Kirkman's latest issue of The Walking Dead is a brisk, yet gripping piece of escapist fiction that's chock-full of plot surprises and emotional centerpoints. Kirkman taps into an oft-overused horror subgenre (that of zombie-fuelled horror madness) and plants the reader firmly into the seat of a rollercoaster ride of explosive confrontations and horrifying situations. Set in the dark aftermath of a dystopian world overrun with flesh-eating zombies--where society has crumbled and the little of what remains of the human race search for food and shelter--the reader becomes immersed within an unsettling zombie themed tale in which the characters drive the story forward rather than the subject matter itself. Kirkman focuses on one group of survivors and their search for a peaceful existence. And within this eclectic mix of murderers, law-enforcers, minors and all-round weirdo's, we get a varied group of compelling characters; real people with their own motives, prejudices and fears. Kirkman delves into not just the horror, gruesomeness and morbidity of the supernatural, but how these situations change and mold us; bringing families closer together, creating circumstances that wouldn’t ordinarily happen, and influencing people's ideologies.

There are many moments throughout this issue which are truly terrifying, as Kirkman hits the reader at high pace with shock after shock after surprising revelation, but these are interspersed with some well-crafted and intensely intimate scenes between the characters at play, thus creating a multilayered storyline as a result. Kirkman creates high tension as the reality of what is happening unfolds at an alarming rate, with twists at every turn.

The artwork is set in a black-and-white format -- one of many nods to the Night of the Living Dead movie flick which was shot in black-and-white. As a result, the visuals maintain a filmic atmosphere and act as a nice parallel to the original horror film movie. Adlard at times provides some of the best black-and-white artwork I’ve ever seen here; portraying sheer terror and hatred with great subtlety. Where the artwork does fall down slightly, is that it can be a tad confusing at times, especially when trying to keep at pace with how events are unfolding, and even minor alterations to distinguish characters from one another can be hard to find.

The latest addition to The Walking Dead is an addictive, absorbing read that explores the inner soul of man, as well as the innards of many, many zombies.

ART:
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STORY:
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OVERALL:
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'Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save!’ (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=874&cat=WALKING+DEAD)

[Vyns]

Great issue. I'm so glad I started picking this up since I got the first 2 trades a couple of weeks ago. Kinda lacking in detail a bit on what happens in the book James, but I can deal with it.

If you're depriving yourself of this title you should have your brains eaten by zombies. :aaargh:

[thepooka]

Best book on the stands. Period.

[Rictor]

Best book on the stands. Period.

well said. It saddens me to see only two replies to this review, when the age of apocalypse thread are thriving with b.s. questions about an arc that was well and truly laid to rest over a decade ago.

I like comixfan, i do, but the lack of any real interest in this, the best book on the stands really grates with me. it seems that people are more interested in rating the x-men or creating miniature faces than reading this...ahh, i digress, sorry james, i look forward to picking this up on friday.

[Paul Shinn]

I can only echo what has already been said - great book! And 10 pages of letters!?! I initially passed on this book, as I'm not overly enamoured by the zombie genre, but after picking up the first two trades, I've now moved on to the monthly book and realised that this is so much more: great character studies and developments, and each issue is full of neat ideas and revelations. But sadly, a "black and white book from Image" is never gonna sell as well as an X-book...

[Rictor]

it deserves to do well though. with all the meandering x-pap on the shelves at the moment, this book is more than breath of fresh air, its a boot in the arse for the medium. I just wish more of our comixfan compadres would realize this and give it a shot.

[Paul Shinn]

I totally agree that this book deserves to do well, but the fact is that many people will never even give an Image book a second glance. I used to be as guilty as the next person in this respect, for a long while I wouldn't look further than Marvel for my comics. Then I began to have a browse through DC's wares, before moving on to Vertigo, Wildstorm and then looking at stuff from Image, Oni Press, Dark Horse. Nowadays, the company logo at the top of my comics hardly even registers.

The Walking Dead has been nothing but great every issue, and definitely flies in the face of so-called "decompressed" storytelling! Hopefully, Kirkman's work for Marvel will help to raise his profile among other readers, and cause them to give this book a look. I guarantee as soon as they pick it up, they won't be able to stop...

[Dylan McKay]

Sweet review.

To me, this book is like a fine wine, you have to savour it to truely enjoy it. The way Kirkman does emotional beats is off beat and as such, if you devour the book you can't get in synch with the story. It's so dense that it's easy to miss out on the details. So I made sure to sit back and absorb every panel of this issue and I was just blown away. I'm beginning to wonder if Kirkman is revolutionizing drama in comics.

Oh yeah, and, BEST. FANBOY MOMENT. EVER.