The Walking Dead #100 Review

I gave the people of the world a month to read this comic and it is time for a legit review. There are going to be a lot of spoilers in this review. For people who have not been reading the series, I would not read further into this article. You have been officially warned and if you read further then that is your choice.

The Walking Dead has been building momentum for issue 100 for a while with a few set up arcs such as a "We Find Ourselves" and "A Larger World". There have been hints of a new threat with the foreshadowing of a man named "Negan", who is in charge of a large barbaric group that takes whatever they want from the new communities that have been popping up all over Washington D.C. As we know from the past Rick and the group don't take kindly to threats and are very willing to eliminate "Negan" as a threat when propositioned by the leader of the Hilltop community. The notable characters introduced in the lead-up to #100 were Paul Monroe, who is a member of the Hilltop community that seeks out other communities to ally with, and Gregory, who is the "leader" of the Hilltop community that has negotiated a treaty with Negan's group. We really don't know a lot about either of the characters but Paul Monroe does seem to be the more interesting of the two because he resembles Jesus and knows Karate.

The issue is really well done because it doesn't feel like a landmark issue until the last few pages when everything is turned up to 11. I had put my money on either Glenn or Andrea to be killed by the end of the issue. Robert Kirkman tends to kill off characters that have too many positives going on in their lives. Andrea finally overcoming Dale's death and shacking up with Rick pointed to her being the one to get killed. Then we have Glenn, who has a kid on the way, a happy marriage, and a cute "daughter" Sophia. Seems like Glenn drew the short straw and then got the shit end of a barbwire baseball bat. I can't say that it shocked me that Glenn got killed at all because I came in with the expectation that one of the main characters were going to die. I still maintain that at the end of the series the only characters that will be alive are Michonne and Carl. Carl has been shot in the stomach and the face and still have the reflexes and wits to headshot zombies, the kid is just built to last. The best parts of the issue were the dread leading up to the death scene and the selection process was one of the best moments in The Walking Dead in quite a while.

On the other hand there was one big problem I had with the issue overall. Negan seems like a retread of the Governor in a sense. He is another sadistic leader but he seems much more brutal than the Governor. We know next to nothing about the character and I am sure that fact will change slowly over time. I also think that a lot of people overlook the fact that he was order Abraham to be killed as well. He has taken out two main characters so far and shows no signs of slowing up. I just hope there is more to the character than just a device to thin out the character cast in the comic. If he can be a threat and character on the level of the Governor then it will all be worth it.

This was one hell of an issue and after reading issue #101, I can firmly say that the series is back on track. If you are looking to get your Walking Dead fix then you should pick up some of the comics or even play Telltale Games' The Walking Dead which happens to be fucking incredible.