Comic Review - The Walking Dead #103

            By now, I think everyone knows of the Robert Kirkman cash cow that is The Walking Dead.  There is a TV show, action figures, video games, books and magazine devoted to it (where is the breakfast cereal? You can’t tell me someone wouldn’t jump all over a Zombie Brains breakfast cereal).  Did you know that it all started out as a comic book?  Did you also know that that comic book is still going strong, 103 issues in to be exact?  Yeah, it all started many years ago and this week in our horror comic October (which has coincidentally turned into zombie comic October) we review the newest issue of The Walking Dead.

Cover:

            The cover was drawn by Charlie Adlard, the interior artist.  I know, that may seem foreign to you individuals that are relatively new to comics, but the interior artist drawing the covers is actually how things used to be (and how it still is in many non-Marvel companies).  This cover is a prime example why the interior artist should also be responsible for the first image readers see.  First of all, the cover actually has to do with the story and is not just some lame pinup.  Not what actually happens in the story, though, it has to do with the story symbolically.  Adlard just made you think.  The image on the cover itself is incredible as well.  The relatively small characters combined with the use of cast shadows and the slight gradient of the background make it unlike any cover that I have seen in many years.  The coloring is subtle and adds to the image instead of distracting from it.  I am sure by this point, this is just second nature to Adlard, but a great cover needs to be recognized; and this is a great cover.

            The Walking Dead logo is simple but incredibly effective.  By incorporating both the black and white stroke around the colored letters, it is assured that the logo will work on pretty much any color background.  It is little things like this that have helped make The Walking Dead the longstanding hit that it is.

10/10 – Could be one of the best covers of the year.  Period.

Story:

            Let me start out by saying that I watch The Walking Dead television show.  I am a season behind because I do not have cable, but I watch it.  I don’t like it, but I watch it.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the premise and the effects, but I hate the writing and the characters.  Seriously, I have never wanted an entire cast of characters to die horrible deaths more than this cast; and I have seen Glee! 

            I do however, after reading this issue, know where the shitty characters in the television series come from.  They are shitty here as well!  There is not one likable character in this issue.  I like Kirkman as a writer for the most part.  I love Invincible, it is the best superhero book currently being published, but this writing is just bad.  Barely anyone is identified by name, making the entire book inaccessible to new readers.  The opening sequence is cool, but we never see any of the characters for the rest of the book, nor do we learn who any of them are.  The rest of the characters are very wooden and one dimensional, making me care about them as much as I do their television counterparts. 

            The worst offender is the “villain”, Negan.  Aside from being told that he is the villain, I am shown that he is because he says “fuck” in every sentence.  Seriously.  It looks like Kirkman either didn’t know how to show he was a bad guy without giving him the foulest mouth this side of Deadwood, or he just created the character so that he could write “fuck” a lot. 

3/10 – I am probably giving Kirkman too much credit here because the pacing in some spots is great, but that might be Adlard’s doing.  However the characterization and the dialogue are incredibly unimpressive. 

Art:

            First off, I love the grey tones of the book.  It works so much better than if this had been a full color book.  Adlard’s storytelling ability is top-notch.  While most artists nowadays are looking for the cool shot, or the panel that they can blow up into a poster to sell at a convention, Adlard uses the entire page to tell a story, content with using shadows and long shots as opposed to full body shots of the characters in action.  This could be part of the genre however as there are obviously no superheroes or brightly costumed characters that will hog the spotlight.  Adlard must be credited for handling the subject matter with such professionalism and expertise though.  His use of silent panels is the best I have seen since Jeff Smith’s Bone.  That is the only thing that saves this book from being terrible, so thank you Charlie Adlard, well done.

Adlard shows you the full gamut of emotions that female (I'm going to call her that because Kirkman never gives me a name) feels in one page, five panels and only two word balloons.  Masterful.

A great example of the use of light and shadow, as well as action that Adlard is depicting.  Love the panel of the zombie falling off the bridge!

8/10 – Some of the art feels repetitive in sections but it is obvious that Adlard has a mastery of the not only the medium but the genre.

Overall:  5/10 – For something that is considered the modern zombie tale “gold standard” I expect more.  Could it be a slow issue that is building up to something bigger?  Probably, I am sure that Kirkman has many big things planned, based on this issue though, I will not be around to see them.  Get this for the art, or look for a print of the phenomenal cover, do not waste your time purchasing single issues of the comic book.