The Walking Dead #193 Review
The comics world was shocked this week by the surprising final issue of The Walking Dead. While I’m not a fan of the series, I can appreciate it. I’m not of a fan because of anything inherently bad with the comic. I just don’t care for zombies. However the first issue of the series was well done and I don’t think that I’ve ever read a comic by Robert Kirkman that I’ve hated or thought was bad. Therefore, it was not a chore for me to read this comic.
Be warned, despite my best intentions, there will be some spoilers here. There’s just no other way to do it.
The Walking Dead #193
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Charlie Adlard
Gray tones: Cliff Rathburn
Letterer: Rus Wooten
Cover Colors: Dave Stewart
Release Date: July 3, 2019
Solicitation:
“THE FARMHOUSE” Out in the countryside, trouble is brewing for a certain someone.
Review:
There’s a brief rundown of what happened the previous issue with the death of Rick Grimes. This story takes a time jump where we see his son Carl defending his home and family from a walker. Then all the trouble starts. In this future, walkers are not a big threat. As a matter of fact, the only ones we see are part of Hershel’s travelling side show of walkers. We see Carl put on trial for doing what his father raised him to do. It’s here that we see how much the world has changed.
There’s a generation coming up that has never even seen a walker. Even Michionne admits that she has trouble remembering a time when the walkers were a threat. I found myself likening this world to civilizations that have been through traumatic events like war or civil oppression. After it’s over, it’s hard to remember a time when it was bad. We’re experiencing a period of rising nationalism most likely because so few people remember a time when there were actual Nazis exterminating Jews. The blatant racism of American segregation in the south is hard for those of us to remember that grew up with racism that was more hidden.
Carl remembers what a threat the walkers are. Herschel doesn’t have that clear a memory of it, so it’s not surprising he sees them as a commodity. I don’t buy his defense of wanting to remind people of the walkers with his side show. If that were true, he wouldn’t charge for it. He certainly wouldn’t hide the fact one got away.
The story that Carl reads to his daughter at the end sums up the series well. It’s also a good happy ending for the series. In the afterword to the readers, Kirkman tells of his original ending for the series that was not happy at all. The Walking Dead was such a dark series that a happy ending is what readers deserve. He manages to do this in the final issue and keep the drama that keeps a reader on his or her toes. The ending is satisfying and gives a happy ending, which is something that can be appreciated in a series about zombies.
Dang. I just gave a perfect ending to the review, and I haven’t even mentioned Charlie Adlard’s art. He does so well in trying to get the story told and stay out of the way of the story. The gray tones from Cliff Rathburn give depth to artwork that on its own would be stressed to do all of the job on its own. The two of them are a team where Rathburn lets Adlard tell the story by giving depth to the scenes. I simply love the shot above of Herschel and Carl and how complete it looks with the shading. It’s gorgeous throughout the comic.
Final Rating: 9.2 (out of 10)