Advanced Review: The Walking Dead #97

As issue 100 slowly crawls towards us, Robert Kirkman sets his pieces in motion again for a terrible fate to befall them! 

In this issue, Rick and group, return from the Hilltop to let everyone know about the deal Rick struck with its citizens. But there might be a few bumps in the road, as some of Negan’s men follow them! Meanwhile, back home, Eugene begins to test his boundaries with Abraham regarding Rosita and their “relationship.” And finally, when our heroes arrive back home, four of their lives will be changed forever as the impending darkness begins to envelop around them! Kirkman doesn’t call this arc “Something To Fear” for no reason, folks!

After a long run building up to this arc, Kirkman has begun turning the screws, ever so slowly again, to make us uncomfortable. He is a master of suspense, giving subtle hints as to what might happen to our favorite characters and leaving us no option but to watch in unbridled horror! We try to scream to them, “Look out!” but it falls upon deaf ears! Even the most hardened of the group can only take so much before they crack, and with so much joy entering into their lives again — the emotional turmoil beset upon the reader will be escalated to the Nth degree!

This series is untouchable when it comes to characterization and the emotional connection the reader has with Kirkman’s characters. I have never had so many “Oh, no!” moments in my twenty plus years of reading comics as I have reading this series! Kirkman has a way of making you believe in these characters and their plight to survive so much, that you feel emotionally drained when something horrible befalls them.

So, steel yourself for this new arc, it looks as though the winds of change have begun blowing again! Plus the cover tells it all! Fans of the comic series know all to well what happens when Adlard and Rathburn churn out the “Red” covers! Nothing good my friends, nothing good.