Walking Dead #49

Death List: Tyreese: Decapitaed w/ katana by the Governor Hershel: Exucuted by the Governor w/ a gunshot to the head Patricia: Gunshot wound to the head Alice: Executed w/ pistol by the Governor Billy: Gunshot would to the head Axel: Gunshot wound to the head Lori/ Judy: Rifle wound to the back The Governor: Gunshot to the back of the head by female solider...YAAA! Thats the casualty list from the last arc, Kirkman wasn't kidding when he said everything has changed.... The first 5 pages of issue #49 are very powerful images of how much Kirkman has changed the dynamic of this book. In the first page you see the decapitated zombie head of Tyreese finally put to rest with a THUNK! of Michonnes's katana, and in the second you see her usually emotionless face shed a single tear in sadness. In the third you see Michonne walking up to the wreckage of the winnebago which Andrea made her triumphant return in, until one of the governor's thugs drove a truck into it. Michonne finds the zombie body of the aforementioned thug crawling around on the ground and quickly separates his head from this shoulders. Michonne checks the inside of the winnebago and finds nothing, but then outside she stumbles upon Andrea's footprints in the dirt and begins to follow them into the tree line. THE 1st MAJOR PLOT POINT. Now the rest of this issue focuses on the Lone Wolf and Cub/ Rick and Carl moving through the forest attempting to regain some sense of themselves after the devastating lose of Lori and Judy in the last issue. Carl appears withdrawn and distant still trying to cope with the loss of his mother and the destruction of the only home he's had since this whole story began. Rick trying to be as strong for Carl as he can, appears weak and exhausted (unable to open a tin can) both from the loss of his wife and child and from the previous arcs brutal battle with the governor. Rick and Carl stumble upon a small town and while searching through a grocery store stumble upon a breaded zombie who Rick attempts to kill but gets his hatchet stuck in its head, after bringing the Zombie to the ground Carl quickly pulls out his 9mm and blows the zombies brains out. Now, not to be undone Rick also dispenses of a near by zombie who heard the gunshot and also wanted to have his head blown off. After that little scuffle Rick and Carl find some shelter in a near by house to sleep for the night. Now these last few pages are interesting, for the rest of the issue you see Rick sweating profusely as he walks into the bathroom to examine his stitched up gunshot wound. After unwrapping it and spraying it with some kind of disinfectant. Rick then goes searching through the cabinets for some antibiotics, now he pulls out a bottle of something that he appears to hesitate for a minute taking but then decides to choke down a few. Finally he lays down with Carl (still sweating profusely) in front of the fire and discusses future plans and dwells on some past mistakes. When Carl finally opens up and says "I really miss mom" he gets no response from dad, and turns to find Rick unconscious on the floor. Now i thought Kirkman did a great job setting up the plot line for the next arc. The first 5 pages without using any word displays the utter devastation and collapse of the prison scantuary, and develops the future linking up of Michonne and Andrea, which will some how encompass one of the small groups of survivors from the prison battle that Kirkman will develop. While Rick and Carl make up the second, and much more interesting one in my opinion. After reading this issue it seems Carl will be left to fend for himself, as well as, care for and protect the unconscious but still breathing Rick. It appears that Kirkman will be setting up Carl for some significant character growth, in the coming issues. Carl has been largely sheltered and protected from the duties and responsibilities of surviving in a world of zombies (aside from shooting Shane in the first arc of the title), his character as always existed under the protection of either Rick or Lori, he has been dependent on both of them for emotional stability and his very survival. Now, all that has been stripped from him and he is left alone, a 10 year old boy left in an unfamiliar place to survive and protect his unconscious father from a world filled with man eating zombies. Kirkman has completely altered the dynamic of this book, both in its overall plot direction and character development. I don't think their is a book on the shelf or has ever been on the shelf that could kill off 90% of its character in the matter of one story arc and still have people begging for the next issue. Overall a great issue and a good start to the new direction this title will be taking.