Every time I open an issue of the Walking Dead, I brace myself. That says a lot. When you open an issue of Superman, you dont have to worry about Lois being eviscerated, or Jimmy being disemboweled, etc. There is no such guarantee when reading Walking Dead. Any character at any time can meet a horrible fate. When last we left the story, the only people left were basically Rick (The ASSUMED lead character), and his young boy Carl. And Rick was what appeared to be deathly ill, leaving just the boy up and about.
Could I be certain that the Rick, or the boy would not meet an awful fate? NO WAY! And THAT is why you brace yourself when cracking one of these bad boys open, and THAT is why this continues to be one of the best titles out there.
This issue deals with Carl's feelings and actions while his dad is laying on the floor comatose.It is an exploration of this character and where he is at emotionally at this current time.
Carl first goes through fear at being without dad to protect him. But when faced with the threat of the zombies, he deals with it in a competent way (this is not guaranteed and half the time u expect the zombies to chomp on him. Ahhh Kirkman you bastard.), and this gives him a feeling of bravado. He feels he is not a child anymore, and he can protect himself. He feels anger at his dad for not being able to protect mom and the others, but at the end of the day he is still a child, and in a heart-string pulling moment, you see that he really still needs his dad.
Story, as always, no less than 4.
The artwork continues to be very appropriate for this title, and where it would maybe not get higher than a 4 elsewhere, I give it a 4 as is.
Story: 4 - Very Good
Art: 4 - Very Good
