The Walking Dead, Volume 16: A Larger World

On the road again...

How do you learn to trust again when the human enemy is proving itself to be far more dangerous than the dead? How can you bring yourself to believe that trading with another tribe will be safe, that the danger of another walled city is in not taking the trade agreement rather than taking it? How desperate must you be to trust? Or how paranoid not to? These are the main thrust of this issue, and what an interesting issue it is.

People can all experience the same thing but see it in different ways. Is wanting a new civilization, a new life without fear naive? Foolish? Visionary? Is there a way to think of the future, and not simply live in the moment, terrified of all the threats that lie ahead?

So many questions, and show more so much fun moving forward. What will come next? And just how terrifying could Negan be? show less

The Walking Dead, Volume 16: A Larger World by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn, et al. - This ongoing graphic-novel serial about a band of survivors struggling to live in a world dominated (and decimated) by Zombies just keeps going. In volume 16, Rick and his group are running low on supplies and food. They encounter a stranger named Jesus who wants them to join his large fortified community, which has plenty of food and other supplies. Of course Rick does not trust him and keeps him tied up and confined. However, Jesus finally convinces Rick to visit his compound with a few others from Rick’s community. Rick is skeptical, but he sees some advantages to joining the larger compound. Of course, there are attacks from show more Zombies and Rick displays his Zombie-killing skills, which impresses the leader of the new compound. Rick is faced with a monumental decision although he still displays distrust about the proposal because he perceives disharmony among the larger community. However, he also believes his weary band of survivors might benefit from the union. I enjoyed this installment very much. show less

This is another of the "slower" volumes in the series. There is a little action, there is more character development. I wouldn't like it as much, but they broaden the world that our fearless little group lives in by quite a bit, and I liked it. I'm not sure how our intrepid little zombie-survival band will ultimately fare with the new survivors they've met, but I'm interested to see the next development.

This series just continues to amaze me. The creative team continues to mine the depths of the human condition against a backdrop of a zombie apocalypse. In this particular edition, we're brought new hope for the band of survivors. Yeah, can't think that'll last too long.

Kirkman manages to insert needed energy into a series that has been concentrating on character for a while, whilst they acclimatise to relative safety. As usual its a new direction not a rehash. More and more this comic is about exploration of apocalypse survival and less about eating brains and I love it. Long may it continue.

Okay, I read several of these volumes yesterday all in a row, but I'm going to try to put a little review on each one :) In this one, I got a little annoyed at Rick, but let's be honest, all the hell he's been through, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he's a bit paranoid. I think what really threw me off was his sudden change of heart. It seemed really out of the blue. I get that it moved the story along, but still. I did like how everyone had a different view of the Hilltop and once it was pointed out it was easy to see :) And it's nice to know that there are decent people still out in the world. Even if they are idiots :P

I can see the need to expand the story, and when starting up a new arc there is nothing to be done but a bunch of exposition, but this volume was particularly heavy on the set-up and light on the pay off. In addition, the dialogue was hokier than usual and the drawing often seemed a little sloppy. Here is hoping for a return to form in Volume 17!

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-walking-dead-volume-16-larger-world.ht... ]