The Walking Dead, Volume 21: All Out War, Part Two

I don't think I'm a bloodthirsty person. At least, I'm not bloodthirsty for no reason. Do I appreciate stories of vengeance and just desserts? Why yes, I do. My husband may have commented on occasion that I appreciate them excessively.
And that's why I think this volume needed more bloodshed.
I don't think I can explain further the lowest rating I've ever given a Walking Dead comic without spoilers, so here goes.
I'm all for mercy and trying to turn things around. Rick didn't like what he was turning into. I get that. But starting with Negan? Seriously? The guy who beat Glenn to death with a club wrapped in barbed wire? And let's set aside the fact that vengeance needed to be poured on this guy's head like, I don't know, molten gold. show more What about the fallout of keeping him alive? You're going to put the psycho who has been terrorizing everyone in the world as you know it in prison? Because things are so stable, and you'll for sure be able to keep him there. You never have to relocate in a hurry or anything, so that should work out great. And during the time you actually succeed in keeping him imprisoned, I'm sure he'll spend his time pondering the error of his ways and wishing he could make amends. He won't be planning revenge or anything. On an unrelated note that's still a spoiler, what was with Carl and that "wimp" comment? I thought Negan might have gotten to him when he'd held him hostage, and somehow poisoned him against Rick, but if Carl wanted to kill Negan later, I don't know if that makes sense.
Of course I'll keep reading. It's one of my favorite graphic novel series. And this issue still had a lot of what I love in the series-tension, drama, action and gorgeous full-page spreads in just the right parts of the narrative. show less

One of the things I enjoy most about [b: The Walking Dead|6465707|The Walking Dead, Compendium 1|Robert Kirkman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1449865699s/6465707.jpg|6656179] as a series is just how often it allows characters to make mistakes. [a: Robert Kirkman|12425|Robert Kirkman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1238103316p2/12425.jpg] gives his characters ample leeway to be as human, or as inhuman, as people in power are apt to be. He allows them to create their own dictatorships or empires, their own kingdoms. He allows them to indulge in each carnal urge, and then reap the consequences they have sown. It's refreshing, and it allows for more storytelling experiments than I've come to expect in most comics. The Walking Dead show more shambles on, and the war does indeed end - for a time.

We had our massive spectacles of carnage with the war with The Governor - as is expected of Negan, he's a bit better than that. Negan's idea of covering the weapons in zombie gore to infect with the smallest scratch is nothing short of genius, an act of bio-terrorism that's enough to make my skin crawl. These sorts of details are fascinating in how much they horrify beyond the simple gore-fest of regular war. It's the intention that matters, and this volume plays upon the entire concept of intention masterfully.

We can choose to be better than we were before, and hopefully everyone understands that choice and why we made it.

It'll be interesting to see how the rebuilding plays out. show less

Loved this series so far, but it may be running out of space and steam for a focused story on what happens under the extreme situations as civilization dissolves. The Negan character ups the ante on the question of dealing with people obsessed with power, but Rick's decision as this story ends feels forced and frankly trite. The struggle for what makes us human needs deeper thought, and I fear Kirkman is being tempted with narrative distractions and using pointless trendy character quirks that take away from the central questions this story was attending to. At the end of this book, I was wondering less about what Rick will do, and more about whether Kirkman is running out of anything significant to say.

I've put off continuing to read The Walking Dead series because it seems to have run out of ideas. There's only so many times you can read about the survivors of the zombie apocalypse fighting one another to the death. And the current villain Negan has really run his course.

So thankfully this volume has some good things to offer as Negan is finally defeated. This volume is also very slender, so at least the "all out war" isn't drawn out. Actually, Rick's big speech about how they've learned to live with the constant threat of the dead around them and now it's time to stop fighting and work toward rebuilding society seems to be a commentary on the comics series itself. It seems to me that a story about the survivors facing the challenge show more of rebuilding without relying on the easy plot of the violent antagonist (whether it be from outside or within the group) is an interesting story to tell. Now let's see if Kirkman and co. can do it. show less

I still love this story. Almost every issue brings some sort of dysfunction or terror to the group. Negan is my favorite character to hate. I love his dialog.

The Good: The war ends in a surprising twist not everyone will love. I'm not sure I love it, really, except that it's surprising and 21 volumes in, surprising is always good. Negan facilitates a few surprises of his own, chiefly bringing some good, old fashioned biological warfare into the mix. More than anything, the best thing about this volume and the war being over is that we are left with more than one community to build from. The future of The Walking Dead has something it has never had before, a real society - beyond a small community of a few of Rick's people. Varied towns where things don't work exactly the same. Society will have the ability to finally, really begin rebuilding into something normal.

The Bad: Not a thing.

One word, anticlimatic.

I kept holding my breath for the shock moment that just never came. I was almost certain that one of the major characters would die, but I was wrong.

I am majorly disappointed by this one, it was too unbelievable namely, Rick gives a speech to Negan about community and working together and Negan actually agrees. Isn't Negan supposed to be a psycho? Suddenly a little speech makes him change his mind completely?! It was too out of character for him it didn't make any sense. But what made the least sense was Rick deciding to spare his life and imprison him. What the hell? I get Ricks vision of the future but they aren't there yet. Capital punishment is one of the only ways to keep order in those kind of circumstances. show more I just disagreed entirely. Maggie also commented that she thought that Glenn would have agreed. Uh Maggie? He beat Glenn to death - I think Glenn would have shot him in the face. Also Carl looks a bit like Maggie, it's really weird. The artwork definitely isn't the best IMO.

So disappointed but it had some redeeming moments too, Negan was great up until the end, and I just love Jesus. He is so badass. show less