The Walking Dead, Volume 28: A Certain Doom

This was a surprisingly emotional volume.

Every now and then (well, actually far more than that) characters die in The Walking Dead. Normally it's to be a bit expected, and not that huge a surprise. This one wasn't exactly shocking, but man was it emotional in the way everyone handled it. It proved to be a climax of the story, and from there it all wound down into what amounts to an incredibly uncertain future.

What I love about these books is how experimental they are in the story telling. Yes, there is a thread through it all, but the arcs thus far are anything but repetitive. There's a great amount of growth in them, and in the characters themselves. There's room for change, and that's enough to keep me reading it until it eventually show more shambles on into its grave.

This volume was great, especially for such a long running series.

Already got the next one on hold. show less

Fine, play the part of the uptight guy at the dick-sucking contest and keep your fucking mouth shut.

I honestly had to pause in order to tell this joke to my mom. It’s our new favorite now, courtesy of Negan.

Speaking of which, I am so unsettled by Negan’s heel-face turn I’m sure it’s going to bite Rick in the ass and take at least one cheek in the process. Tensely waiting until then.

Rick and the rest of the survivors fight off a horde they think was directed their way by the Whisperers....but was it? Negan ends up saving the day....again. What's his endgame? And in the end the group suffers a great, great loss.

Ouch.....so long, Andrea. I sometimes forget that she's in the comics since she's been gone for so long on the TV show, but I did feel everyone's pain. I really liked the point she made that her death was not a total loss, because she is dying in bed surrounded by her loved ones, and Rick made that possible. I noticed Michonne and Rick looking at each other after Andrea's death.... are they being set up together now that their significant others are both gone? That would be interesting. They are a great pair show more on the TV show, I wonder if Kirkman likes that direction better. show less

A lot of action and a major character death, but it still fell a little flat for me. Having just binged the frustrating last TV season, maybe I'm experiencing some Walking Dead burnout.

I want to rate this volume higher. It had a lot of action, some character development, some twists. It played with panel layout and had some great lines. A few things genuinely surprised me.

However, when you kill someone, and have that very character spout lines like "I'm not special, anyone can die." it breaks me out of the story because it comes off as the author going "See? See what I did? Aren't you shocked? Aren't you surprised? No one has plot armor! I am unpredictable! What a wild ride!" Except, I wasn't at all shocked. It seems like Kirkman is dipping into the same well time and again. While I appreciate the increase in scope the 'ocean of the dead'n represented, the series is feeling more and more like an ouroboros, repeating show more the same cycle of Challenge Rick's authority -> Get smacked down -> Have a big threat rear up -> Rick stops threat against all odds, securing loyalty temporarily -> A new challenger approaches. show less

There’s something lacking in recent volumes, but I’m glad at least there were real stakes this time I think they even addressed that in the dialogue when characters were saying ‘We don’t die.’
I’m interested in what’s happening with Negan, but not sure about taking his behavior at face value, or even if I do, if I can ever root for him. Kirkman’s dong a nice job keeping the reader guessing about Negan’s motivation.
Lots of great spreads this issue, and I still look forward to the next installment.

Negan has some great f-ing lines in this issue. We lost an important character at this point and if you are wondering if Rick Motherf-ing Grimes and Negan will work together or kill each other, you will just have to read it your motherf-ing self.