The Walking Dead, Volume 31: The Rotten Core

The series enters an awkward adolescence as we go from just killing zombies or other people to talking about politics, social movements, and even public transit. Hell, there is a short sequence of courtroom drama! There are also a million characters on hand as Rick takes the new Big Bad on a grand tour of all the existing city states in his domain. It's not a great volume, but I think the pivot is necessary at this point in the narrative.

Yes, this was a book designed to lull you before the sucker punch, and it did it's job. It's always interesting to watch Kirkman twist his characters into new shapes, using the same old motivations.

Well done.

I feel like we’ve been here before… After the first serious confrontation with the Governor (old one, not this new one) conflicts started to feel recycled.

There are plenty of good characters here, and that’s why I’ve stuck with the series, but I’ve never bought Rick as the ultimate leader. Honestly, he’s not that great at being in charge, not to mention he’s just an incredibly bland dude.

I do enjoy TWD, hence the 4/5 rating, but, nevertheless, I’m ready for all of this to end already.

Seriously... there are some scenes in there that are very similar to what's going on today - minus the zombies. Interesting volume. The Commonwealth is a tricky place. Someone significant met their maker in this issue (ironic, right?), which made me very happy. Knowing I have one last volume until there are no more WD issues kinda makes me sad.

I thought the new storyline introduced in volume 30 was kind of lame, but it turned out to be really good this issue. Lots of nice spreads, and the story moved along at a good pace. The ending really took me by surprise. Here’s hoping they keep up the momentum!

I felt like Rick was channeling the readers for much of this one. Really don't want another war with a cartoonish villain.

It's a bit annoying that I'm now up to date as it's gonna have a whole new volume to see the fruits of this one fully bloom. I guess I can be patient. Lots of good setup.