The Walking Dead Fan Club

Ok,so I got this issue a day earlier than usual,and what an issue!Charlies artwork was on top form as usual and Kirkmans writing keeps getting better.Big things lay ahead for Team Grimes....

-Abe and Rick discuss their opinions of Aaron and if they can trust him

-The group reach the outskirts of DC and stop so as Aaron puts it "You people can stop and take a peek" as they wont be going into the city as it is too dangerous .Rick points out that this "Safezone" of theirs is dangerously close to infested Washington,but is told by Aaron that they have taken precautions and are completley safe

-Seeing a flare go up over the city,Aaron informs Rick that is a member of their "Runners" who has gotten into trouble and needs help.Rick,Abe and Aaron head off in the van into downtown DC to help.

-And boy is DC fucked!If you thought Atlanta was bad,you aint seen nothing yet.According to Aaron its just the tip of the Iceberg too.

-They find the Runners,two guys called Heath and Scott in an alleyway.Scott has fallen while jumping a building and broken his leg.Rick comments that he is screwed with such and injury,but Aaron quashes his fears by telling him there are two doctors and a surgeon at the safezone.

-After getting Scott in the van,Abe and Heath take the runners bikes while Rick and Aaron drive the van.The group get surrounded,but are saved by a pickup truck carrying 4 men armed with rifles.This group is also from the Safezone and with theyre help,escape the city.

-The two groups meet back up and continue on to the safezone,which looks awsome!

man I can't wait to read this...i like the action.

I loved it!  The action was great and it was about time to get some machine gun spray and dead (er) zombies.  Seeing Washington was a sight.  I had a little trouble with the art this issue--telling what was going on.  But that's a minor compalant.  I love the itro of new characters and some as tough as old Abe.  I love seeing ex-military (?) guys in the book.  And the safezone looks aokay but i'm sure that will change as time goes by.  I'm happy to hear they may be staying there longer than the prison.  Lots of opportunities for some good old fashoined soap opera.  And subplots.  I do wish there was more behind the scenes stuff in the back.   I'm tiring of the five page preview of comics I have little to no interest in.  I'd rather see sketchbook material, longer letter columns, interviews, cast lists, etc.  Something akin to wjhat Larsen does with the Dragon.  He adds material from cover to cover.  But i'm sure , Kirman is a busy man nowadays.  Fast read but I'm sure future issues will make up for that.  Solid 8 out of 10 for this issue.  A lot of that goes for the cover.

i enjoyed the heck out o this issue.  i haven't seen that much zombie carnage for over a year.  i hope we get to see our bandits more often make their runs into the city.  it s not something we've goten to see alot of until now.  i wonder how rick and crew got their van around in those bottlenecked streets.  i can't wait for the new characters.  i already love aaron and i have a feeling i will like his partner as well.  gay guys are always nicer anyways.  kidding.  mostly.

i do think it was a quick read for a month and two week wait but maybe the next issue wil come out on time and i can get caught up on my zombie goodness.

what a great issue. one of the best in a long time. from the cover, to the interiors, to the writing. my hats are off to kirkman, adlard and rathburn again. i couldn't help but notice on page 3, panel 4, that right there in black and white, were the signs on 695 (baltimore beltway) that i have passed under almost daily for the past 32 years. here's a pic from the web...

ha ha ha that is awesome...you should go looking for the safe zone it is obviously somewhere near ya.

Its nice to see they are doing their research even when only a hand full of us would notice.  I had to take them at their word.

Very cool issue!  Thats badass that there using real road signs and everything. Very authentic!

Loved this issue, but now I can't wait for them to make it to the safezone. I want to get to know all of these new characters and see how the interact with our old favourites.

yeah, that's real cool.  i noticed they had another set of signs on page 2, panel 3 from I-70 where 270 and 15 exit, somewhere around Fredrick, MD.  It's a peculiar way to get to DC, but it works.  My guess is that they came down 70 to the 695 beltway and then hit the BW Pkwy into DC.    i thought team grimes was further south in VA but who knows.

here's the pic of the other signs.  notice the water tower in the background, charlie managed to work that into the art as well. 

You know I wonder if our good friend ricks stump is helping them with this? He has been busy an awol as of late so????

here's the last one... the spread on pages 4 & 5. Route 50 into DC

damn dude that is crazy....I wonder if stump might be helping them or maybe he is working on something else on adult swim.

my only complaint with this issue is that it seemed to end abruptly, due to the Choker preview.  with that aside, Charlie's art absolutely blew me away.  From one of my favorite pieces finally being used for a cover, to the accurate highway signs, to our first glimpse of DC on the pgs 8-9 spread- i was floored.  i hope to hell that future issues will have some DC landmarks in them -the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, etc.  Can you imagine running around the Air and Space Museum in a post apocalyptic zombie filled society?  One of you DC chaps should see if Charlie would like any photos he could work with (Charlie's still lives abroad, right?  wrong?)  ok, i'm getting carried away here.  Short version, one of my fave issues in this series.

Let's not forget Cliff, too.  With all of the gray tones in this issue, he really had his work cut out for him, and he hit it out of the park.

The Andrea/Rick conversation confused me a bit, in a good way.  I just figured she's one of the "sleep with one eye open/trust no one" types until the bitter end.  Maybe she's finally wearing out.  It's intriguing. 

I hope they take full advantage of the landmarks.  There are so many places to rediscover in the upcoming issues and since Charlie is going the extra mile to portray Washington accurately, i'm even more excited.  I love roadtrip movies.  I always wished that when our group were making their venture, we would see more real landmarks.  This adds so much to the realism of the title.  If, and when, we leave Washington, I hope this practice is continued to be utilized.  There are a lot of interesting places in the world for the team to visit post-damnation.  It sure beats empty streets that could exist anywhere.  Kudos to Charlie and Kirkman if he recommended it.

i agree with moogley it makes it feel more real I guess seeing atcual landmarks. REally cool.