Now that I'm done rubbing it in, I can actually talk about the issue. With the possible exception of Brian K. Vaughan, Kirkman has developed an unparalleled ability to use the various unique advantages of serialized storytelling - most notably the cliffhanger - as a means to toy with his reader's expectations. After ending last issue with a reveal that seemed to promise the onset of the massive conflict we've been awaiting to see for months now, Kirkman pulls the rug out from under us this month and gives us an entire issue detailing how this series' most vile and repugnant villain lived to torment Rick and the gang another day. Even though he's on the cover of this issue, I'll hold off on mentioning his name as an apologetic gesture to you trade-waiters, but suffice it to say, Kirkman manages to make this character even more wonderfully demented than before. With the way this series is headed, it's a damn good time to be a monthly Walking Dead reader. Read Full Review

After enduring several issues wondering whatever happened to that Governor bloke, the curtain to that mystery is finally pulled all the way back in this jarringly dark installment.

“There is evil in this world—and not all of it is in the form of those undead monsters clawing at our fences.”

The Governor’s words ring undeniably true, but little do the deceived citizens of Woodbury realize that the evil his words are describing apply to himself. He is the monster in their midst. He is the evil one. He is the walking dead. We have seen our other protagonist Rick Grimes make some morally questionable decisions (though it turns out he did not make the wrong call on Martinez after all) on his journey from the coma to the prison, but nearly all of those choices were made out of necessity or to protect those he cared about. And perhaps most importantly, those moral decisions weighed heavily on Rick. Not so with the Governor. He ENJOYS the barbarity. Whether he is fueling the Woodbury residents’ collective bloodlust with the fighting arena or plotting to decimate his foes with a tank, he is always the consummate artist with nothing but blood and gore on his pallet. The broken world inspires him to channel every base desire into achieving his purely selfish ends. Whereas Rick occasionally commits questionable acts while wrestling with the moral ramifications, the Governor rejects any concept of morality whatsoever.

If you are a Walking Dead comic fan and want to delve more deeply into how the Governor came to be, definitely check out Jay Bonansinga’s Governor-oriented novels. Kirkman was involved in plotting their narratives, so their information is undoubtedly canon. There is A LOT to the Governor’s backstory that the comics do not reveal. Not everything is as it seems with him, and unraveling the multilayered mystery of how one decent man erodes away to become the Governor is quite the compelling treat. The comics are also much more impactful when one understands who the Governor really is and what transpired to make him the monster he ultimately becomes.

We have traced the narrative arc of Rick Grimes. We have traced the narrative arc of the Governor (even more so if one has read the novels). Now those arcs are coming to an explosive head, and both protagonists will never be the same. There will be blood. There will be loss. There will be war. There will be a most compelling reason to pick up the next issue ASAP! more