My only worry about this book is that Kirkman might be planning a full reboot at #50. I'm almost sure we're down to single digit survivors for the prison and it could drop even lower by the end of this arc. Read Full Review

While this issue didn't stun me, it did what it usually does: entertain. We've finally got the battle we've been waiting for and while this is only the first half, there's already plenty of ramifications in store for the survivors. It all happens so fast, too, that we're barely given time to mourn the loss of those who die. But in true fashion, Kirkman reminds us that this is a war, and there'll be time to mourn the dead later. Right now, it's a desperate fight for survival (for both sides) and we've gotta wait another month to see who lives. Argh! Read Full Review

The absolutely crushing, game-changing moment in this whole Governor arc came to its malevolent fulfillment when the Governor psychotically drove that tank through the fences. In that grim instance, the value of the prison as a safe haven from the horrors of the outside world was brutally stripped away. Without those fences, neither Rick’s group or the Governor’s can derive anything of significance from it. Few illustrations in fiction are more demonstrative of the utter senselessness of war. The more a prolonged engagement stretches on, the less rewards the winning side has to claim afterwards. In only a short time, both sides are playing a losing game. Lives are lost on both sides in the most meaningless of ways (poor Axel), and all of that bloodshed accomplishes nothing.

As the twilight of the prison falls upon Rick’s group, there are a couple of final moments in this era worthy of consideration. One of them is Lori’s rather confrontational and inflamed response to Tyreese’s death. I do not say this to condemn Lori (even though condemning Lori is something Walking Dead fans love to do), but to blame Rick for Tyreese’s death is the height of irrationality. Rick could never under any circumstance have saved Tyreese. If he had opened the gates for the Governor in order to “save” Tyreese, the Governor would’ve murdered everyone in that prison. Tyreese included. Rick by no means sanctioned Tyreese and Michonne’s ridiculously stupid mission. He was patently against it.

So why is Lori blaming Rick? To be honest, that question really bugs me. Most of the time, I can understand character motivations in this series pretty easily, but Lori’s reaction here tripped me up a bit. The only thing I can think of to explain Lori’s bizarre outburst is that on some level she still blames Rick for Shane’s death. Maybe her feelings for Shane were a little more legitimate than she cares to admit. Yes, Carl killed Shane, but Rick would have done so otherwise. As much as Lori may love Rick, maybe she is still dealing with unresolved feelings that never were really given their due. And nursing what may very well be Shane’s biological daughter probably does not help. Maybe that’s why she blames Rick for so much. Their issues likely go back to before the zombie apocalypse. Marital discord does not suddenly dissolve when the dead start walking. If anything, those issues are aggravated to new extremes.

Then there’s Carl, who seems to be growing increasingly desensitized to death. He barely laments Tyreese’s demise at all, and he has resigned himself to the bitter reality that everyone is going to die. Everyone. The interesting and bittersweet truth about children in the zombie apocalypse is that they adapt more quickly than adults do to the radically changing world around them. Carl has seen so many members of his group die horrific deaths, and his young mind has done the math. His desensitized state is certainly rather chilling and extraordinarily sad that one so young should lose his innocence in such a harrowing way. However, this hardened chrysalis that Carl has begun to wrap himself in is in the process of yielding a capable survivor. However, the danger in such a metamorphosis is that whatever emerges from it may run the risk of losing its humanity in the process. There are both functional and dysfunctional aspects to what Carl is experiencing, and too much dysfunction can undermine any other functional gains if great care is not taken.

I literally gasped at the end when a frantic Rick finds Lori and Judith being held at gunpoint by a mysterious assailant. Kirkman still knows how to drop those masterclass cliffhangers. And screw him for it! more