Comic Review: The Walking Dead #182

The Walking Dead #182

Image Comics

Writer: Robert Kirkman

Artist: Charlie Adlard

Commonwealth Grows continues with this rather slow and dialogue-heavy chapter.

The issue follows Rick, Governor Milton, Mercer, and Co. as they visit the various settlements in Rick’s network. First on the list are the Saviours who are being led by John. John is seen lecturing a young boy on the importance of growing food and maintaining peace, as well as giving him some notes on Economy 101. It’s an interesting sight, and he serves as a great parallel to Negan and Sherri (to a degree).

The group then makes a quick stop at the Kingdom, before finally arriving at the Hilltop. Rick is surprised to see just how fast they’ve rebuilt as he expected it would take them years. Kirkman and Adlard treat us to a nice reunion between Rick and Maggie, and Rick and Carl before they all sit down and have a nice chat. What’s good

As mentioned, this issue is dialogue-heavy. Luckily, Kirkman is really good at dialogue. There are some cool moments, like the aforementioned reunions, and then some. There is an interesting conversation between Rick and Mercer, who is curious about the way the Alexandria network functions. Kirkman has been building up Mercer as a dutiful character loyal to Pamela, but it is obvious that he is not fully supportive of the way the Commonwealth is run. I’m interested in seeing how this plays out later in the story.

Adlard does a great job with his artwork. It’s nice, it’s clean, and there are some nice scenes like the Kingdom spread and Hilltop splash. However, the best aspect of his art is the facial expressions. You can easily distinguish every emotion on the characters’ faces. This really elevates the character interactions and makes the already great dialogues even better. The coloring is also great – it’s lively and vibrant… I’m just kidding, it’s still black and white, and it still looks really good. Adlard’s shading is well executed and there’s a lot of depth to every panel. What’s bad

Despite the great dialogue and some decent character work, the book feels aimless. That’s actually something that can be said of the Commonwealth story arc as a whole because, for now, it feels aimless. I was genuinely interested in this story when Michonne and Co. arrived at the Commonwealth, but so far it hasn’t offered anything worth mentioning beyond Michonne’s arc. There are hints here and there that something fishy might be going on, but it always ends up being nothing to worry about. The central conflict between Rick’s and Pamela’s worldviews is interesting, but I’m not sure the payoff will be noteworthy. Hopefully, I’m wrong. Verdict

Despite the really slow pace and the fact that the issue feels like classic filler material, it’s still an enjoyable read due to the fantastic dialogue and great art. Hopefully, Kirkman will reveal more of his cards so we can get a feeling as to where the story is actually going.