The Walking Dead Volumes 15-17

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 15 (“We Find Ourselves”):  The titles are very reflective of the stories.  This volume collects issues 85-90.  Kirkman keeps the focus within the existing group.  A lot of character development in this volume.  Rick becomes a “man with a plan”.  It seems like Rick is on the path to become a Governor-style leader.  Readers of previous arcs know that this is not a good thing.

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 16 (“A Larger World”):  Issues 91-96. The best way to summarize without ruining the story is to say this is the volume where Jesus comes to town.  Rick is either smarter than everyone else or is going for a ride on the paranoid bus.  “A Larger World” is another great collection.  I’m running out of superlatives for Kirkman’s masterpiece.  Let’s just call this one “Rick has a field day”.  He is scaring me more with each story arc.

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 17 (“Something to Fear”):  After reading the first two chapters, I became very curious whether the “Something to Fear” is a group of outsiders or Rick.  Based on the recent arcs, I am starting to think that Carl is a ticking time bomb.  It would be impossible to grow up with what he has lived through and be a “normal” kid.  He is also patterning his behavior on his father’s and that is admittedly not the most stable example.  In the past if you had told me that a zombie comic would be one of my favorites, I would never have believed it.  This was one of the most disturbing arcs in this series.  Readers are in for a treat.  The world and the cast change with the next arc looking like an even more brutal one.  You don’t do what his enemies have done to Rick without suffering through a payback.  And we have seen Rick’s revenge in the past.  The next arc looks like a blood fest as Rick reacts to events in this one.