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REVIEW: ‘The Walking Dead #150′ is what a special/commemorative/anniversary issue should be

 
The Walking Dead #150 Regular Cover
The Walking Dead #150 Regular Cover
The Walking Dead #150 Regular Cover

 
Overview
 

Story by: Robert Kirkman
 
Art by: Charlie Adlard and Steffano Gaiudiano
 
Colors by: Cliff Rathburn
 
Publisher:
 
FG RATING
 
 
 
 
 
5/ 5


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To sum it all up..

NEVER AGAIN! If there is one thing you can admire with Robert Kirkman, it is his resolve to walk the talk in the comic industry. Once again, The Walking Dead #150 continues the creator’s appetite of expecting the unexpected storytelling tropes to sustain the readers’ attention, devotion, and naturally, hold on the never-ending struggles of […]

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Posted January 14, 2016 by

 
FULL REVIEW
 
 
The Walking Dead #150 Regular Cover

The Walking Dead #150 Regular Cover

NEVER AGAIN!

If there is one thing you can admire with Robert Kirkman, it is his resolve to walk the talk in the comic industry. Once again, The Walking Dead #150 continues the creator’s appetite of expecting the unexpected storytelling tropes to sustain the readers’ attention, devotion, and naturally, hold on the never-ending struggles of Rick Grimes and the rest of humanity.  True to its form, this issue has thirty-two pages of solid narrative, and with a very low price of $2.99! Take that, Marvel and DC! Plus, long-time illustrator, Charlie Adlard, remains at top of his artistic game despite the fact that he is way older than the writer himself! Plus, there are a couple of cover variants to choose from to commemorate this special issue. Simply put, The Walking Dead #150 is surely a sense-shattering read!

This is where Kirkman plays his writing skills to the optimum. He loves to build-up the emotional and psychological tensions of his major characters to the point of expecting one of them or two to end up, well, dead. Indeed, there are some casualties along the way, but it is best to read this one to see how good Robert of playing our emotional investment further to the grinder. Always an observant of the real-world, the creator illuminates the perils of being a leader, particularly when things get tougher by the second. Truly, The Walking Dead is a paradox in itself for it supposedly focuses on the undead but the true focal point is the frailties of humanity. We already know the latter, but the writer loves to twist more the proverbial expect the unexpected moments to greater heights without applying grotesque or sensationalized violence for the sake of being shocking the already tense ambiance presented in the last couple of issues. Moreover, the creator likes to display his perspectives of political leadership in the persona of Rick Grimes and to some extent, the still imprisoned Negan. Basically, the clash of morality (the black-and-white), modern (read: Machiavellian type) and realist (more of the mixture of the two ideas) types are neatly highlighted here while the main protagonist confronts another life-and-death situation. As a matter of fact, the writer ends up writing one of the best political speech delivery yet that presents the synthesis of the political thinking to which our foul-mouthed antagonist displays the ominous smile only Adlard can draw. To further spice up the narrative, Robert presents us Carl in his most mature role yet (but aesthetically done without going overboard) and the coming of another beloved character to make things more interesting in the upcoming story arc.   Even so, it is imperative for readers to read the letter column for clues whether or otherwise a major character would end up lifeless or so. Plus, it is really an engaging read of the creative team’s responses to the letter’s questions.

Charlie Adlard is consistently awesome! Bar none to that! There are no exaggerations here in terms of illustrating the interiors. He mostly maintains the conventional way of breaking down the script to paneling, some splashes, to a spread page. All of his splashes are minimalist but intricately done with the precision of the dedicated draftsman that highlighted the attention of details and the dynamism of the characters involve. The only messy parts are the grayish-colored blood, credited to colorist Cliff Rathburn, but interestingly, this one is executed with care and confidence to make some of the most brutal scenes here more grounded and even played a major role of fulfilling the story’s objective actually. Steffano Gaiudiano’s inks complement nicely with Adlard’s pencils to the degree of making the artist’s gritty art synchronizes more with the inker’s deft and intricate lines and some black and shadowy highlights.

Sure, there are potty words around, but Negan’s greatest literary asset is muted. In short, I miss Negan’s potty mouth. There are disturbing moments, as what to be expected in this long-running series. And, the unexpected punch is NOT what to be expected at all.

Regardless, The Walking Dead #150 is what a special/commemorative/anniversary issue should be: engaging, interesting, page-turner, and masterfully crafted. It is true that this one is tamed by comparisons to other commemorative issues, say issues #100 or #125, but the storytelling writing of Robert and the clean and minimalist illustrations of Charlie simply dominate this time around. Seriously, I can’t wait what the creative team has in store for the next arc.


Paul Ramos

 


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