Comic of the Week: Walking Dead #169: Lines We Cross

This week I will taking a look at the latest issue of Walking Dead. This is a series that I have been following not just on the small screen but in both literary and comic book form since its onset. For a series that has been around for nearly fourteen years(fourteenth anniversary will be in October) that it would start to at some point drag or begin to suffer from age. This series has seen some very hard to replace villains like the Governor, Shane, Alpha, and of course Negan, so you would think at this point in its run that maybe Walking Dead may be running out of road to travel with its story.

You would be dead wrong with that assumption as Robert Kirkman has time and again delivered with the high standard that the Walking Dead comic series has maintained over the years. Now once again major pieces are being moved about the board as in the last few issues we have seen the death of a major character that has been around since nearly the beginning, and one of the series most polarizing characters in Negan thrust back into the center of the plot.

(Potential Spoilers Ahead)

The last few issues have dealt mainly with the death of Andrea and the impact it has had on Rick, and the Alexandrians, not only that it has also dealt with the ripple effects of the death of Sherry, and the remaining Saviors wanting to avenge her death as well. Negan being free now and the knowledge of him being freed by Rick will also play a larger impact as Maggie finds out and will clearly be looking for revenge for Glenn. With so much that has happened in this series it is amazing to see Kirkman connect dots and reference back to plot points from much earlier in the series. Glenn’s death even though it is much more recent on the show has come and gone years ago in the comic series. To go back to that in Walking Dead does not feel like digging for material it is just the obvious issue that would arise from Rick freeing Negan and letting him back into the world, someone is going to want revenge for the brutal things Negan has done.

Robert Kirkman is a phenomenal writer, and this current issue drives home the point as he brings back old plot points (Glenn’s death) while at the same time pushing the plot forward by introducing new elements that require the survivors attention. The writing never gets clunky and in my opinion the writing on the actual comic book series is far better than the TV series.

Charlie Adlard’s artwork is typically fantastic considering what he has to work with. He sets the standard for black and white artwork in comics as scenes are always incredibly well detailed and you never find yourself struggling to figure out which character is which in his panels.

Walking Dead is always a must read for myself, and if you are a fan of the series do not hesitate to pick it up, because I cannot wait to see where the survivors go from here.