This week brought us an anniversary issue of great magnitude, The Walking Dead #100. This issue shipped with a bevy of multiple covers from many great artists including Todd McFarlane, Ryan Ottley, Frank Quitely,and many others. This book has been at the top of my list of favorite comics since it was released back in October 2003 and has not really disappointed me very much over the years.
Issue #100 gives us the conclusion to the Something to Fear storyline that started back in issue #97. I have to say it was the most shocking issue yet. Just as our little group of survivors were starting to get the feel of a semi-normal life again, a mysterious stranger named Jesus shows up and tells them that there is more out there. Rick, ever the optimist, binds up Jesus and has him lead him and a small group to the community of Hilltop. There, they find a society bigger than most thought was still out there in the world.
The group is torn between joining the group on the Hilltop or keep their own little community growing. It is also revealed that there is another group out there led by a man named Negan. I don’t think the word evil does him justice. It turns out that Negan and his group has been taking a percentage of Hilltop’s rations in exchange for ‘protection.’ Rick decides, quite hastily I think, to help Hilltop out with their problem in exchange for the rations they were giving Negan and his group. The feeling of dread starts to build at this point in the storyline and Rick’s actions start a chain of events that lead into issue #100.
I will try not to spoil anything, but I will say a long time fan-favorite character meets a grisly demise. Robert Kirkman, I think, is at the top of his game with this issue. Previous issues have left me in shock at the end, but this one left me feeling like someone stuck a knife in my gut and started twisting it. Charlie Adlard’s art work is as great as it has always been and he did an amazing job showing the brutality of the death of the beloved character. All in all I can’t wait to see what Kirkman and Company have in store for us with the future of The Walking Dead.