Right - I'll come out and say it. I wanted to give this book a 5. But - after I read it, and thought 'hell yeah', I remembered a couple of comments made by the guys in the comic book store.
"I thought it was a bit too much of a change of pace, from the past few issues. Could have been better."
This got me thinking.
I'll warn you now - this review isn't going to have any spoilers in it - it's just going to be some thoughts around issue 49, and where the book could be going in the future. So, having said that, there might be spoilers in here after all.
All by pure chance mind.
***MAJOR SPOILERS - POSSIBLY - ON THE OFF-CHANCE I'M RIGHT WITH ANY OF MY WILD GUESSES***
So here's the thing. The Walking Dead is consistently the best book I read every month, with no exception. I've been reading it since the late 20s (I can't remember exactly which issue - I know, I know) and off the top of my head, I really can't remember a bad book in its entire run.
And perhaps these opinions make me a little predisposed towards the comic.
Having said all those good words about the book - there is however a 'bad' point that springs to mind. Although it's one that was corrected a long time ago - Tony Moore's artwork. I much prefer Charlie Adlard's gritty artwork to Tony Moore's stylistic work in the first 7 issues.
But that's the only thing I can think of - and its really more of a personal preference than a bad point. And to be fair to him - Tony Moore's work is fantastic outside of The Walking Dead. Just not my cup of tea.
Now, because it's fairly obvious that I'm a teeny bit swayed towards the book, I decided that I needed a good mull over about how I see The Walking Dead, before giving my verdict on issue 49.
If I'm honest, I didn't do much of this. Instead I found myself thinking about the book's future, probably because of the interesting question looming over it currently. Not a question of 'will the book go on', but a different question that you'll already know and be asking fellow Kirk-fans about if you pickup the book consistently.
"Will Rick (The Walking Dead's main character) die?"
Well, throwing my ten pence into the arguement, I'm going to say yes.
I think Rick will die before the end of this series. In fact, I'm feeling pretty damn certain of it. And why?
Because Robert Kirkman is one of those rare breeds of writers.
He's a comic book writer with massive balls. I honestly think that he'd kill a main character off in any of his books, if it meant a better story for the reader.
Now, having said that Rick is a goner - I'd be surprised if he dies anytime soon (which, thinking about it, perhaps makes it all the more likely), instead, I'll be pitching my bet towards a death either in the final issue, or around the 100 mark.
But anyway, I digress.
Long story short - after lots of thoughts over Rick, the unexpected deaths in issue 48, and who might be next for the chopping block - I came to the conclusion that I could be in danger of being a little 'generous' with the reviewing of issue 49. Perhaps I'd end up over-emphasising how good it is, talking too much about the script by Robert Kirkman (especially in light of the above), or Charlie Adlard's top notch artwork.
So instead, I decided to be realistic, and rate the issue on how it stacks up to the other books I've recently reviewed. And after doing that...
Pete's Score: 4 out of 5
(Is Rick a goner? Leave a comment below to let me know to let me know what you think!)
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