The Walking Dead Vol. 4 Hardcover for $21.59
This volume does so much right, but a fair bit wrong, making it difficult to judge. Is it still a compelling read? Checking my review is one way to find out.
This volume starts off a bit more relaxed than you’re used to. After the events of the last graphic novel, the reader and the characters deserve a light break. It’s nice to see the characters in situations where they aren’t concerned about death every few minutes. As you advance through the story, the tension starts building again. A pregnancy is coming to term, a dangerous lunatic wants to find the prison, it’s a dangerous time for the characters.
Before you know it, you’re up to what might be the most pivotal moment in the series. The lunatic mayor brings his forces to bear against the prison. What they had considered their home is now under assault, characters die, things won’t be the same again. On one hand, it’s gripping stuff. You’ve grown to like some of these characters and you know this isn’t like a zombie assault, some of them simply won’t make it. On the other hand, the mayor is ridiculous and bordering the line of supervillainy, which feels awkward in this series.
It’s a recurring theme in most zombie literature that man is often more deadly than zombie in the post apocalyptic world and that’s what the latter half of this graphic novel is all about. It’s a good theme, but the actions of the mayor in the last volume and in this one felt like a bit of a shift in the series. I’ll say straight up that while I like the concept of the sadistic mayor, the actual execution was lacking. Whenever he’s in it, I don’t enjoy the series as much as normal.
3.5/5. While I have read considerably more of the series, I’ll be stopping the Walking Dead reviews at this graphic novel for now. There’s so many comics to review that a month of the Walking Dead is more than enough!
