I've decided to stop reading "The Walking Dead".(Poss. Spoilers)

[Big Dick McGee]

I read issue #83 last night. The way it ended was cheap, and depressing, and shows that Kirkman really doesn't have any idea where the series is headed. At least when Rick & Co. were all following the "scientist" who claimed that D.C. had a cure, the plot had momentum. But now it's gotten stale and tiresome and, I reiterate, depressing.

Spoiler

I'm sure there will be tons of comic fans who will think it's "cool" and "edgy" that Carl got shot and may lose an eye or even die. Many will say, "See! Kirkman is showing what it would really be like! Anyone can die!" Well, yeah, but hitting us over the head with a "shocking" death becomes less effective when it happens so often. Again, it feels like he's out of ideas so he'll just kill off a major character to see where it will lead him. IF Carl dies, then he'd damn well better have Rick kill himself pretty soon after. Speaking as a Father, if your wife and BOTH kids were killed, there would be NO reason to go on. That's why the Morgan storyline felt false to me as well. There's no way he wouldn't have sucked on a shotgun.

So, yeah, I see no point in reading the book any longer.

 

[Big Dick McGee]

That's weird...why is there a circular link in my post? Did I use some weird UBB code??

 

[Cassie]

It happens all the time now, something MENTALTITS did.

 

[CaptainWacky]

The series has NEVER had an overall direction beyond "a group of people trying to survive in a zombie wasteland. That's how it's always been and it's awesome for it.

I don't see how the latest moment was anymore "cheap and depressing" than...

Spoiler

Lori and the baby being blown away, the evil twin murdering his brother, Karl murdering the evil twin or any number of other moments.

And please don't say "if you were a father you'd understand." You've read the comic long enough to know what it's like...

Personally I thought it was a great issue and after 83 of them it's great that Kirkman can still shock us. I can't wait to see what happens next and where Rick goes from here (even if it is to the grave.)

 

[Yub]

I concur with the Captain. Personally I think it an excellent comic.

 

[Donovan]

BDM, go to the website Comic Book Resources - Daily Comic Book News, Previews, Reviews, Commentary and Message Boards and look for interviews with Robert Kirkman. His recent stuff indicates he does have a plan for the future of the series, but like it has been all along it's a dark one. Paraphrasing, he plans to continue to put Rick through the wringer and drive him into the depths of madness. TWD has never been a touchy-feely good time, and I think I remember Kirkman saying once the title refers to the survivors, not the zombies.

I might point out that your anger at what happened in the last issue only underscores just how well-written the story continues to be. When's the last time you cared so much about a fictional set of characters after this many twists and turns and issues? Kirkman's got a decade of stories under his belt about just this one guy and his immediate group. No handoffs, no substitute scripters, no committee of underpaid staff writers, just Robert Kirkman. That's pretty damn impressive. Even the original Image guys didn't manage that...

I'll keep reading, only because there is a place for tragedy in the world of literature and in the era of the "hollywood ending" it's almost been forgotten. But I'll remind everyone that in Hamlet, everyone dies.

 

[Yub]

I was gonna write something like that, but you surpassed whatever I would've typed out. Now, dare I spoil myself reading those Kirkman interviews.....decisions, decisions...

 

[Big Dick McGee]

I'm not angry with the series, I'm bored. I tend to read a bunch of them in one sitting, and I can see that he basically repeats himself time and time again. I'll check out the interviews, but I think without some "end point" the series could go on for years and years with the characters just aimlessly wandering around. I mean, there's a reason that zombie movies eventually end; it gets boring seeing the characters in the same situations time and time again.

 

[CaptainWacky]

But it's not all the same: the characters continue to grow and change and lose body parts.