Anyone who reads my work knows I haven’t been a fan of The Walking Dead since issue #100. Truth be told, I had lost interest in the series well before that, but hung on because I was hoping things would turn around. It hasn’t. Starting with the introduction of Negan, quite possibly the worst villain in recent comic book memory, and the unbelievably shallow death of Glenn, Walking Dead quickly became little more than an excuse for violence without reason or story.
I want to step back from all that and really try to understand the point of “All Out War.” Negan arrived in issue #100, and 22 issues later he’s still the focal point. 22 issues is approximately two years. For two years, nobody reading Walking Dead has had anything go on except for Negan. Issue #122 is only the eighth part of a 12-part series. For some reason, writer Robert Kirkman decided there needed to be a 12-part series dealing with Negan. After 10 issues already dealing with this guy, there needed to be a 12-part series about him?
How does this tie into Walking Dead #122? Well, it’s all about the massive amount of time (and money) Kirkman and crew are wasting with this story. Why couldn’t “All Out War” have happened right after issue #100? There needed to be more time on Negan raping women? Did Kirkman really need to introduce another camp where the guy owns a tiger? What’s the end game here besides filler? Issue #122 is complete filler, another unnecessary issue to pad out another long-winded and mostly pointless battle.
Rick Grimes’ group is bedding down for the night. That’s about it. Rick and Andrea speaking sweet nothings as Andrea keeps watch from the fence line. Ezekiel has a long confession towards Michonne about his behavior. Heath getting bandaged up after losing a leg, all the folks from Ezekiel’s crew shows up so they can all band together against Negan’s attack. Outside of the “how’s everybody doing” scenes, we are afforded Negan dirtying his baseball bat Lucille up against the skulls of Walkers so if the barbed wire cuts anybody they are infected, which makes no sense since everyone is already infected. In the end, Rick and the gang hope to be ready when Negan attacks in a few days. Oh wait, Negan is standing at the top of the hill and ready to attack at sunrise.
Inherently, there is nothing wrong with issues like these. They can often allow the action some breathing room so it doesn’t become overbearing. The same would have been true with Walking Dead, if this wasn’t the 22nd issue dealing with the same exact villain in much the same way. Even the Governor, who was a much more exciting character, only got 21 issues, and this arc still has four issues left. When you’re pushing two years on the same arc, with no variation to it, any filler issue becomes an even bigger albatross.
And, as always, I still hate the art.
(2 Story, 2 Art)
