Pick of the Week

July 11, 2012 – The Walking Dead #100

What did the
iFanboy
community think?

652
Pulls
Avg Rating: 4.6
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 26.7%
 
Users who pulled this comic:
Story by Robert Kirkman
Art by Charlie Adlard & Cliff Rathburn
Cover by Charlie Adlard

Size: 30 pages
Price: 3.99

Seems appropriate as I sit here in my hotel room in San Diego, on the eve of the world’s largest comic book convention, the San Diego Comic-Con, a show where over the past two years, The Walking Dead has become a force to be reckoned with, that I would be selecting The Walking Dead #100 as Pick of the Week. As we get inundated with marketing materials for TV shows, video games, movies, and everything in between, it’s become a troubling state at Comic-Con, where comics are less of a focus. In the sea of noise that is generated at Comic-Con, some comics are able to break through and get noticed and The Walking Dead has earned a place on that short list.

But this review isn’t about Comic-Con, or what comics get noticed at Comic-Con, that’s just the coincidence. No, this review is for one what has been one of the most consistent comic books published in the last decade. Month in and month out, Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard deliver a new issue which continues to chronicle the world post-zombies in a way that is intriguing, entertaining, and horrifying all at the same time. Today, they’ve done it for the 100th time, and boy did they deliver the goods with this issue.

Astute readers and listeners to our show may remember that I have not been reading The Walking Dead in issues format. I started reading in hardcovers and have remained fairly loyal to that format. The drawback of that is that I’m tragically behind the story and constantly yelling at people not to spoil it for me. With issue #100 approaching, I took it upon myself to catch up and bridge the gap from the last hardcover up to issue #100. While I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it in hardcover format and have marveled at how Kirkman and Adlard have been able to manage the pacing to make it not feel like a collection of issues, I have to give them credit for making the issue reading work just as effectively.  As we look at great runs on comic books, Kirkman and Adlard will go down in history, not only for their longevity, but for their mastery of the formats and how they’ve made this book so accessible to readers.

For issue #100, the folks at Image Comics and Skybound have decided to celebrate it with 15 variant covers, from some of the industry’s finest artists. But that’s just the pretty (or gruesome) wrapping around what is a milestone issue. Now, we all know about the great spoiler ban on The Walking Dead, so I won’t be discussing what happens in the issue itself… but man… it’s disturbing. It’s screwed up. It made me pause and put the book down for a minute. I shouldn’t be surprised because we’ve seen screwed up things happen in The Walking Dead, so it’s nothing new conceptually. But somehow, Kirkman an Adlard are able to take the story to places that keep the ball rolling, keep the stakes high and sometimes, people pay the price for it. And boy did someone pay the price for it in this issue. Wow.

A special bravo is deserved for Charlie Adlard who is able to take the twisted events that Kirkman dreams up and makes them a reality in his art. Sometimes it’s as subtle as quiet moment among two people in love and sometimes it’s… well, the screwed up thing that happened at the end of this issue. Adlard’s style is clean and consistent, but when he needs to dial up the disturbing, he gets it done.

Congratulations to Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and the rest of the team on The Walking Dead for reaching a milestone of 100 issues of a creator owned book that has become a media empire. But most importantly, congratulations for putting out a 100th issue that is as solid of a comic book as they come. Throughout all the attention with the TV show adaptation, the video games and all the other distractions built into success, Kirkman and Adlard have continued to keep the focus on the comic book and reward the loyal readers with the keystone of which everything is built on.

And man… it’s disturbing and unsettling, and yet even after 100 issues, I can’t wait for more.

Ron Richards
SDCC — the one time a year we accept a shorter review. Back to the mayhem!
ron@ifanboy.com

Comments

  1. This was one of the only times that a book has made me physically ill. Not from gore, just the way the situation disturbed me. I agree with that the book can still surprise and unsettle 100 issues in. My only complaint is the main antagonist feels a bit like a character we’ve seen before, but not as interesting, yet I can’t wait to see where it goes.

    • What disturbed me about Negan is that he didn’t do the things the governor did. He didn’t come out of the gate swinging. He gave Rick a chance, Rick acted tough, and Negan proved he wasn’t to be f’d with. If it had been the governor it would have been much more over the top and less well thought out. He seemed so much more in control, calm, and collected than any other villain they’ve faced, and THAT is what makes me terrified of what we will see over the next year or two.

      This was his introduction, there’s a whole lot of pain ahead.

  2. I agree 100% I have never felt such angst while reading a book. What made it hurt so much more was that after the last issue, I spent a few weeks preparing myself for what I thought would be the worst. And, this issue, no big list of casualties, no massive destruction of buildings, none of that, just one simple, brutal act of violence that I did not see coming. I don’t know what’s worse, what happened, or what I am sure is coming down the road.

  3. I thought this issue sucked.

    Just like in the ”Rise of the Governor”. Kirkman apparently thinks he can make readers think someone is evil by having them say Fuck every second word.

    • I respect your opinion, but I disagree. Yeah, the guy cursed, but what Kirkman did was show a man who wants to break Rick, not kill him or imprison him. I think it will be very interesting. If you disagree, that’s cool.

    • You know this actually struck me as an instance where its the Character who actually thinks it makes himself sound tougher by saying Fuck every other word. There were a couple lines that made me think this guy isn’t really the smartest guy in the room, just the most intimidating to a bunch of neanderthals. And as long as he has strength in those numbers he can control the situation.

    • I would have probably thought the same as you zlbenson if I hadn’t read Rise of the Governor.

      In that Phillip tells them to ”Shut the Fuck Up!” constantly.

      In all honesty other than my initial point this issue was well done. With the groundwork laid very well in the beginning to give the main happening in the issue REAL impact.

    • I actually loved that about Negan, and thought it was entirely intentional on Kirkman’s part. It reminded me of a Tarantino bad guy mixed with the high school bully. Like zlbenson said, he knows he’s not the smartest guy in the world. But he’s confident in his numbers and that makes him a pretty formidable foe. Also, some people really do talk like that, and they usually are dumb jerks.

    • i think him swearing too much is him doing it on purpose as a sign of mockery.

    • I read Rise of the Governor and I guess the cursing didn’t really jump out at me… maybe I’m too hardened to it?

      Anyways like Wheelhands says – I know people who talk like that to see tough and they are usually jack asses – or at least really drunk.

  4. I haven’t felt so disturbed by a comic book death since…I guess Y: The Last Man. Thanks Kirkman!

    • I completely agree, this was emotionally a kick in the nuts. I had chills after the initial crack of the bat. I thought to myself ” oh shit Glen is gonna be okay, he might just make it”…. and then his hat fell off and i nearly shit myself. I thought a lot about what disturbed me most about this scene and i have come to the conclusion that it was him calling out to maggie. I will admit i actually had to take a minute to put the book down and gather myself. It was gut renching to know that glenn was going to be a father and that he begged for his life and it was still snuffed out….

  5. Good review Ron. The suspense was impressive in the execution. Can’t wait to see what happens next.

  6. This was a bit too much for me. I can generally handle violence. The “Lucile” (or loose seal, depending on your television watching habits) scene didn’t bother me nearly as much as the “train” comment. Anything of that nature involving a child is more than I want from my comic books. I’m reading issue 101, but if I see much more like that I may have to jump off. It’s still a fascinating book and a fascinating story, and I REALLY want to keep reading, but, as a dad, that was a bit too unsettling for my taste.

    I like that the world no longer feels safe. I like that this feels like a VERY serious threat. I like imagining what Rick will do to this man when (if?) he gets the chance. I really want to keep reading.

    • i think that’s the reason that I stopped reading it in the first place, it was just too much f***ed up moments for me to read month in and month out

      That being said, good on Kirkman for getting to 100 issues, amazing feat

    • Absolutely. Congrats to Kirkman and his team (and to iFanboy for helping get him here.)

      My wife, my father-in-law, and two of my brother-in-laws have been reading the trades and are about to catch up to issues (after I spent years trying to convince them to give it a shot.) I’m fairly certain this one is going to seriously upset them (especially my wife.) I’m very interested in seeing if they get mad at me for convincing them to start the series. I wouldn’t be surprised if my wife jumps off the series. There have been a few instances where she’s considering stopping, but hasn’t been able to give it up.

    • Yeah. Honestly I loved this issue but I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.

    • Honestly, I’ve only read through Vol. 15 of the trades and think I’m going to stop just because I can’t take the bleak nature of this book anymore. I know I’m not qualified to comment on this issue or recent arcs, but from the discussion on here it just sounds like this book gets more dark and more disturbing with each arc and it’s just not fun for me to read. I think the 12-yr-old kid and his mom getting eaten by zombies in Vol. 14 did it for me…becoming a father has made me more squeamish when it comes to stories like this. I just don’t need them in my life right now. Maybe when my kids are in their teens and fans of zombie movies and fiction I’ll be able to return to them. 😉

  7. I think this is the first time Ron and I have had the same pick of the week. With all the hype I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was. Congrats to Kirkman & Adlard and the whole team for a great landmark issue that lived up to the hype. And thanks Ron for a great spoiler-free review.

  8. Even though I was expecting issue 100 of Walking Dead to be
    brutal. It’s impossible to prepare yourself for the heart break and
    utter devastation of this issue. Robert Kirkman, you’ve cut me deep,
    sir.

  9. So wait Ron, now that you’re caught on issues, are you going to drop the hardcovers and start picking it up monthly?

  10. Wow just Wow

    We all knew something big was going down. We all knew Characters were in Danger. But Kirkman surprised me again.

    It was disturbing, both with comments and the violence. I love the fact that some of you are so disturbed your thinking about dropping, but still might need that next issue. That makes me thinks he is getting the reaction that he wants.

    I love the swearing, it was definitely intentionally over to top on purpose by this character for his own amusement. But leaving key players still alive is going to bite him in the ass. He is still underestimating.

    Now its time for Comic Con planning and off to a sploilerrific ,essage board before I explode.

  11. I’ve read this first out of my stack this week and I shouldn’t have. After that, while I just can’t concentrate reading Batman 11 for me cause my mind kept coming back to The Walking Dead 100. I’m gonna hold off reading the rest of my comics till I get over this. This issue just cuts deep. Btw, I got the Frank Quietly variant and it’s scaring the sh*t out of me.

  12. I just flipped this at the store just to see the big hub-bub (what the kids say these days right?) and I just got one question to ask:

    What the fuck is wrong with Robert Kirkman?

    The death in this issue doesn’t bother me but the way he writes it does. It’s so disturbing and what this new guy says the tailend of the issue is just really raw. I know this is comics and this book has gone to the ‘deep end’ before with the Governor. But part of me does wonder if he should have scaled back on this a bit.

    I’m not judging the issue in any way critically. I just worry sometimes on Kirkman’s mental state.

    • I like asking for spoilers from friends because I’m interested and because after the Carl thing that happened a few issues back I stopped reading the book. it’s just too visceral and personal for me while still maintaining the impersonality of a story. it’s wonderful work but I don’t think, after hearing what happened in this issue, that I could start reading it again. Congrats to The Walking Dead on issue 100; for now though, I’ll stick with Saga.

    • I tell ya one thing; even if the show gets this far (which I doubt it will) into the story I bet we won’t see such a violent death here. Considering Dale bit it (HA!) extremely early I imagine this guy/gal won’t die the same way either.

    • the world is literally deconstructing itself. The humans that are still left are de-civilizing, getting more desperate, turning more tribal and savage like. Much like a region that’s been in a civil war for decades with no rules or government…..the animal, caveman side starts to take over. My point is, i bought it, and I kinda see the WD world getting crazier.

  13. Yea it made me sick to my stomach because of the casual nature in which the gore scene was executed. The detachment Nagen has for what he is about to do and then how he carried out his threat had me putting the book down…. The issue did wht it did in a really effective manner…it made me feel sick and I carried that feeling all day.

    It’s been a while since walking dead hit tht close to the bone. This book still has it.

  14. No.

    Spoilers

    After having time to digest this issue, I have to say it might be the first time in as long as I can remember that I’ve been disappointed with this book. Even all the times it has shocked me and horrified me, it’s always been done well, but this was an anti climax to a 100issue and a poor way for a great character to go. don’t get me wrong, as sad as I am about this characters death, I would be totally fine with it if it seemed like a natural progression of the story, as every major death in this book has. Lori, dale, tyrese, etc. this was just five pages of a kid getting his head smacked in with a baseball bat. It was bad. That’s what issue 100 was 5 pages of a kids brains on bared wire. I think there were three on panel zombies in this one though.
    All that said, it’s still one of my favorite series, And Im still reading it(duh)’ can’t wait for 100more

    • Listen.

      I don’t think we can apply the standard 50, 100 type anniversary issue type expectations to this book.

      50 was like two issues after the super arc climax of the book and I don’t think really anything major happened.

      Plus I think there is some hyperbole in the five pages of barbed bat hitting.

      This comic bummed me out.

      I felt the frustration of the group at their situation.

      Whereas I’m still pissed at the group for just standing their and watching Tyrese get his head chopped off!

      They didn’t have much choice in this issue.

      Kind of wish the character made a run for it or at least went on the attack though.

      But this was a sad death that I could see happening.

    • “…as sad as I am about this characters death, I would be totally fine with it if it seemed like a natural progression of the story, as every major death in this book has. Lori, dale, tyrese, etc.”

      But it IS a natural progression to the story. You don’t think there are gonna be repercussions from this? Rick’s got this son of a bitch in his sights now. Ain’t nothin gonna stop him from killing the bastard. This death was no less a natural progression to the story than any of the others you mentioned. This IS the story. Just when life should be of the utmost importance, death is everywhere, murder is casual, and revenge is necessary.

      If you’re in it for the “on panel zombies”, I have no idea how you’ve made it this far.

    • Natural progression? They spent the last arc building up how Glenn was gonna have a “normal” life with Maggie. They were gonna have a kid, live on the hill, and for the first time in forever, they started looking forward to tomorrow. That to me is an indication that the next step is heart break. Maybe you just don’t want to admit that in this Zombie infested world, there is no bright tomorrow, there is only bleak today. And as for the issue being anti-climactic as some have said, that’s what made it so heartbreaking. You were expecting the community to burn, you were expecting Shane or Rick. You weren’t expecting one measly little absolutely gut-wrenching death.

    • I think that was a large part of the point…the helplessness of the scenario. i wanted/expected a big “rise up” scene…but reality was that wasnt going to happen. it was just sad. A pal of mine used to describe Battlestar Galatica as “a show about good people making bad decisions”. Walking Dead is right in that realm of description…

    • Maybe it will read better in trade

      No hyperbole, that was five pages of someone getting smashed with a bat. Will it pay off later? Probably, but right now it felt more like, “oh, issue 100, I better kill someone important!” and that was the extent of the issue.

      Of course I know this series is about way more than zombies, but since zombies themselves have not been a threat in a very long time it makes me wonder why society hasn’t gotten it’s shit together yet. In this world, what happened to thhe trained military and all our arms? Just stuff I’ve started to wonder now after 100issues and getting back into another our tribe vs. Their tribe storyline.

      Anyway, I still LOVE walking dead and I sing it’s gospel to anyone who will listen, I’ve been reading it for ten years! So don’t feel on this defensive here, I was a bit let down by this one but it will most likely read better in trade. All the same, I can’t wait for 101 and I can’t wait to see Negan get his just desserts.

  15. “it’s become a troubling state at Comic-Con, where comics are less of a focus.” Ron you have said what I’ve been thinking for the last several years about San Diego. When the dealers are finally pushed out, because the list shrinks more each year, will we actually have a Comic-Con with no Comics? I read the book late last night and it was excellent! I also understand that it isn’t for everyone. A couple of comments made a point about jumping off (and I REALLY hate that phrase) due to some of the things alluded to. Which is their absolute right. But the world these characters live in is grisly, there is NO LAW, this is a DANGEROUS place regardless of the roamers. The “people” alluded to in the book are in our society NOW, and as much as we would like to get rid of them, the fact is they are here. Now factor those scumbags in a lawless society? They are out there. To ignore them is just not being realistic. I’m certain at some point they will get theirs, but I don’t think it’s an issue to drop the book for. It’s been consistently great for so long people if they’ve made it to this issue should see where he’s going with it.

  16. All I can say is this asshole better enjoy his moment in the sun ‘cuz, damn, is he gonna pay dearly for what he did in this issue. I can’t really say exactly what I want to here because that would involve spoilers, but you just know it’s gonna be bad in the end for that creep.

  17. I think the fact that so many readers were bothered/disgusted/annoyed with this issue is a win for Kirkman and co. I dont know him personally, but I doubt he’d even be upset by those few who claim to be dropping the title. This is the world he’s created after 100 issues. Sooner or later, it’s gonna get to the point where if we lose readers after every “meaningless” death, it only means that those readers just couldn’t hang. We are the walking dead.

    • Well said!

    • I would say we havent been hit with a single meaningless death throughout the course of the series. Each one has been dealt with, either emtionally physically or both, and has effected the characters. I think people “leave” this series as readers because its so different from main stream books where the main characters do not die or get hurt very badly. Batman will perserve and move forward. The Walking Dead cast will not all survive and worse, they will survive to watch the rest of the cast suffer. That is what I take away as a major point of the whole series.

    • I would love to hear someone who says, “I don’t like mainstream superhero comics because it’s just the same stories happening over and over” explain to me how great Walking Dead is.

      Do you even bother learning the characters’ names anymore?

    • @Jim: I never say that about mainstream superhero comics, so I’m not the right guy to explain that.

      But in some sick way, the hopelessness and brutal monotony is the beauty of the series. Not every story is the same. Kirkman does switch it up from confrontation to confrontation. Albeit, some of the nuances are small and almost inconsequential. So your complaint is not without merit. Still, this story arc is just beginning, and there’s no way to tell how this may differ from Woodbury or any other chapter.

      My problem with complaints like your’s is that this is the story of the book. It has been since issue 13 or so. So I’m not sure what you’re expecting. You like to repeatedly use the line “the gang must learn that the real monsters are within themselves” as some kind of joke. But really … you’re just describing the series. Whether you like it or not, that is the overall theme. It obviously annoys you when people say that mainstream superhero stories are regurgitated, but then you go and bitch about Walking Dead being regurgitated. Glass houses, Jimski. If the “men as monsters” theme bothers you so much, maybe the book just isn’t for you anymore.

      And no, I don’t bother learning the characters names anymore. Luckily Adlard has come a long way when it comes to helping us differentiate.

    • I do love mainstream super hero comics. Walking Dead came along at a point in time where I was ready for something outside of that recipe. Super hero books are fun for me, and books like Walking Dead are great reads for a different set of entertainment muscles. Walking Dead is a very realistic book nice you remove the idea that zombies caused civilization to fall.

  18. I haven’t read the issue and already agree that this isn’t a typical 100 issue super-sized issue or something, the stories just gonna carry on as it would if it were issue 99 or 101, obviously something eventful happened but its expected to and doesn’t say anywhere in the KIrkman Walking Dead handbook that the death or event had to be of epic proportions. I’ve got volumes 1-7, so I have a ways to go to catch up. Content aside, I thought given the names of talent involved doing the 9 variants, they should’ve been way better, I mean I liked a cpl of em but none of em said I have to have that and frame it on my wall.

  19. You obviously didn’t read Punk Rock Jesus #1 if this is pick of the week. Sad that a book that just featured some foul mouthed idiot bashing in a little Asian kids brains for half the book could beat out the brilliance that was Punk Rock Jesus. But yeah…. to each their own.

    • Do you read Walking Dead on a regular basis Juhl75? If not then you do not know the relationships between “the little Asian kids brains out” and build up over the long haul. If you have read the series for the long term, read it again.

      Matthew

    • He’s right about Punk Rock Jesus though, it was simply the better book this week.

    • Agreed. Punk Rock Jesus was it. Sorry, Walking Dead, I have to go with the thing that is new and original for my pick this week.

    • mguy77 is right, that was a dickish comment. If you enjoyed Punk Rock Jesus, that s great, but to make such a short sighted comment because YOU didn’t agree with the pick isn’t cool.

    • well I’m sorry for being such a dick

    • Call my view short sighted if you want but i know these characters in walking dead. To me the walking dead has gone stale. Glenn dying is sad, not shocking. it is the walking DEAD. So here is the issue. People are lost for a few pages. People get ridiculed by a douchbag for a few pages too many. Dude gets his bashed in for a few pages too many. and lets make it as extreme and gratuitous as possible! I’m sorry… yeah, it is ok. but nothing great. it is the same old, same old. I was hoping they would just all finally commit mass suicide and be done with it.

      But that is ONLY MY OPINION> Don’t get your panties in a bunch WD Fanboys. I think it didn’t even hold a candle to Punk Rock Jesus. PRJ offered so much more…something new for a change. I think it deserves pick of the week over this. At this moment it is in the community picks. We’ll see.

  20. I was a little disappointed that Adlard didn’t give the villain a mustache to twirl, if not some horns. I do, however, look forward to the flashback issue where they show how he lost his third dimension.

    Now that a member of the cast has been killed completely arbitrarily, the gang must learn that the real monsters they have to fear are within all of us. Quick, which issue did I just summarize?

    (In all seriousness, it would be great to learn that this guy worked at H&R Block or a car wash before the zombies came.)

    • You really want some attention don’t you.

      The gang has known since the Governor that humans are not to be trusted. Rick hasn’t trusted a community since that arc. The theme isn’t the same.

      This issue was definitely a variation on the Governor encounter at the prison gates, but much more scary and intense.

      Death often arbitrarily occurs in the real world. A lot of people don’t get to finish their arcs.

      Stick to your super hero books where you can watch your favorite character come back to life.

    • ^^^ Nice 🙂

  21. Poor poor poor Maggie.

    She already tried to off her self once before now what the fuck is she going to do?

  22. Also, everyone up top that has said it is right…. Thanks for the extra pages this issue… glad you wasted them. I love the Walking Dead but they hyped this up like it was going to be a huge climax. I don’t care that it wasn’t super climactic. It bothers me that they made me think it would be. I am more happy that I got to get some sweet new Frank Quitely art!

    • And if it WAS a huge climax (which, I’m sorry, but it still was… even if it wasn’t the one you were expecting) you’d find something else to bitch about. Kirkman went left when everyone was expecting him to go right. Normally we sing a writer’s praises when they make bold moves like that. Not sure why Kirkman isn’t afforded the same here.

      Thank God this book isn’t in color.

  23. SPOILERS

    Rick should have died.

    I’ve felt that things are starting to be rehashed in this book for a while now. Neegan is nearly identical to the Governor character. There was even that panel where he said something about all the things he would like to do to Michonne. I’m sure that was an intentional allusion to the Governor, but it doesn’t help the feeling that I have read all of this before.

    Kirkman should have killed Rick off and issue 101 could have been a whole new beginning for the series.

  24. Negan’s character is far more disturbing to me than the Governor. Gov was clearly nuts – watching glass cases full of heads for entertainment, etc. – and Negan just came across as evil. There was a deliberate point to his brutality. It was calculated and thought-out. That is why I find him to be a scarier nemesis than the Gov.; this guy seems to be in control of his shit, calm, and evil to the core.

  25. i had skip past all of the comments to stay spoiler free (never hurts to make sure). on a scale of 1 to 10, how disturbing is this issue? for me, it never got worse than the issue with michone and governor in the govenor’s house. that shit bothered. like a lot.

    so, for the sake of standardization, let’s call that issue a 7. how does this issue stack up?

    • For me it would be an 11.

    • Yeah, that’s about right. It was more disturbing than entertaining.

    • @mark It’s pretty bad. I had to put the comic down towards the end for a few moments when I read it for the first time. Just to let it sink in. I’m looking at it again now and the images are no less disturbing after seeing it several times. For me it’s worse than Michonne and the Governor, but having said that, I don’t think it’s over the top or unnecessary.

    • shit.

      shit.

      i have to get caught up now.

  26. I have had this problem since becoming a father that I cry (or at least tear up) at some of the vaguest things. It could be something stupid as a commercial, or THAT scene in Walking Dead season 2 with Rick running across a field with his shot son in his arms screaming for help…. I’m fighting back tears just thinking about it. That being said, this issue made me stop, and really consider the weight of what just happened. I am not ashamed to say that tears did flow. DAMN YOU KIRKMAN!! I still love you though…..

  27. Anyone find it amusing that the two books (The Walking Dead and Punk Rock Jesus) battling it out for Pick of the Week are stories based on characters who died and came back to life?

  28. Man, I wish that bet was for real money. Is it strange that I don’t like it when you guys are this predictable? It’s my problem though.

    You’ve garnered my respect for actually not spoiling the issue. The Walking Dead spoiler rule holds fast and true, and that can’t be easy when you have to review the damn thing.

  29. Yes! Thank you Ron for catching up to this book. This issue was genuinely terrifying, especially the “eeny, meeny, miney, moe” scene. Him using that method to murder a person was downright horrid. My heart was beating out of my chest, and that rarely happens from comics.

  30. I read this issue as a casual Walking dead fan(read about 3 trades). Shocking issue as Rick has to sit and watch a friend get bludgeoned! The writing was good the art is serviceable(not really my cup o’ tea)
    BUT the most FUN comic was SECRET AGENT POYO!!Every panel&line was just hilarious; and yes I believe Dick Chaney has VIP status in hell

  31. It’s going to be very interesting to hear how you talk about this book on the podcast and still avoid spoilers!

  32. I read right up to trade 8 or so and then had enough of the same old shock-tactics Kirkman uses over and over again. The violence doesn’t disturb me. I’m way too desensitized for that. I read this issue so I could try and see what the inevitable fuss would be about but once again it’s swearing and violence and little else. Well, color me not the slightest bit wowed or surprised or grossed out or anything other than MEH. It’s almost like Ron started reading the issues in preparation for #100, just so #100 could be the ifanboy potw 🙂 The only reason I even clicked on this potw was so that I could read an in-depth review about what made this such an amazing issue, but there is no review? Because there’s a spoiler ban? So basically “this is really awesome but I can’t tell you why”. Ok.

    • The Kirkman Spoiler Bubble is officially nuts.

    • I had no idea that was a ‘thing’ so I googled it and found your column from 2010. I don’t get it. I know I bashed it in my comment but I did genuinely want to read an in-depth review of it (especially since for me to read it having not read the issues leading up to this can obviously take away a LOT from the impact of the issue) but the piece above could have been written by someone who didn’t even read the issue and just made an educated guess that something disturbing happened. Surely something like “SPOILERS TO FOLLOW” in a huge font for the few that don’t realise a detailed review is going to talk about, you know, what actually happened in the book would be enough? Does this spoiler bubble extend to the whole internet so that I won’t be able to find a proper review anywhere? lol Maybe you could put the whole spoilered review in white text so that to read it you have to actively select the text? It would be a little less insane than just not writing anything about what happened at all.

    • Part of me now wants to make Walking Dead spoilers a monthly part of my column.

    • Then why chime in?

  33. Issue #100 really “knocked it out of the park.”

  34. Nah, didn’t like this. Dropping all trades and future issues. But loved Punk Rock Jesus!

  35. Congrats to Kirkman and the crew for getting to this point. I think it’s great for the world of comics. As far as the issue goes it was disturbing and shocking and I was sad to see what happened at the end. I found it really affecting.

    I think Rick might have a battle on his hands in his pursuit to kill Nagen. The look in Michonne’s eyes at the top of page 23 is pure murderous rage. While the others are shocked, Michonne looks like she’s planning on how many ways she can make Nagen suffer.

    Can’t wait to see how this pans out.

  36. Congrats on making it to 100, but this book has never really done it for me. This one sounds like more of the same…

  37. Yeah, nah, not that great an issue. It’s great they’ve reached #100, although I was disturbed to read, in the letters page, that “this book is far from over, we’re not even to the halfway point” – there’s an ending, so now I’m depressed.

    Negan seems very two dimensional in my opinion. He’s very much like all the other tough guy/bully characters in thriller comics and novels. Panel after panel: “you were tough, now you’re not,” “you’re gonna do this for me,” “how about I abuse your female or little boy” and “I’m in charge now”… All I could think is that he’s eventually going to get his come-uppance in a huge way. It may take plenty of issues to get there, and of course I’ll enjoy the ride, but still. It would have been better if Rick had indeed been killed after Negan made the first swing at another in the group.

    Regardless. This is Walking Dead, one of THE best comics in the past decade. You couldn’t pay me to drop it.

  38. Been reading this book since it first hit the stands and have loved reading it month after month for all these years….however, with this issue I’m a little concerned about where Kirkman is taking this book and if it’s something I will continue to enjoy reading. At this point, Kirkman has killed almost every character who I still care about and am emotionally invested in. Rick, understandably so, is a broken man who barely registers as human anymore. Michonne, badass that she is, is basically a one-dimensional robot designed to look cool. Carl is a sociopath. With the exception of Andrea and maybe Maggie, I find myself not really caring about the rest of the cast anymore, nor am I really rooting for any of them for any reason other than that they are the stars of the book. Kirkman has to get me emotionally hooked back into this world and give me some people to care about again like Dale or Tyreese.

  39. To everyone saying Negan is one (or two) – dimensional and exactly the same as the Governor…he has only been in a few pages! We don’t know anything about his character or how it’s going to develop! In other situations he could be totally different. How do we know he wasn’t just acting incredibly tough and cruel because that’s the image he needs to keep up? Do you remember what Rick did to the cannibals? And he made them watch. I bet Rick didn’t come across as much different to them than Negan did.
    Anyway, I thought Andrea was going to get killed so Kirkman did surprise me. If he really just wanted to do it for shock value he would have killed the pregnant Maggie or the little girl.

  40. I guess I just set my hopes too high for issue 100. I thought Kirkman would pull something crazy out of his hat that would be at least equivalent to the prison break scene with his wife and baby. This new villain just feels like another version of the governor. Since Kirkman was showing hints of Carl’s dark view of the world, I thought Negan would force Carl to decide who would die. I would have wanted him to choose his father, then the comic would jump 10 years into the future with an older Carl.

  41. I finally caught up with The Walking Dead series, due to part with an amazing sale on the comics digital app. I read on from vol. 15 to issue #99 and picked up a print copy of issue #100… and all I gotta say is “daayam!”

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