The major comic companies get enough reviews and press, it’s time for the creator-owned and indie series to get some love and judgment. Indie review takes up-and-coming indie and creator-owned series and puts them through the review process so you can confidently support the best of the small press and passion driven projects in the comic industry.

 

NOTE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS (Though we do keep them to a minimum to prevent truly ruining any parts of the story)

 

The Info Bit

Title: The Walking Dead #97

Genre/s: Horror

Writer: Robert Kirkman (Super Dinosaur, Thief of Thieves)

Artist: Charlie Adlard

Colorist: (gray tones and cover colors) Cliff Rathburn

Publisher: Image Comics

Number of Issues: on-going

Page Count: 26

Price: $2.99

 

The Review Bit

 

This issue of The Walking Dead begins a brand new story arc, entitled “Something to Fear.” “A Larger World” concluded with Rick entering into an agreement with the leader of the Hilltop to keep them safe from a group calling themselves “the Saviors.” An agreement that Rick’s crew is not at all happy with. That storyline saw ending with Rick giving a speech about the hows and whys of him being the leader, and that helping this community is the right thing to do. Not only for the people of the Hilltop, but for themselves as well, and their future, which Rick thinks begins now.

Issue #97 starts back with the remainder of the crew in the community at a church service, as they all pray for the safe return of Rick and Co., and hoping that Carl’s disappearance means he is with his father (CARL’S NOT IN THE HOUSE!!) Not a whole lot is really happening, as Abraham and Eugene make some scavenging plans for after Rick returns (this story actually comes back around and concludes this issue and provides us with our cliffhanger…and that is all im saying about that, haha), and just status quo dialog involving roamer patrols.

Eventually we get back to Rick, Andrea, Michonne, Glenn, and Carl, who are stopped by several thugs on motorcycles claiming to be in the service of Negan and “the Saviors”. The group leader demands they pay all they have to Negan. “The Saviors” seem more like a cult then they do just some group of bully’s. “We are all Negan. He speaks through us and we speak for him, His words are ours.”

Rick and Co make short work of these biker cultists, leaving the mouthpiece of this group alive to carry a message to their community. That the Hilltop is no longer under their protection, and that they, “the Saviors,” get the same offer, half of their supplies to be under the protection of Rick’s community. Oddly enough this issue pretty much ends just how the last one did, Rick giving a grand speech about the importance of what helping the Hilltop will do for them.

 

The Rating Bit

Ok this is my first time reviewing “The Walking Dead” for you fine folks, and hopefully this is the first of many. So let me just say this: There isn’t a lot to say in this part of the review other than the rating. This book has been around for 9 years. We all know how great of a writer Robert Kirkman is. And we all have already split ourselves into camps on how we feel about Adlard’s art (I personally like it) So Im not going to drone on and on in every review of this title about their talents…well, apparently except for this issue. So all in all, Im going to have to give this issue a 7 out of 10. While the first battle with “the Saviors” was pretty rad, the rest of the issue was fairly uneventful. It was good, but it just wasn’t great.