Opinions of a Wolf

Summary:
The rag-tag group of survivors of the zombie apocalypse stumble upon a prison with two circles of fences just in time.  With the warm weather more zombies are active now that they’re no longer frozen.  Of course they also discover locked in the cafeteria three surviving inmates.  Attempts to make the odd mix of original survivors, inmates, and the farmers into one group might be a task too huge to overcome.  Especially when you add in a mysterious woman who arrives with two pet zombies she leads by chains.

Review:
Now that Kirkman has the post-apocalyptic zombie world firmly established, he is more free to move his characters around within it, seeing how different personalities and mores react to an entirely reordered society.  This leads to some interesting storylines, such as the May/December romance, suicide pacts, and the idea of a fresh start for the living inmates.  It does, however, also lead to some….overly dramatic speeches, let’s say.  One in particular reminded me of the infamous “Live together, die alone” speech from Lost, only this one goes, “You kill; you die!”  I had to stop reading for a minute to giggle.  The close-up of the sheriff’s overly dramatic face had me in stitches, and I”m pretty sure that wasn’t the intended reaction, lol.

That said, though, all of the drama and death and zombies is exactly what one is looking for in a zombie graphic novel.  If anything gives a writer an excuse to be overly dramatic, it’s a rag-tag bunch of survivors of the zombie apocalypse.  Death and chaos are what we’re looking for here, while also addressing survival issues like farming and people having nervous break-downs.  There’s also a creative zombie lore twist that I won’t spoil for you, but that is highly enjoyable.

Overall, Kirkman finds more stable footing in this second entry in the series.  It’s chaotic, high-speed disasters, violence, and sex.  If that’s what you look for in your graphic novels, I highly recommend this one.

4 out of 5 stars

Source: Public Library

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Previous Books in Series:
The Walking Dead, Book 1 (review)