The Walking Dead, Book 4
by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn
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Book Summary Information
Author: Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn, Robert KirkmanEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-12-02
ISBN: 1607060000
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Image Comics
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9781607060000
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The Walking Dead, Book 4
Book Review: A bridge too far?
Summary: 3 Stars
This is an exceptionally hard book to review. I think Kirkman is extremely talented and I think Walking Dead is one of the best comics on the market these days (it's by far Image's best, for sure). And Kirkman is certainly bold - he never shies away from doing what he thinks needs to be done, even if that means some pretty horrific or gut-wrenching action. That kind of thing has generally served him very well on Walking Dead.
But I wonder if there's a bridge too far, if perhaps there comes a point where what you do is only done for the sheer shock value of it. I'm honestly not sure, which is what makes this so difficult for me, and it's made more difficult by the fact that explaining the plot clearly would utterly ruin the experience. It's enough to say that the status quo is changed pretty dramatically by the end.
Now, I can see an argument for the literary necessity of the closing issues of this collection - the pure barbarity of the non-zombie cast members (which, of course, is what zombie stories are really about) is stripped about as bare as it can be here, and the results are certainly devastating - but there's also something deeply unsatisfying about it. Kirkman treads close to extreme caricature here; maybe he even hits it. And I can't help but feel like, four years in, he got bored of the direction he was headed and just hit the reset button.
I think, judging this as the fourth installation of a continuing story, it comes off as basically incoherent. Kirkman doesn't make an attempt to compromise the boldness and unflinching honesty of his vision, but as a story it doesn't really work. It ends where we began four years ago. What have we done in the interim and what has it meant? There's a literary argument in there too, but it's too nihilistic for Kirkman and, since this isn't the end, he isn't making it anyway. Instead it almost seems like an easy way out.
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