Walking Dead #163 (2003)

The hilltop gang endures a narrow victory only to find crushing defeat just over the ridge.


Wait...the ridge itself is moving.


Wait...the ridge itself is growling.


Wait...the ridge itself is hungry.


30 people against 3000+ zombies, with human enemies in at least two camps should they survive. Really, this is just what these characters face every day. Some live. Some die. This may just be an accelerated schedule for many. Why should you care?
Because you should. Many of you will be reading the Walking Dead for the first time with this issue. Why? It's 25 cents, for one, and you get an oversized book to boot. It's a title with rich characters who have been given time to develop. Some of these people have been around for over 10 years, and we get to see them challenged by life every month. There's the quality writing of Robert Kirkman, who's kept them fresh for that whole time. While the show has been accused of being an abusive version of torture porn, the book has always balanced those horrific moments out with the mundane ones too. That's what makes them horrific, you know, when they stand out like that. There's also the great black and white art of Charlie Adlard, who's never been late, and has often been willing to work like the greats did with multiple books per month.


It's not even a particularly great issue for the heights this book hits, and it will be better than most of what you read this week.
Also...its a QUARTER!!!!!!! What else are you going to get with a quarter today? 1/2 of a .50 gumball? 1/8th of a newspaper? Why not get a full comic instead and see what you've been missing?