I think this comic - or, rather, 4 comics together - were both very good and very bad. And yes, I am that awkward.
From
a storytelling style perspective, I wasn’t very impressed. Each comic
consisted of someone monologuing. I have to say the justification of the
monologues wasn’t terrible - Michonne and her loneliness, her need to
connect causing her to speak aloud. Morgan trying to salve his own
conscience and talk to Duane. The Governor almost gearing himself up to
do what he thinks he has to. Tyrese... actually, even with a very
sympathetic eye I can’t really think of a reason behind his monologue.
But they are monologues. And even the most justified monologue tends to be more than a little convoluted. There are just very few occasions - unless your character is laid back on a psychiatrist’s couch - where your character will talk about their history, life and emotions in such depth.
Now,
from the perspective of a fan of the series, of someone who has read
the comics and watched the show, of someone who likes these characters a
lot and is fascinated in their story, this comic is excellent. Not much
happens, but we see far more of the feeling and emotion behind these
characters and what drives them - we have some history and depth behind
the character actions in the comics. Some of them have been touched on
already - but seeing them and hearing them in this context - the
loneliness of Michonne and her need to remind herself that the zombies
she’s bringing are not monsters, but were people, people she cared about
once. Morgan’s final realisation that society is over, that it’s not
coming back and it’s not going to be rebuilt - his grieving acceptance
of a new world and reality while he moves on for his son. Tyrese and the
fraught relationship he has with his daughter’s boyfriend (honestly,
Tyrese’s storyline is pretty much pointless and doesn’t really add
anything to the story or character development). Even the Governor and
us seeing another step he took down the road that lead him from being a
normal person to the monster he became.
They’re
not long, they’re not in depth and they don’t add essential elements to
the story - you could continue the story without ever reading these;
but it’s a testament to the realness of the characters in this series
that even without advancing the plot, I wanted to hear their story.
It’s
also interesting that the characters followed and expanded on here are
all POC. If I were being cynical I would say it’s because they needed
more expansion - and that certainly would apply to the TV series, but
the comics are considerably better at racial representation. The fact
they are POC is a testament to the comics creating compelling non-White
characters.
Do you need to read this comic to understand the Walking Dead? No. But after reading 100 or so issues of the series, you will want to.
