THE WALKING DEAD, Vol. 9 - Here We Remain

ROBERT KIRKMAN / CHARLIE ADLER

First things first: if you’ve never read this fabulous ‘never-ending zombie story’, and you’re interested in 1) zombies, and 2) graphic novels, then I strongly suggest you seek out Volume 1 and start catching up.

Done that? Excellent.

As with the best zombie apocalypse stories, The Walking Dead excels when concentrating on the more ‘human’ side of things. That isn’t to say that the story falters as soon as any zombies show up, it simply helps to heighten the drama when we actually care about the people involved. And, boy, do we care.

The Walking Dead concentrates on Rick, a cop who wakes up in a hospital to find the world’s gone to hell. Over the last eight collected volumes, we’ve followed him as he sought his wife and son, and other survivors of the zombie outbreak. Along the way, characters we’re actually bothered about have left the main group, returned, betrayed others, repented, and most of all – died.

Kirkman is not afraid to kill his characters off. This is, after all, a world that has devolved into chaos, where every shadowy doorway can hide a bloodthirsty zombie, or worse, a frightened survivor with a loaded gun.

Charlie Adlard’s black-and-white artwork continues to serve the story excellently, with the only complaint being that sometimes the amount of time that passes between panels is unclear. However, this quirk has been part of all The Walking Dead issues so far, so it’s easier to forgive it when it happens again this time around.

Conversely, one of my favourite sections of HERE WE REMAIN is a two-page spread featuring nothing except a shot of a house as a few days pass. It is absolutely lovely in its simplicity.

The drama can become overwrought on the odd occasion, but for every panel featuring a husband crying over his devoured wife, we get more than enough genuinely affecting moments. The last volume, Made To Suffer, lived up to it’s title by packing in a number of truly gut-punching scenes, a couple of which actually made me put the book down so I could gather my wits and take in what had just happened.

HERE WE REMAIN can’t really compete with this level of emotional attachment as it plays more like an ‘aftermath’ of the events in that book; the main group has splintered and separated, with various characters dead and gone, after the attack on their prison base. Rick and his son Carl are back on the road, lost and wandering, trying to figure out what to do and where to go.

We do get a look into Rick’s broken state of mind as he finds himself talking to people who aren’t really there, as well as Carl’s growing sense of independence. It is this latter storyline that is the most interesting, as Carl’s feelings are birthed from his frustration with a father who he feels is failing him, even though he knows deep down that it isn’t entirely Rick’s fault.

Whilst on the road, the pair are reunited with the sword-wielding Michonne, and together they decide to head for a former base: Hershel’s farm. It is here that the next part of the main plot comes into play, as some new survivors show up, one of whom claims to have knowledge of what caused the zombie outbreak in the first place.

However, since this man won’t share what he knows with anyone until he reaches Washington, the question then becomes one of trust: in a world ravaged by the living dead, with survivors who can be as bloodthirsty as these monsters, is it worth putting all your faith in one stranger when all other avenues have lead to dead ends? I, for one, look forward to Volume 10 to find out.