'The Walking Dead Volume 30: New World Order' – Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard (Image)

'The Walking Dead' comic book ended it's impressive run in July last year but, true to form, I'm still a way off finishing the series. There was a time when I would have jumped on each trade the second it came out but these days... Well, the series has finished hasn't it? There's no big rush to read now, the story has been told and discussed to death and I'm still two volumes behind everyone else. I'm going to be the last person to finish the series so I may as well chill out a bit and enjoy the ride. Also, I'm still trying to do this on the cheap (it's a matter of pride now) so that will drag things out a bit longer too. So there we are.

And here I am, headed into the final stages of Rick's journey. Which kind of makes it all the more ironic then that we hardly see Rick at all until the last few pages...

Eugene and Michonne's team have finally met with the emissary of the Commonwealth and their world is about to get a whole lot bigger again. There are surprises in store then (some of them good) but also a growing realisation that it will take a lot more than the end of the world to cure humanity of some of its more cynical instincts. Is this new world order something that Rick and his friends will want to be a part of? And will they have any choice in the matter...?

If you remember my review of volume 29, I had a lot to say about interludes and how they can drag things out when what you really want is for the story to get a shift on and go somewhere interesting. Well, we find ourselves in the Commonwealth now so you'd be forgiven for thinking that the plot is moving forwards again... Well, yes and no...

While there are undercurrents, to the plot, that are looked at a little bit, what we really have here is another interlude piece, only this time with some new characters that we are introduced to. It felt like a bit of a false start, to me, to be honest. You think you're moving forwards but no, you're just repeating the last book but with some new characters. There's not an awful lot of zombies here either, just a few who get killed at the very beginning and a few more who get offed by Mercer when he is guarding the Governor's son.

That Mercer though... He is officially my favourite thing about this book and I know there's no time left but I wish I could see him in his own limited series, just killing zombies and being so cool about it like it's no big deal. Actually, a limited series with Mercer and Jesus killing zombies while Jesus does a little parkour at all the right moments. I know but a chap can dream, right?

So Mercer is very much a GOOD THING and I really hope that Kirkman puts him to good use in volume 31. My hopes aren't particularly high for this, I must say, but fingers crossed anyway. I also like the fact that the new potential 'big bad' is not evil at all, just a dickish teen whose hormones and entitled attitude could bring everything crashing down. That would be a cool way to spring something new on the reader. I'm just not cool with another whole volume of build up, not after the last one. If you're a fan then you already have this book and if you're collecting the series then you're not going to miss a volume now, not when you're this close to the end of the series. I think that's what gets me at this point, the fact that Kirkman can do whatever the hell he wants and people will read anyway because they've come this far and they have very little choice now. Like me, I'm going to keep reading but I'm really hoping for good things in the next volume.