'The Walking Dead Volume 31: The Rotten Core' – Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard (Image)

If I'm posting about the latest book in a series, I'll usually go back to the last post to remind myself what has already happened and how I felt about it. That was the plan before starting on this post and so I scrolled back, back and back again... It hasn't been that long since I read Volume 30, has it? It has, you know. I read 'New World Order' back in February last year and then nothing since. To be fair, there has been plenty of other stuff happening. But anyway, we're here now and I'm off a mind to polish off Volume 32 in no short order after I have a few things to say about 'The Rotten Core', I'm not leaving it so long before reading the next book (even though everyone has finished 'The Walking Dead' and moved on to whatever is currently cool). So lets go :o)

Before we talk about the book itself though, a little lesson in 'try before you buy'... My copy of 'The Rotten Core' was only a pound and I thought, I've got to have some of that. I get it home, start reading and a few pages in, it looks like the ink ran (or something) while a page was printing. Whatever the cause, I'm going to have to buy a new copy if I want to find out exactly what Rick said to Dwight... Basically, if you see a 'Walking Dead' trade selling for a pound, there's a very good reason for it. Don't be me...

But onto the book itself.

A diplomatic mission, from the Commonwealth, has made contact with Alexandria and its satellite communities; tentative steps towards an alliance are now starting to happen. In the meantime, Rick leads a small party back to the Commonwealth where life continues almost as it was before the Dead came back, but at what cost?

Rick can see what is going on behind the scenes but for the first time in years, he has a choice in how he approaches the problem. Does he risk starting a war or does he risk alienating his own allies? Or will someone make that decision for him...?

Working from home means that I am alone with my thoughts for large chunks of the day and instead of using this time to concentrate on solving work stuff, I find myself thinking things like 'it can't be a coincidence that Kirkman ended the comic book while there was a lawsuit going on with AMC...' It's almost like he's given them the finger and said, 'try and make it work with no source material.' And surprise surprise, the TV show is in its endgame now. If I'm right (and I think I am), this attitude is prevalent in this book and it's not necessarily a good thing.

Everything seems to be geared towards ticking off plot points and getting Rick et al into position for the final events to play out. The plot doesn't really have time to stop and take stock of itself or really take much of a look at what is going on for our characters; I mean there's a little of this but not nearly enough given what is happening. And what is happening? Only a 'Walking Dead' take on police brutality that springs out of nowhere and fucks off before we've had much of a chance to really get into it and what it means. Given the way things are today, if you're going to have something like this in your plot, you make damn sure that you give it the respect it deserves rather than ushering it on-stage and then off again in the same gesture. As it is, it barely illustrates the points that Kirkman wants to make but then he's the one who's rushing the plot so that's on him. Same deal with the brief exploration of the class gap in the Commonwealth.

It's not all bad. The times are changing and we get to see whether Rick is able to change with them. Again, it's rushed but we do get an answer to that question and it all boils down to the fact that you have to work together in the face of the Dead if you want to keep what you have. It's good to see this not only acknowledged but explored, even if it's just a little.

Is that enough though? I'd say no. If you're going to rush the plot like this, at least don't make it so obvious but that's what Kirkman is doing here and the book really suffers for it. Charlie Adlard is still on form though and that always counts for a lot in this series.

'The Rotten Core' didn't work for me then but I only paid a pound for the book so I'm not too bitter ;o) Just one more book then and then that's 'The Walking Dead' done (the comic books, I am so behind with the show that I can't believe it). Then what do I read as far as comic book series go? Any suggestions?