Comic Book Review: The Walking Dead # 81

The Walking Dead #81

Written by Robert Kirkman

Art by Charlie Adlard

Published by Image Comics

**MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**

Alright, so I'm back with the latest issue of one of the best serials out there and one of my favorites too, The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore. And we got a very interesting build-up following issue #80.

By the end of the last issue, we see Jessie kissing Rick and I was thinking what was gonna happen. Is he going to nail her (yeah, I automatically think about sex haha)? And to the best of my expectations, yes folks, Rick nailed the widow (and just to refresh your memory, Jessie is the wife of the guy Rick killed last issue. ). Some might think that what happened between them is wrong... and maybe they're right, but on the other side, this is human nature we are talking about here.

Two lonely people who just lost their loved ones in the most horrifying situation you could ever imagine, and I think that its natural to do anything that would make them sleep at night or at least feel that "inner peace" even if its just for a very short time. Doesn't matter who's taking advantage of who, the point is, whatever it takes to make you feel comfortable and get your head off all the shit that's happening so you won't lose your sanity - then you do it. And true to Rick's telephone situation - sleeping with Jessie kind of got him straight a little bit. He's beginning to realize that her wife is already dead and is no longer coming back and that the conversations he made with her on the phone is just him drifting out of touch. 

We also see the other couples in their own peaceful moments, trying to cope up with the whole situation just like Rick. Kirkman's trying to build up most of the characters mainly to keep the realism intact  because that telephone thing with our boy Rick has to go already -- and fast. I'm glad he realized that. 

I also liked Glenn taking in charge of a situation where they have to get across to the other side of the fence with all the zombies so they could deliver goods to Andrea. Good suspense right there with the rope snapping scene too. Thought they one guy was gonna die.

And just when I thought that nobody's going to get killed and that everybody has everything figured out with that one piece of the fence that's waiting to come down, Kirkman then releases the beasts. As you already know, the fence gives way and we're in for another "OH SHIT" zombies-on-the-loose moment and one guy gets his intestines torn to shreds. Nasty. Rick and the black guy can't seem to fend the zombies off and are fighting for their very lives once again and now I wonder what would happen next after that last panel. They're pretty fucked up. I'm sure Kirkman has something to surprise us next issue.

This is a good issue after all the teasing from issue #80 though it doesn't have anything major except for that stupid fence and Rick's newfound sex partner... err... rather relationship. Still, Kirkman and Adlard knows what their fans want and what made this series click so they are sticking with what works. If it ain't broke, then don't fix right? Hopefully that come issue #82 or #83, we will be able to get in to the thick of things and see some shocking revelations or scenes that would blow our brains out. Kirkman isn't afraid of killing one of his major characters anyway, proven before when he killed Lori and Tyreese way back. We need more of that thing.

Just one question: why is it that Tony Moore is the one who's getting most of the credit for the successful TWD TV show?  I don't get it. 

What Christmas Is All About - from the Battle Pope Christmas Pope-tacular Issue

Before Robert Kirkman's smash hit The Walking Dead, there was Battle Pope - a story about a violent and womanizing Pope [Leopold Oswald II] who was selected by God to save humanity from demons with Jesus Christ as his sidekick. And I'm not joking.

Anyway, they had a special Christmas comic which showed Jesus Christ lamenting about people forgetting him during his birthday and blames Santa Claus because of overshadowing his birthday with toys and candy bars. Let's get on to the scenes shall we?

Then he gets angry at a kid staring at a bunch of toys in a toy shop:

The guy does have a point, doesn't he? And who says you won't get a good thing or two out of comic books? Moving on...

After that, an angry Jesus decides get some retribution by engaging with Santa in a live MMA fight:

Jesus vs Santa - I thought I would ever ever see this.

So who wins? Nobody. Fortunately, Santa apologizes and Jesus forgives him. Then in another insane surprise, Mary comes down from the heavens to visit and celebrate with her son on this very special day:

I did not expect her to make an appearance. Seriously.

And it didn't end there. A lot of things happened after that. uhm, like... Pope and Mary screwin'? you know, I'm kind of afraid that a bolt of lightning would strike me and send my brains flying while I'm writing this, so I'm gonna shut up.

By the way, Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore are still alive today, got away from God's wrath with this insane of a comic book and were able to make it big time with their one of a kind zombie apocalypse tale. Now tell me that's not what every comic book writer/artist is dreaming of.

So there goes my special Christmas feature where we learn about the true meaning of Christmas via a hilariously blasphemous comic book that sure offended a couple of religious peeps - except me. maybe.



P.S. I'm not going to write anything like this again. King Leonidas might kick me down to that ginormous Spartan pit they got next time. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Comic Book Review: Battle Pope

**WARNING: MAY CONTAIN OFFENSIVE ADULT CONTENT**

Battle Pope

Writer: Robert Kirkman

Artist: Tony Moore

Issues: 13

Published by Image Comics

Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore's The Walking Dead was a smash hit. It gave you everything you could ask for in a zombie-themed comic book: suspense, horror, action, violence, and non-stop surprises. But never did I thought that they would have created a crazier one in Battle Pope, which came before their more popular novel. Not to mention that it is as funny as hell.

Let me tell you right now that this not your ordinary comic book. No, not at all. Its particularly offensive especially for the religious types, because the main character is a drinking, violent and womanizing Pope (Pope Leopold Oswald II, if you want the full name) who did whatever he wanted to do, had sex with women, raised hell and gave the middle finger to anybody who pissed him off.

A sword-slashing and trigger happy Pope? That's kinda cool.

After God cast his wrath on Earth and condemned everyone because of their wrong doing, the demons, led by Lucifer -  (yup, just like the one in the Bible) stampeded their way to Earth. So God appoints somebody who protect the humans from these filthy abominations, and guess what -  he picks the Pope.  The bargain was, if he succeeds in defeating the demons, then he will have his chance of getting that one way ticket to heaven. Woohoo! Sounds like a plan. Then it gets even wackier when God tells him that he would have a  special sidekick to help him in his mission.

I'll give you a chance to guess who the sidekick is. He deserves the special mention. When you have your guess, click on the jump to read the rest of my review. (No Google cheating please...)

The Pope's sidekick: Jesus Christ.  

So a gun-toting Pope trying to save the world and is aided by Jesus. Sounds crazy? Yeah it is, but wait till you read it. Now, for the sake of keeping a non-spoiler entry (in case you haven't read it yet), i'm going to stop right here. Just read it.

Batlle Pope is wonderfully illustrated and its almost like hentai when it comes to the sexually-themed panels. Its almost blasphemous at times, but despite all the religiously-degrading themes and illustrations, I can assure you that everything was done with a wink and a smile. Kirkman's wise-cracking is so good that you would almost chuckle every time, making it one of Image Comics' most memorable titles ever. A controversial, but admittedly fun read.

Every Zombie Kill from The Walking Dead

For all Walking Dead fans out there, and especially those who are tuning in every week on their TV sets to catch a new episode of this hit TV series - Youtube's got a video of all zombie kills from season one. I recommend you to watch this while eating. Enjoy!

Comic Book Review: The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artists: Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard 
Issues: 78
Published by Image Comics

Zombies. Death.

That's what you think when you talk about the living dead: walking carcasses that roam around looking for flesh and ready to devour.

But that's not what The Walking Dead comic is all about. It is more than just zombies and death itself. Actually, it is the opposite of all that. It is a story about life.

The whole story is centered around Rick Grimes, husband, a father of one and a police officer from Kentucky who wakes up in a hospital from a semi-coma after getting himself shot in a middle of a gunfight together with his friend, Shane. He finds out quickly that nobody is around at the hospital, only to learn that the whole world has been stricken by a zombie apocalypse. He then begins his journey and hopes to find his wife Lori and son Carl, and other possible survivors while trying to set-up a peaceful and normal life in an otherwise abnormal world.

The walking corpses aren't the ones who are making the noise here.What makes the whole thing so good are the interactions between the characters in the story and how their characters develop as they go into different emotional and mental challenges. Each and every character has a different personality that complements the main character and all others, and combined with a great story filled with topsy-turvy turns, surprises, betrayals and "oh shit" moments, The Walking Dead gives you a perfect balance of just about everything in the emotional spectrum.

When it comes to the art, it is good and definitely gives off such emotion from the characters. It was a nice thing that they did the black-and-white colors on the whole book. I can't imagine it being colored, due to the fact that there are a lot of gory scenes that some people might not be able to take.

To wrap up, The Walking Dead gives us a glimpse of how a zombie apocalypse looks like, and how would human beings think and react in that environment. You will wonder how possibly you can survive in such a stressful and terror-filled world, where death is just always one wrong move away. 

But more than surviving the zombies themselves, The Walking Dead shows that the real fight for survival is not against the dead - but with the living, yourself...and your sanity.

Rating: 5/5