The Walking Dead

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THE WALKING DEAD #157

STORY: ROBERT KIRKMAN
ART: CHARLIE ADLARD, STEFANO GAUDIANO & CLIFF RATHBURN
COVER: CHARLIE ADLARD & DAVE STEWART

AUGUST 3 | 32 PAGES | BLACK & WHITE | MATURE | $2.99

THE WHISPERER WAR PART 1
The time has come. The forces are aligning. The war has begun! Has Rick brought about the demise of everything he's built? Or will he triumph once again? Know this... there will be a cost.

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Tbh, I'll surprised if this arc doesn't bring about the death of Rick. He has ceased being an effective/trustworthy leader, and can no longer keep himself(let alone his people) in check. His decision to attack the Whisperers was a huge mistake from the beginning, and the 'plan' has gone to absolute shit ever since. Say what you will about the Whisperers, but they seem relatively benign when left unprovoked. Had Rick not brought conflict to them, his communities could have coexisted with the Whisperers just fine, imo.

...Though I suppose the real engineer behind this whole War is Negan. After all, he was originally responsible for planting the idea in Rick's head to begin with, lol. The dude is one hell of a tactician. 👆

Covers generally don't hint at what happens in the comic but it makes me wonder what Rick is walking up to because of all of the others looking so scared.

Perhaps it is the Whisperer Horde? Or a skinned member of the group with one fo the Whisperers wearing their skin.

Has it ever been revealed what the people in twd did before the outbreak? i know negan was a coach and rick was a sheriff, but has anyone elses professions been mentioned?

Michonne was a lawyer.

Maggie was on that farm.

Carl was a kid.

Rick/Shane - police officers
Negan - grade school PE teacher
Michonne - lawyer
Gabriel - preacher
Eugene - high school science teacher
Glenn - pizza delivery boy
The Governor - some sort of undisclosed office job
Douglas Monroe - Ohio congressman
Ezekiel - zookeeper
Alexander Davidson - security liaison at the white house
Tyreese - retired NFL linebacker
Abraham/Dwight - soldiers in US army
Andrea - clerk at a law firm
Dale - retired car salesman
Hershel - veterinarian
Denise/Pete/Carson - doctors

...That's all I can think of at the moment.

Thanks! are all of them still alive in the comics?

Also, what is your favorite arc? where is a good place to start?

Originally posted by Don Draper
Thanks! are all of them still alive in the comics?

Originally posted by Galan007

Spoiler:

Rick - police officer
Negan - grade school PE teacher
Michonne - lawyer
Eugene - high school science teacher
Dwight - soldier in US army
Andrea - clerk at a law firm

Originally posted by Don Draper
Also, what is your favorite arc? where is a good place to start?

A good starting point is issue #1. Only by reading the series from start-current, and seeing all of the events that have led up to this point, will you be able to understand the true depth of the series as a whole.

Originally posted by Galan007
A good starting point is issue #1. Only by reading the series from start-current, and seeing all of the events that have led up to this point, will you be able to understand the true depth of the series as a whole.

👆

Amen.

Thanks guys! i think i'm gonna start reading this.

One last question for today lol; i've seen people post jesus's feats. where in the hell did he learn his ma skills? has his back-story been brought up at all in the books?

Nope, not yet. Lots of questions unanswered.

From wikia:

Robert Kirkman confirmed in Letter Hacks that Jesus' father is the reason he's highly skilled.

Source: http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Paul_Monroe_(Comic_Series)

Letter Hacks = letter column.

^ I've seen that on the Wiki as well, but was never able to find the issue it was supposedly stated in. But even if it was stated, it just seems like a play on the Jesus/God dynamic -- ie. Jesus' 'father'(God) taught him his mad skills. I could totally see Kirkman trolling us like that.

OR it's possible that his origin/backstory could change. I mean, in the Letter Hacks from issue #143, Kirkman stated that Negan was a used car salesman before the outbreak:

...But as we now know, he was canonically a PE teacher.

Hell, Kirkman has even stated in the Hacks section that he lies to fans all the time, lol.

As for expanding on Jesus' origin, Kirkman teased it in the Letter Hacks section of issue #135:

He actually followed through with the above teaser by giving us Negan's backstory -- so once that has wrapped up, hopefully we'll get a "Here's Jesus" backstory as well. droolio

Speaking of Letter Hacks:

...It's awesome to hear that Kirkman has at least the next 50-100 issues loosely planned out. 👆

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The official cover for the next issue:

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And finally, these are the 6 alternate, interlocking covers for 'The Whisperer War' event:

Pretty f*cking awesome. droolio

Originally posted by Galan007
The official cover for the next issue:

Eugene.

Originally posted by Galan007
Eugene.

I predict/hope it'll be something like this:

Euge: My radio gf will save you all!

Negan: Fool! You have doomed us all!

*goes Abe on Euge, knocking him out (or killing him)*

I realize he's a valuable asset, but the urge to see him gone is too strong.

Covers tend to be misleading so often, your scenario of Euge saving the day is more likely, though.

Yeah, I think the Stephanie/Ohio thing was introduced as a 'Chekhov's Gun' of sorts. It will play a major role in *some* fashion before all is said and done, imo. Perhaps Eugene will call them in to save the day... But another likely scenario is: The Whisperers will win -- or they'll at least destroy the colonies during this war(Hilltop already looks f*cked, tbh.) In the aftermath, Eugene will tell the survivors of the Ohio community, and they'll ultimately travel there for sanctuary.

I'd actually prefer the latter plot, tbh. Lots of potential... Though it would be a real shame to see everything the communities have done get washed down the drain.

*If Eugene is killed, that'd honestly set the groups back by yearS. They owe most of their technological/strategical accomplishments solely to him. Eugene is the Reed Richards of TWD. 👆

Yeah... I'd love to see Rick & Co. back on the road again.

If Whisperers do not succeed, then maybe the Saviours will deliver the final blow.

👆 Another great point.

Aside from Dwight, the rest of the Saviors have been strangely absent from this war.

*MASSIVE SPOILERS - DUE NOT READ UNLESS YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW "THE WHISPERER WAR" ENDS*

...YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, F*CKERS!!!

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The Walking Dead #163

Spoiler:

Cover: http://i.imgur.com/jdIx6PO.png
Story: Robert Kirkman
Art: Charlie Adlard, Stefano Gaudiano & Cliff Rathburn
Cover: Charlie Adlard & Dave Stewart
February 1

New Story Arc: "Conquered"

In the aftermath of the Whisperer War: ALL IS LOST.
BY the way as we mentioned in a previous post this issue will only cost 25 cents to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Image Comics!

The Walking Dead #164

Spoiler:

Cover: http://i.imgur.com/yIDL3cD.png
Story: Robert Kirkman
Art: Charlie Adlard, Stefano Gaudiano, Cliff Rathburn
Cover: Charlie Adlard, Dave Stewart
February 15

"A Fallen House"
Maggie leads the survivors from the Hilltop to Alexandria... to see it overrun with the dead.
Also, holy crap! There are two issues of THE WALKING DEAD this month!

-Source
*Props to OAS for sending this info my way.

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Anyway,

Spoiler:
That is what I thought would happen -- the Whisperers winning just seemed inevitable(I mentioned this above.) While I am excited to see where the plot goes from here, it also REALLY sucks to lose the key communities... They had come SO far. Now it's just a matter of finding out who dies when this event reaches its crescendo. Kirkman has already promised multiple major character deaths.

Cover for issue #162 -- conclusion of The Whisperer War:

*Fun fact: this is the first time a living character has actually been shown getting killed on a cover of TWD.