Posted in: Comics | Tagged: charlie adlard, image comics, robert kirkman, skybound, walking dead

A Decade of Dead: What the Hell is Happening in Walking Dead 118?!

Published Sat, 12 Oct 2013 17:00:14 -0500

Elizabeth Heyman writes for Bleeding Cool:

To honor the tenth anniversary of The Walking Dead comic, the book's creators hosted a panel filled with jokes, stories, and almost no real indication of what lies ahead for the groundbreaking zombie epic.

At yesterday's panel, Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard turned giving cryptic answers draped in sarcasm into an art form, using each fan question to tease of the audience of what could happen in the new story arch but always ending their statements with "…or maybe not!" In fact, "could" was the word of the day and was abused frequently. For example, in response to the question of if there was any other character besides Rick that was capable of leading the group, Kirkman suggested, "We'll see some interesting things coming from Maggie soon and that she could be seen more through that role maybe," but then again maybe not.

The most popular ongoing joke of the panel was the constant allusions to the mysterious issue 118. Every time a fan referenced a tragic death or gory scene from past issues the creators would say something along the lines of "you thought that was bad, well just wait until issue 118!" It seemed like cause for concern for the longest time. That was until Kirkman laughed and said, "I don't even remember what happens in that issue." It most likely existed as purely a gag between the writer and artist but a concerned fan would worry then why they would even bring it up.

The new story arch titled "All Out War" premiered this past Wednesday with issue 115 and hardly any information has been released on it though not much detail was given at the panel either besides the next few covers. The only real hint that was given at yesterday's panel of what's to come was that the zombies will be playing a bigger role and posing a larger threat to the humans, whose relationships and conflicts had become the focal point for the more recent plotlines, nearly pushing the zombies out completely.

However, Kirkman did hint that there would be a more exciting reveal possibly today at the panel for the television show. Again, with his sarcastic tone, we can only hope that that wasn't a joke as well.

But there's still plenty more going on in the Dead universe than just what happens in the pages and on the screen. To celebrate the ten year anniversary, Pillar 37 (517 West 37th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues) is hosting an exhibit of all things Walking Dead including original artwork and props from the tv series.

This will also be the location of Charlie Adlard's book signing, today from 11 AM – 1 PM. The book, titled The Artwork of Charlie Adlard, features his artwork from other projects which include many zombie-free illustrations.

In addition to Adlard's book release, "Decade of Dead" is a documentary on the evolution of the franchise and is said to premiere at a private screening at Pillar 37 before becoming available online at thewalkingdead.com sometime next week.

However, for those still desperate for exclusive comic gossip, the biggest takeaway from this panel is really not to listen to Kirkman and Adlard's sarcastic, witty banter too seriously. Their responses also occasionally promised Dragons and magic potions but I don't see the book turning into a fantasy novel anytime soon. Answers to suspenseful questions will just have to come in the form of the new issues as they are released.