It’s here! It’s finally here! The seminal 50th issue of my favorite comic book series out now is here and wow, does it ever make good on its promise and hype! If the allusions to the first issue with Carl on the cover isn’t enough, we’re also given a wonderful variant that features all of the gang fighting the Gov and his crew… as superheroes! They’re bulky, they’re muscle bound and they have powers! Rick has a super fist, Michonne has a light saber, and Tyreese punches the head off of roamers with ease and giant fists.
It’s an excellent awfully brilliant in joke from Kirkman and co. giving us that wonderful battle depicted through the classic comic scheme of exaggerated action poses and ridiculous character schemes, while also reminding us that what we’re about to read is far from the sugar coated superhero crap we usually read. Save for “Invincible” of course. The good aren’t always good, and the evil are from evil. So, this is the issue we’ve been waiting for for a while. Does Rick die? Is this the issue where Carl is killed by the walking dead, finally? Does Carl come across an ally to help him? What will happen next? Well, as usual, Kirkman gives us very little in the way of answers and resolution, because this is frankly just a buffer to lead in to the next arc, and that arc will involve Carl figuring out ways to survive on his own as he’s pushed in to a corner.
So, that means Rick is dead, right? I’m not saying yes, and I’m not saying no, I’m just saying with Kirkman, you just never know what he’s going to do to readers who almost always fail to predict what’s coming up next. People expecting zombie hunting madness will be surprised to see that Kirkman goes more for an issue where it all comes out. Carl has finally realized that he’s on his own and suddenly knows Rick is on his way to death now with his massive infection that he’s staving off as hard as he can. This is the issue where Kirkman wants audiences to know that Carl is not the disposable character who is doomed to die at any moment. This is the different Carl.
He’s no longer the wide eyed, curious, wannabe who is playing with other kids. He’s a bit older, much wiser, and is accepting that it’s time to grow up before he even reaches puberty. More so, he’s accepted the responsibility as the saving grace for his dad, but can he survive out there without Rick to aide him? There are some brilliant moments of pure emotional power here as Kirkman allows the Carl character to vent his frustrations and shows readers that he was much more than a simple observer who was oblivious. He knew what was happening to everyone, and he’s really angry at his father. This is a fantastic 50th issue, and I’m so glad to have finally read it. Shoot, I read it twice.