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The Official The Walking Dead Discussion Thread
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40,446 posts in this topic

On 7/2/2019 at 1:29 AM, Rip said:

Guess he thought it was best to bury his own, ran out of ideas,

Wander Wander Wander....run into crazy group and battle-  Governor's Camp

Wander Wander Wander....run into crazy group and battle-  Cannibals

Wander Wander Wander...run into crazy group and battle-  Neegan

I saw a pattern and got bored.  

Edited by Mercury Man
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:whatthe: ... 

Edit: took me a little while to gather my thoughts...

Still shocked it happened this way... but yeah it either needed to either go somewhere entirely new with what was being explored or finish.

The real reason that I am sad to see it end isn't because I wanted to see more of the same, or that I was truly emotionally invested in the story for quite some time... it's because it was the book which brought me back into the fold after years of being an uber casual occasional TPB reader. TWD during its first few years was refreshing. It felt like a well needed kick to the arse of the campy capes and costumes I was mostly fed up with.

Obviously there is plenty of other gritty/horror/indie stuff out there ... but maybe without it I wouldn't have found the time to go back over a lot of old indie/imprint books with that spark of originality which I hadn't previously made time for, or moved forward into what this era has to offer... or now currently be churning though a lot of Franco-Belgian comics as there is a real wealth of storytelling there which is where I know I want to be, miles away from the often bland offerings of the big two (it's a joy that so much of it has been translated in digital format now and that I have decades worth of material to catch up on, I still pick up some physical copies in French when on holiday, and I can get by, but it's sometimes hard going). I'm not going to knock the DC and Marvel stuff I used to love as a kid, I just have to pick and choose a lot more as I have gotten older.

So yeah... a journey of 193 issues and everything else that went with it.

Edited by Garf
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I'm sad to see it go. I echo the sentiment of others that this is what kept me in the LCS for a good long stretch in the 2000's. If not for TWD, I probably would have given up collecting, or at least given up on moderns.

Reading the issue, I think it's clear that Kirkman had an ending in mind (and the letter confirmed as much). I think it's fair for the writer to simply say "I can't get any more out of this, it's only going to get worse and it's time to end on my terms." And that's what he did.

Spoiler

I don't agree with his statement in the letter that as soon as he saw that society had been rebuilt that it was time for the ending. Even after 142 came out, he still introduced plenty that continued to add more and more runway to the "expanding" world. I understand that the commonwealth was where things most logically ended, at least for Rick, but beyond the new characters, the book was seemingly starting to touch on socio-political issues what with the Hilltop and Alexandria vis a vis the Commonwealth.

In any event, given the unresolved Negan story (and the acknowledgment that Negan's ostensibly still around at the house to which Carl brought supplies) there was a post-Rick, pre-ending story I simply think Kirkman was just too burned out to tell. I don't believe, for a second, that this wrapping up after Rick's death was planned as the ending from 2015, or 2017. I think this was a this year kind of thing. I truly believe Kirkman realized where the story would go after Rick, whether it was to Negan or Carl, and at the same time knowing he wanted to end it with Carl on the rocking chair with his daughter, and he realized at some point he was going to time-hop again, and instead of telling five years more of stories that his heart just wasn't in, he'd time hop the 20 years or so from 192 to 193 and just be done with it.

I'm glad it didn't end on a high, because that would have betrayed the story. I'm glad it didn't end on a low, because something that went that long should at least end with some feeling of hope, but I am sad that it just kind of ended.

Spoiler

That said, I don't think it's "over". I think we will see a Negan spin-off, and the "Western" civilization in a series, even if it's just a Fear adaptation.

 

Edited by TSwift25
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1 hour ago, Crops068 said:

This is misleading, the letter is 6 pages.  And honestly that letter alone wow, hats off to you Mr. Kirkman!

 

If you have access it the to the entire letter, please print it. 

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Great last issue and even better heartfelt letter and 'thank you' to close it out.

As sad as I am that this amazing comic has ended I will cherish the friendships I have made through this comic.  People I probably would have never met if it wasn't for this book. 

Remember....

 we-are-the-walking-dead-1423837065.jpg.3c5db430831b0ab4f510869407979516.jpg

Always

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2 minutes ago, cbalroman said:

Great last issue and even better heartfelt letter and 'thank you' to close it out.

As sad as I am that this amazing comic has ended I will cherish the friendships I have made through this comic.  People I probably would have never met if it wasn't for this book. 

Remember....

 we-are-the-walking-dead-1423837065.jpg.3c5db430831b0ab4f510869407979516.jpg

Always

I think your last point is why this one stings. Readers had no time to emotionally prepare for the end. 

Definitely a lot of good times spent with this book and talking about it with good people. I've been revisiting that feeling I had when reading 1-48 for the first time. What a ride.

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7 hours ago, Mercury Man said:

Wander Wander Wander....run into crazy group and battle-  Governor's Camp

Wander Wander Wander....run into crazy group and battle-  Cannibals

Wander Wander Wander...run into crazy group and battle-  Neegan

I saw a pattern and got bored.  

I said that years ago on Facebook and got run out of town. Was my favourite title, but became stale rather quickly after about 50-60 issues.

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2 minutes ago, The Brain said:

Check yours as well.:bigsmile:

I saw, if others missed out and want to see the letter in its entirity, I don't mind providing in a PM.

IMO page 3-4 tell much more to the story as to the why of the ending of the series.  And it makes me respect Kirkman and his decision.  It being left out of pretty much all I had seen online before reading it in person changed my opinion of this issue immediately (for the better).

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