REVIEW: ‘The Walking Dead,’ Issue #187

I’m still having a hard time trying to understand what happened in issue 186. No other death in The Walking Dead show or comic series surprised me more than Glen’s death, but Dwight dying the way he did catch me by surprise. I still don’t agree with the logic behind deciding to kill him, by I can understand it. He had gone too far, and there probably wasn’t anything that could be done to bring him back to normal. I would’ve wanted them to delve deeper into the aftermath, but it seems like that won’t be the case.

The Walking Dead issue 187, which was published by Image Comics and written by Robert Kirkman. The other contributors in the comic are Charlie Adlard (penciler), Stefano Guadiano (inker), Rus Wooton (letterer), and Cliff Rathburn (gray tones). It picks up right after Rick shot Dwight, saving Governor Milton’s life. Milton informs the people of the Common Wealth about what happened, specifically pointing out that it was Rick who saved her life.

Rick points out that he wants all of this handled in a peaceful manner, and will do everything he can to make sure it goes that way. Magna sends Siddiq on a mission to gather more people from Hilltop to see why Rick has been gone so long. Juanita plans to leave The Common Wealth, providing a long explanation to Mercer as to why she’s leaving. Sophia and Joshua are on a date, while Carl watches from afar. Lydia snaps at Carl for even caring about her, which leads to an even bigger argument.

Laura and Mercer are seemingly plotting some sort of coup against Governor Milton. Michone and Rick finally talk about what went down with Dwight. By the end of their conversation, everything seems to be solved between them. Siddiq arrives at Hilltop and Maggie calls a meeting. They talk about The Common Wealth and Magna’s plan. Carl demands to go and talks with Lydia about the fight they had the night before.

Back at The Common Wealth, Mercer and other soldiers are at the locker rooms. The soldiers are complaining about the rough days they have. Mercer points out that no one could probably remember a good day they had. He asks if any of the soldiers enjoy risking their lives for Milton or any of the other leaders. He begins to tell them about his plan to overthrow the people in charge as Lance and other soldiers walk in and tell Mercer that Milton will be disappointed in him.

Even though I still consider myself a fan of the series, I can’t say I enjoyed this issue. There were a lot of things that lead me to not like this issue. First, it’s hard to imagine that a conflict like the one that Michone and Rick had because of what happened in the last issue could be solved that easily. The way it ended made it feel like Dwight’s death was going to have a major impact on the series as a whole.

It all just feels like wasted potential now. Not only that, but the relationship between Carl and Lydia was one of the most interesting things I’ve read. I was captivated by the way it was written and the immense character growth the two characters had. They seem to suffer from typical relationship struggles, which would be interesting to see if they were written better.

What I did like about the series was that Governor Milton’s speech to her people. She specifically mentioned that Dwight was one of Rick’s people. This could serve as a future point that someone could use to their advantage; perhaps Milton herself. I also thought that Magna had the right idea when wanting more people to go to The Common Wealth to search for Rick. This could possibly lead to a future conflict. I would’ve thought that Laura and Mercer’s plan to overtake the community would’ve worked, but maybe it’ll still happen.

Overall, I’m still not quite content with the direction the comic is going. This could be because of how long it’s been running. But you can only take on so many groups before it starts getting old. Hope this saga adds more ingenuity.

The Walking Dead #187 is out now and can be found wherever comic books are sold.