The Walking Dead #172

172: HILLTOP REBORN

Written by Robert Kirkman
Penciled by Charlie Adlard
Cover by Charlie Adlard
Published Oct 4, 2017

   Juanita goes to get her stuff and Michonne and company get tired of waiting. She finally returns equipped with a spear, later asking Michonne for her gun back but being denied. “Whatever. I have others..” she replies.

Michonne just being a dick.

   Meanwhile Annie returns to the compound with a few new horses, telling Rick to not be worried about the others before mentioning Mikey waiting for him. He goes and finds the boy and teaches him how to plant some seeds. While Hilltop rebuilds, Dante marks Negan’s location on a map for Maggie while Carl revels in how much progress they’ve made rebuilding.
   Paul and Aaron decide they want to move back to the Hilltop. They go to tell Rick and find him sleeping at Andrea’s grave. Back at the Hilltop, Maggie thanks William for all the help rebuilding and he mentions she seems preoccupied. Meanwhile Lydia and Carl keep talking and she thanks him for sticking by her. With all the ways she’s seen the community coming together, she finally feels like she belongs. They hug each other while Sophia meanmugs them in the background.

Lydia Sux 4-Eva! - Sophia BFF 

   With Michonne’s Group, Yumiko asks Magna why she won’t publicly disclose their relationship. While they discuss, Michonne lets Princess thread out some walkers with her spear. They walk back and Yumiko blabs it to the group, although it was apparantly no real secret. Back at Alexandria, Aaron and Paul leave out and Rick sends his thanks. In the tents, Carl can’t sleep and rises to find Sophia awake outside. They talk and she reveals to him that she misses their talks. He tells her they’ll talk more while Maggie sits in her tent fretting. WE get one more page of Rick crying at Andrea’s grave when finally we see Paul looking at Aaron as he sleeps. Behind him walks a quiet Beta with a huge set of knives. With that, we’re left to be continued.

Maybe he just wants to cook for the guys?

   With the season 8 premier the other night, this book finds itself continuing further down a path that may or may not follow the television series and I for one am totally cool with it. Robert Kirkman has given us some amazing characters but the writers of the show have managed to develop them in more complex ways. If you’ve ever watched the show with me, you’d see that I’m a constant critic of how much time they waste by focusing on an inanimate object like a cane or a clock for minutes at a time to burn up showtime. It’s good to know Robert Kirkman still does the same with his comics. As is par for the course, his concise last issue meant this one would be crammed with dialogue and getting a panel in for every character. Guess that means I’ll be looking forward to the shorter one to come. I give this one a 6/10.

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