The Walking Dead Vol. 13: Too Far Gone by Robert Kirkman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I love The Walking Dead, but this volume of the long-running series is a bit underwhelming.

We've followed Rick Grimes and his companions for a few years now as they travel across a zombie-overrun United States, attempting to come to survive and develop a new life for themselves. The series has been fascinating for its psychological realism; Kirkman explores the limits of the human mind, just what people will do when their survival is on the line, and how they struggle to maintain some semblance of sanity in a post-apocalyptic world. But, I wonder a bit about what may be left to explore.

This and the previous volume deal with Rick Grimes' arrival at a "gated community" of sorts -- a group of people who have managed to build a small, stable village, relatively "normal" and protected from the horrors of the zombies outside their walls. The drama arises from the conflict between the members of the community -- who have gotten used to a return to a quasi-normal life -- and Rick Grimes' group, strung out from month upon month of living on the edge. The problems that were teased at the end of the last volume emerge here, but they are resolved too quickly and neatly, undermining the naturalistic feel of the series thus far. Another potential threat that is raised is also quickly dealt with, making it seem like an exercise in treading water. The cliffhanger ending promises interesting new developments, but I wonder if the upshot of them will be any different than what we've already seen. There's also some potential in the growing tension between Rick and his son Carl, but again, I don't know what Kirkman can do that will wow us the way he had in the past.

I think that, just maybe, it is time for Kirkman to begin moving us to the endgame. Either that, or something "game-changing" needs to happen -- a shift to all new characters in a radically different situation, something that makes the series new again. While I'll probably keep reading the series as long as Kirkman keeps writing it -- provided it doesn't get completely terrible -- it is slowly moving down my priority list. I am mildly hopeful for the next installment, but I think that The Walking Dead is past its heyday.



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