Review of "The Walking Dead: Volume 7 This Sorrowful Life," by Robert Kirkman et. al.

Review of

The Walking Dead: Volume 7 This Sorrowful Life, by Robert Kirkman et. al. ISBN 9781582406848

Five out of five stars

 The adventures of Rick and his small band continue, after sighting a crashing helicopter, Rick and two others leave the safety of their compound to look for survivors. Making their way to a town held by a small group of living people, they discover a grotesque mini-society ruled by a psychopath going by the name of “the governor.”

 The governor understands that Rick and the two others came from a safer location than he has, so he tries to extract the information via torture. In a macabre sequence of events, Rick and his friends manage to escape with two members of the community, one a soldier and the other a woman with medical knowledge.

 Once they return to the prison, Rick realizes that he has changed far more than he thought he had. After killing someone that he knew must die, he ponders the man’s last words, which were about doing what is necessary to protect your loved ones. This affects Rick greatly, he realizes that doing the right thing for his group can mean the sacrifice of others that have done nothing he would not have done. They were just on the other side of the survival divide.

 This once again demonstrates the power of this series of graphic novels. It is so much more than just killing zombies, it is about how a catastrophic and continuing disaster can affect people. Fear and paranoia become valuable traits that will keep you alive in a world where death is walking everywhere. For some, insanity also becomes a trait essential for survival.