Review of "The Walking Dead Volume 4: The Heart’s Desire," by Robert Kirkman et. al.

Review of

The Walking Dead Volume 4: The Heart’s Desire, by Robert Kirkman et. al. 

ISBN 9781582405308

Five out of five stars

 The small band led by Rick has found safety inside a prison compound, but one of the inmates wants them out of the place. The previous issue ended with him pointing a shotgun at Rick and telling him to get his group together and leave. This crisis is resolved, but there are other festering issues.

 All of the people in the small band of live ones have suffered extreme trauma and have to accept the knowledge that nearly all of their loved ones are truly dead or among the walking dead. Therefore, there is a great deal of tension that magnifies their emotions, which often surface to create relationship difficulties. All through this, there is a large gang of the walking dead just on the other side of the outermost fence that is trying to get in.

 Now that the group has been established in a permanent and relatively safe location, it is time to begin the establishment of a permanent leadership group as well as beginning food production and other ways in which civilization can be rebuilt. It is a struggle, for there are so few people and the natural tensions when there are hopelessly unattached people of either gender. Jealousy and other negative emotions arise, all of which can create problems affecting the chances of their surviving.

 This is a great extended story of how to rebuild a civilization after a horrendous cataclysm. The survivors do not exhibit a great deal of nobility in the development of the concept of considering the good of the group above all else. Exactly how humans would behave, even when faced with the prospect of all of humanity being killed by the zombie plague.