Walking Dead 103 Review Short Version: I am pretty enamored with the post-Negan Walking Dead. Rick’s plan to undermine Negan by pretending to acquiesce may result in the loss of the trust of those he is trying to protect. Negan comes I take what he is owed in this issue and the subtle tension is fantastic.
Walking Dead 103 Writer:Robert Kirkman
Walking Dead 103 Art: Charlie Adlard
Walking Dead 103 Review
Walking Dead 103 finds Rick and company faced with the first visit from Negan after Rick has implemented his secret plan to subvert Negan while pretending to have given up. Still, his first challenge comes from within and Rick does what he has so rarely done: he makes the easier, personal decision instead of staying with the plan. I’m interested to see if that backfires in the long-run, but I certainly found it to be an interesting moment. This is another great issue, continuing to give Negan the upper-hand in his fight against Rick, with Negan’s arrogance being stifling, as it should be. He clearly feels like he has this under control and wants to make sure that Rick and the rest of his crew understand who is in charge. As we know from the last issue, Rick has a plan in place, but knowing the character as well as we have come to know him after over 100 issues certainly makes it hard to swallow watching him take abuse from Negan. The whole process, however, is necessary. It is only fun to watch a bad guy be defeated if the bad guy is set up as a legitimate threat and, certainly, Negan has been set up that way. Still, once Rick’s plan really gets going, I doubt that the crew will be getting out of the fight without some major losses, and I wonder if the loss of trust won’t be the worst of all of them.
