Rick has gone over the edge. He's alienating everyone around him, people he's come to know and trust, his family, his friends. Rick is becoming more and more isolated within the group. Where he goes from here will test the limits of his humanity.
Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.
Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.
In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.
Found this issue very interesting: what is the 'law' going to look like after the zombie apocalypse? How will laws be made? Who will enforce the laws? After a member of the group is discovered to be a killer the group has different opinions on how to punish him: the age old debate on the death penalty is addressed in a very unique way.
Lori is pissing me off again. She needs to be on Rick's side. She should know her husband better than anyone and yet she can not be bothered to trust him and it annoys the hell out of me.
Shut up, Lori. Blaming the pregnancy for you being a bitch is no excuse, you just ARE a bitch. You were a bitch all the time BEFORE you were pregnant, and now you are an even BIGGER bitch now that you are pregnant.
I know that Rick is trying to comfort Carl and Lori, but he should not make promises that he might not be able to keep. Telling them that Thomas would not kill them is stupid, since he already killed Hershel's daughters and tried to kill Andrea.
Andrea is a damn moron. Instead of worrying about how you look you idiot, you SHOULD be worried about being able to hear. You need to be able to hear for your own safety and for everyone else's.
Rick's hand was disgusting in the pictures, and I am surprised he did not react if all his fingers were broken. He would have been in a shit ton of pain, the whole hand was busted up.
Dexter needs to get over himself. He is the one who was in jail for committing a crime. Rick and his group have a reason for believing that he is capable of murder.
Hershel is fucking insane. Someone needs to kill this asshole and put both him and me out of our misery. The way he treats his damn son by hitting him and going all bible thumper and condemning him to hell. The guy has a shit load of problems.
Dale is right about Rick. Rick is going crazy, it is like he has split personalities with the way he flip flops back and forth between optimism and rage.
I think it is a stupid idea for Dale and Andrea to leave the prison and the group. The two of them would be killed out there within a week, if that, with all the zombies that are about.
I for one, have no problem with Tyreese putting Thomas in the bathroom and leaving the guy to die from suffocation, though I DO like the idea of hanging the asshole, a lot better.
Hershel saying that he wanted to watch Rick and the others hang Thomas has me a lot worried. Hershel's behavior has been all over the place and while you can't blame him since he has lost so much, I still would not want to spend much time around him right now. He is acting crazy.
Maggie saying that she did not want to love Glenn anymore, made me sad as I like them. As both individual characters and as a couple. I hope she changes her mind.
Patricia is a moron and they should have let Thomas kill her stupid ass, then someone should have killed him. Oh well, I will happily settle for Maggie killing him.
GOOD. They threw Thomas to the zombies. I am okay with that. Those freaks will eat him up and he will never be seen again. That is fine by me, as I just wanted him dead, did not really care how.
Rick is SO damn stupid. He should have locked that bitch Patricia up as soon as she tried to free Thomas. It is more than she deserves, the stupid whore.
Oh! And now the bitch has sided with Dexter and the prisoners. What a STUPID move on your part, Patricia. Those assholes would rather take you out than have to deal with you, any day.
Oh damn, Rick is in some shit now. I wonder what he is going to do so that Dexter or any of the other prisoners do not kill him or the group. It would have to be something drastic.
Still loving this series and can not wait to read more.
I found these deluxe editions thinking it was the way I was reading these before. I had been on #18, I thought. But although this is the same story, these $1.99 comics are shorter in length. It seems about where I left off before, maybe a little of a review, but easy to get back on track.
I love The Walking Dead. I love human interactions. The monsters, the dead, don't scare me as much as the people. As would happen in a situation like this, you don't know who to trust anymore.
Rick is going crazy in this edition, and we are not even sure about him.
This may be the way to go if you can't afford to read the larger editions that cost a lot. I love reading the comics on the Kindle because you can enlarge to a frame-by-frame situation and see the picture and words better than a paper version. I'm spoiled reading comics this way, even though I have had cataract surgery and can now read paper books.
After the intense events of the previous issue, The Walking Dead #18 continues with even more emotional drama and simmering tension. This issue sets a darker tone, showing how quickly trust can unravel in a world where fear and desperation rule every decision.
The issue begins with a tender moment between Lori and Carl. Lori, having left Carl in the care of Allen, tries to comfort her son after witnessing the brutal events involving his father. Carl, grappling with the traumatic realization that his father is capable of killing, asks if Rick is crazy and if he might hurt him one day. Lori tries to reassure Carl by explaining that Rick only hurt bad people, like Thomas—the man who killed Rachel and Susie and tried to kill Andrea. In a chilling comparison, Carl brings up Shane, whom he killed before Shane could harm Rick. Lori confirms that Thomas, like Shane, was dangerous, and Carl’s actions were justified.
Rick unexpectedly joins the conversation, adding that he, too, did the right thing. This moment was one of the few where Rick attempts to explain his burden of leadership to Lori, who has been increasingly distant. It was a quiet but powerful scene as Rick pleads for Lori’s understanding, reminding her that the group looks to him to keep them safe, and his decisions aren’t made lightly. Despite the violence and brutality he’s had to enact, Rick is trying to maintain some shred of humanity, but it’s clear that the weight of his choices is starting to wear on him. Lori, for her part, seems caught between frustration and exhaustion, not just from her pregnancy but also from the stress of their entire situation. For the first time, she acknowledges that her behavior has been erratic, attributing it to the overwhelming pressure of surviving in this new world. In a small but telling moment, she finally agrees that Thomas needs to be executed.
One of the more heartbreaking scenes follows Dale walking Andrea to their cell after she was brutally attacked by Thomas. Dale tends to her wounds, confirming that her ear lobe was severed but that she’ll still be able to hear. What stands out here is Andrea’s despair over her appearance—more than her physical pain, she’s devastated by the fact that she feels like a “freak” now. Dale, always the comforter, reassures her that she’ll still be beautiful once she’s cleaned up, but you can tell that this attack has left a deep emotional scar. This exchange also serves to highlight how much Andrea values her appearance, a small vestige of her former life, and how the apocalypse is slowly stripping away everything that made her feel human.
In a particularly gruesome and visceral scene, Rick goes to get his hand cleaned up by Dale after the brutal beating he inflicted on Thomas. Dale is horrified by the state of Rick’s hand, noting that nearly every finger appears to be broken. Despite the damage, Rick expresses no regret, fully aware that his hand may never fully recover. This scene is crucial as it symbolizes how Rick is slowly sacrificing parts of himself—both literally and figuratively—in his mission to protect the group. His broken hand becomes a physical manifestation of the internal toll leading has taken on him.
Meanwhile, Rick releases Dexter from his cell, clearing him of suspicion now that the true culprit, Thomas, has been identified. Their interaction is brief, but it leaves a lasting impression—Dexter is a dangerous man, and although he’s free, there’s an underlying tension between him and Rick. Dexter’s line about not trusting anyone, especially after learning Thomas’s true nature, hints at the coming storm.
One of the more shocking moments in the issue is Hershel’s violent outburst against his son, Billy. It’s a raw, emotional moment as Hershel, overwhelmed by grief and guilt over his daughters' deaths, beats Billy for his earlier comments. It’s clear that Hershel is unraveling, and his faith is being severely tested. This scene effectively shows how even the most composed and devout characters are reaching their breaking points, which adds to the growing sense of dread within the group.
As the issue progresses, Glenn and Tyreese decide to lock Thomas in a freezer, symbolic in a way—putting the "waste with the waste." But Rick, ever the pragmatist, reminds them that the freezer is airtight, and Thomas would suffocate. The decision to move him to a cell instead sets up the pivotal moment where Maggie finally takes matters into her own hands. When Patricia, in a misguided attempt to “help” Thomas, frees him, only for him to attack her, Maggie arrives and shoots him six times in the back. The image of Maggie standing over Thomas’s body, gun still smoking, is haunting. Her line, "Now I feel a little better," perfectly encapsulates the mixture of anger, grief, and catharsis she feels after losing her siblings to this monster. It’s a defining moment for Maggie, marking a shift in her character from someone who felt powerless in her grief to someone who takes control of her own fate.
The issue ends on an even darker note. As the group debates what to do next, with Hershel requesting that Thomas’s body be thrown to the zombies outside, they are interrupted by Dexter, now armed with a shotgun, pointing it at Rick’s head. Dexter’s final words, "Get the fuck out of my house," signal a complete upheaval of the fragile order Rick has been trying to maintain. The conflict within the group has now reached a boiling point, and the next issue promises to be explosive.
There’s so much to unpack in this issue, but what struck me the most was the exploration of trust and the cost of leadership. Rick is desperately trying to hold everything together, but he’s clearly struggling under the weight of making life-and-death decisions for everyone. I felt for him when he begged Lori for her support—it’s clear he’s emotionally exhausted, and her constant flip-flopping only adds to his burden. Lori’s acknowledgment that her pregnancy and exhaustion are making her irrational was a small moment of redemption, but I still find her incredibly frustrating as a character. Her hypocrisy, especially after criticizing Rick for his actions, feels tone-deaf considering the stakes.
Maggie’s development was a highlight for me. Her decision to kill Thomas was cold and calculated, but it was a necessary act of justice. In a world where morality is constantly being redefined, Maggie’s willingness to do what needs to be done shows her growth as a character. The brutal realism of this issue—particularly with Thomas’s death and Hershel’s unraveling—reinforces the central theme of The Walking Dead: the greatest threat isn’t always the walkers; it’s the people you’re trying to survive with.
The final scene with Dexter turning on Rick left me anxious for what’s to come. It’s a clear reminder that no matter how hard Rick tries, there will always be someone ready to challenge his authority. The prison, which was supposed to be a sanctuary, is quickly becoming a battleground. This issue sets the stage for a violent power struggle, and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
Overall, The Walking Dead #18 is a tense, character-driven issue that expertly balances personal drama with the ever-present danger of the apocalypse. Every decision feels weighty, every interaction charged with emotion. This issue left me on edge, eagerly anticipating the fallout in the next installment.
¡Oh, wow, cada número me deja boquiabierta, estoy impresionada! Los cómics son tan adictivos como la serie. Pero estoy que no puedo con Lori, ¡por favor, matenla! Es un completo desespero. Cada vez que habla estoy tipo: [image error]
Being a huge fan of the show, I wanted to see how the original writing started and how the show writers followed and deviated from the comics. My dislikes were that the comics are much more crude, crass, and unnecessarily violent. I did like the change in relationships and how people worked together differently, and the comics have a different creepiness feel than you get watching it on TV. Overall, I prefer the show, and probably will not finish out the comic book series.
Rick Grimes is a strong-willed deputy who missed the end of the world because he was in a coma for a month after getting shot in the line of duty. Shaken, starving and confused, Rick escapes the horror of the abandoned hospital only to be met with something far more terrible. Not only has the world ended, but the dead have learned to walk and to kill without mercy. After learning that his wife and son have fled to Atlanta from a single survivor and his son, Rick goes on a journey to reunite with his family and search for more survivors.
Rick quickly has to come to terms with the fact that the world has ended and only a select few survived. The dead have risen from their graves and they prey on the living. In a world where every minute feels like hours, where there's no such thing as law and order, where finding a small meal is a tremendous task, the walking dead are quite possibly the least threatening thing for the survivors to have on their breaking minds. Humanity is pushed to the brink of destruction, forcing them to embrace their cruel and primal nature in order to survive. Sometimes you have to be more concerned about who you let into your community so they don't kill you in your sleep and steal everything you once cared about. Rick has no choice but to abandon the ways of law and order that he's upheld as an officer for so long in order to protect the few loved ones he has left. He has to become a monster to protect his crew or risk being devoured by those who became more monstrous than him and even the walking dead.
Despite zombies running the world and having the series named after them, what really sets this series apart from the average zombie apocalypse tale is the focus on realism and the daily struggles, flaws and depth of the characters. There's plenty of badass zombie killing action, but the action often takes a back seat to give the characters plenty of times to share their extremely tragic yet endearing stories, grow through mutual suffering and learn to adapt to a world that has left them to die. Even after the world has ended, many people still can't see eye to eye. They turn on each other and kill each other when they should come together. Others form alliances in spite of their differences and try to rebuild over the corpse of everything that was lost. The daily human drama and conflict is more intense than any monster apocalypse could hope to be.
We watch Rick struggle to balance his old moral code with the many necessary evils he has to commit in order to survive and make the world a better place for the ones he holds close. We watch people like Glen, Dale and Maggie attempt to find love in spite of having every reason to be filled with fear, hate and self-loathing. Characters like Michonne have to learn how to forgive themselves and convince themselves they deserve to be loved despite all the blood on their hands. We watch the weak like Carl and Andrea become strong and sometimes the strong become evil like The Governor. Even monsters like the wicked yet oddly lovable Negan are given the chance to find new ways of redeeming themselves by struggling alongside the other survivors that have all been changed by the horrors of the fallen world.
The pacing is extremely slow and I can understand why that may be a turnoff for a lot of people, but I eventually learned to enjoy watching the characters grow, overcome their trauma, find meaning in life and learn to love again. The characters are forced to do many terrible things to survive and it haunts them every waking moment. The ways they overcome these regrets is very realistic, human and hopeful. The slow pacing really gives the feeling that we're living beside these people. The way every tiny detail of their lives and who they are is explored makes them feel very real and believable.
When I first started reading the series, I wasn't expecting it to have such an uplifting ending. It seemed so bleak and nihilistic for a long time and things would go horribly wrong even when they seemed to be going so well, but the finale channels all the pain, suffering and betrayal of the previous volumes and tops it off with a very touching and inspiring finish. This was never a story about hopelessness. It's about learning to appreciate the little things, learning to forgive yourself and learning to move on even when it's hard. When everything seems lost there's always more to be found, even when we believe otherwise because we convince ourselves that we don't deserve to be happy ever again. Instead of dwelling on what was lost, strive to try and make things better than they were before.
I've never been a huge fan of zombie apocalypse stories, but The Walking Dead had enough heart and strong social commentary to make me stick by the characters until the end and I enjoyed every moment of their long trial.
I realise that I come across a bit of a fanboy after 18 issues in and I think I’ve given every issue of the new deluxe version of The Walking Dead full five stars but I do think this is a stellar run up to this point. It’s been a few years since I’ve been through these early entries (when the last trade paperback came out I did a marathon and read every TPB before polishing off the finale) and time I feel has been very generous to this series. I still love Adlard’s artwork (whether it’s in colour or not) and I still maintain that Kirkman knows how to fill 20 pages of comic extremely well and his afternotes collected in these re-releases show much he was planning down to page turns for reveals. His notes collected here also has valid criticism on his own writing; TWD was very early on his career and was arguably the first time he was trying to write a “serious” book.
That’s a lot of words to say that I think that, up to this issue, The Walking Dead is still an engrossing, entertaining, shocking and well-drawn piece of sequential comics.
Thomas is one crazy bitch, Patricia kinda deserved getting attacked to be honest, I mean what did she expect helping a deranged child killer? Andrea sporting a pretty horrid cut on her face, Maggie doing the right thing & Dexter is a grade A ass hole. So when's the Governor showing up? x
Which is easier to deal with - the dead or the living? Thomas turns out to be more than a tax evader, and now what do you do with him. Is he sick or is he evil? Justice is served for all. However, Dexter decides to take back the prison and with a gun in hand ask Rick and group to leave.
Thomas was the living proof that the zombies are not the real monsters but the evil that resides in the human being. Now, Dexter who was found guilty just because of his past, will reclaim the prison all for himself and his friends.
The Best. Thomas got shot through the stomach and then they threw him to the walkers. Andrea is worried about her face, and Rick's hand is still pretty graphic in detail with Thomas' tooth and all the bending its not really suppose to have done. Charlie Adlard really does an amazing job with the details on these comics. When Thomas is being ripped apart by the walkers and Hershel is watching, the detail and emotion right there makes this whole issue worth the read. And seeing as how I didn't mention it before, how can I not like the factor that an inmate homosexual relationship was thrown into the mix amongst everything else that is going on. At the end of the issue it lists all the characters, their status and something about them, I find this helpful and wish more comics would do this.
The Worst. Patricia. Do I really need to say any more when it comes to her? I mean she is almost as bad as the inmates staring at the woman since they haven't been in contact with them in so long. It's like anyone who shows some interest she'll be all over them, and trying to let Thomas go after all he did. I'm surprised Hershel didn't want her to leave or go back to the farm so he didn't have to see her anymore. All the fighting that Rick and Lori do between each other? I understand Lori's viewpoint on wanting Rick around, but she knew him to be a leader and helping others before all this craziness went down and now she is really surprised he can't just sit in their cell and let others take care of it?
The Differences. The only thing I would remotely even classify as being close to something in the TV series from this issue is the last page where Rick and the inmates are having a standoff about who the prison belongs too. This was a similar set up in the TV series but I guess we will find out in the next issue whether they carried the outcome from the comics to the screen.
Those Remembered. Thomas, inmate and serial killer, was shot in the stomach twice by Maggie and thrown outside the gates for the walkers to finish off.
Recommend. To the fans of The Walking Dead Universe, zombies, horror dramas and prison shows.
Oi fucking vey, really Dexter? Really? You had to say that? You know what I'm talking about. "Faggot." There was a time where names like that stopped bothering me. They no longer bother me personally anymore. However, I'm starting to understand the social implications of some words and how they are used. Words like "faggot" and "nigger" and even "bitch" and "cunt" and all the taboo words our society has ... the reason I think most of these words are taboo is not their literal meaning. It is the dehumanizing intent these words have when they are used in a certain way. Dexter is in a homosexual relationship with Andrew, but he calls Rick's son a faggot ... he didn't mean Carl was gay, he was using the word to dehumanize Rick and the rest of the group. It's real, and it's real sad.
I'm glad the group is going to have to leave this setting. The characters here really aren't working out for me. Thomas is dead, Maggie took care of that easily enough. Seems like Patricia is going to be staying with Dexter, Andrew, and the biker dude (never did figure out his name). So we've gone from 5 women at the top of the issue down to 3. One is pregnant, and going kind of loony-toons. Andrea is your typical badass chick. And Maggie, well, she seems like another Andrea, only with short hair now. Their only difference so far is Andrea is totally devoted to whatshisname with the RV. Maggie doesn't know what she wants. She was getting into it with Glenn, but now she's changed her mind. I wonder where that is going to go.
I wonder where the story is going to go from here. I guess they is only one thing to do ... and you know what that is already.
حقا لا أصدق ما أراه بعينى من وصول الرسوم الكاريكاترية إلى هذا المستوى كم هى رائعة بما تحتوى من تفاصيل مذهلة تشعرك وكأنك داخل المشهد بالإضافة أنه يروق لى أسلوب الحوار بين الأشخاص بشدة
قصة ذلك العمل تدور حول انتشار أحد الأوبئة التى جعلت البشر أشبه بالزومبى من آكلى لحوم البشر ويستعرض محاولات بعض الناجين البقاء على ظهر الأرض فى ظل عدم وجود أدنى أمل فى استمرار الحياة بقيادة الشرطى ريك
بالاستمرار فى القراءة أشعر بروعة متابعة الأحداث ، فالقصة مشوقة حقا لا عجب حين تكون الصورة الأصل مبهرة هكذا ، فتكون النسخة -العمل التليفزيونى- أكثر من رائع
Rick ha ido por encima del borde. Está asustando a todos a su alrededor, la gente que ha llegado a conocer y confianza, su familia, sus amigos. Rick está volviendo más y más aislados dentro del grupo. En la que a partir de aquí pondrá a prueba los límites de su humanidad. Nada acabará como parece ser aquí hay unos cambios de "guión" increibles y no sabes que podrán hacer después de lo que les acaba de pasar...En esta entrega aparecen pocos zombies y yo quiero más acción, más...nerviosismo pero al parecer de momento eso se me resiste. Espero que el siguiente cómic tenga más!!!
Well, I have nothing to say that the others who have reviewed this have not said yet. One in particular, my fave to be exact, says "zombies are not the real monsters but the evil that resides in the human being." -- @Tiffany Fox
Tensions increase, morality in an immoral world comes to the forefront, which is what sets this series apart. This issue, too, has a few relationship surprises, but a cliffhanger at the end of each issue is beginning to become a bit formulaic.