Zeb Larson reviews The Walking Dead #140…
Life and Death.
The Walking Dead #140 covers a lot of different ground and characters, which makes this one of the most balanced issues we’ve seen in a long time. The economy in the writing is really commendable here, as we see Michonne, Rick, Andrea, Negan, Carl, Maggie, and even Gregory. I will be discussing spoilers in this review, so read on only if you’ve read the book or don’t mind learning what happens.
Michonne explains to Rick that she doesn’t deserve the right to a better life, though with a little bit of pressuring he’s able to make her consider coming to the fair. Gregory has changed his story now from being innocent to saying that Maggie poisoned herself to frame him, a story which does not fly with the unconvinced in the Hilltop. Now, however, Maggie is confronted with the dilemma of how to handle him. Jesus points out that unlike Negan, people still sympathize with Gregory, and he’s good at manipulating people. He believes that he needs to be executed, and after talking to some of the co-conspirators, Maggie agrees. Maggie also calls off the search for Carl, noting that the peace with the Whisperers is a fragile one and risking her men to find Carl will only inflame the community further. Carl gets a glimpse of the Whisperers base, which has a considerable number of people. Negan gets a bath under gunpoint, but when Andrea and the others leave, Negan is surprised to see that the door has been left open.
Finally, we see Maggie’s leadership really come into play in this issue. She’s astute when it comes to the various political calculations. I’ve mocked Gregory in prior reviews, and he’s deserved every bit of that mockery. Unlike Negan, however, Gregory was never brutal, and consequently he never alienated enough people to risk his influence. Under the circumstances, executing him makes sense, especially if she is able to reconcile the other members of the community without violence. The problem is that we don’t know how Rick will react to any of this, both with his son and with Gregory.
Negan is also an enormous open-ended question, though he ironically faces some of the problems that Gregory doesn’t. It’s hard to imagine that anybody is going to be sympathetic to Negan, especially among the Saviors, so it’s not like he has a power base to run back to. He could flee, but Negan where would be safe? I guess he could try and find the Whisperers, though there’s no reason to believe he knows they exist, or that they would care about what he has to say. Will this be the moment where Negan is allowed to participate in the community? Was it a conscious decision? Or did they just lock the basement door and make this a cruel joke?
Overall, this issue had some of the best coverage of all the different characters in a long time. Perhaps if we get some time with Dwight, it will all be complete.
Zeb Larson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pnc360pUDRI&list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5
Originally published April 9, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
