New month, new Walking Dead cover! And a bonus cover this month as we’ve announced the 26th volume! Covers and descriptions follow. Take them in and then discuss below! What do you make of this “Whisperer War” that we’ll see in issue #157? What form is that going to take?
THE WALKING DEAD #157
STORY: ROBERT KIRKMAN
ART: CHARLIE ADLARD, STEFANO GAUDIANO & CLIFF RATHBURN
COVER: CHARLIE ADLARD & DAVE STEWART
AUGUST 3 | 32 PAGES | BLACK & WHITE | MATURE | $2.99
THE WHISPERER WAR PART 1
The time has come. The forces are aligning. The war has begun! Has Rick brought about the demise of everything he’s built? Or will he triumph once again? Know this… there will be a cost.
THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 26 TPB
STORY: ROBERT KIRKMAN
ART: CHARLIE ADLARD, STEFANO GAUDIANO & CLIFF RATHBURN
COVER: CHARLIE ADLARD & DAVE STEWART
SEPTEMBER 14 | 136 PAGES | BLACK & WHITE | MATURE | $14.99
After being betrayed by members of his own community, Rick Grimes charts a new course and marshals his forces against the Whisperers.
Collects THE WALKING DEAD #151-156.
WAR! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? Omg this cover has me more pumped than any in recent memory. I hope it’s as good if not better that All Out War.
I’m growing increasingly concerned that Alpha will actually be the one who kills Negan NEXT ISSUE. This cover makes it look like Alpha is alive and well for the Whisper War and that is bad news for Negan, IMO. Negan has been behaving in a very cocky manner lately, simply assuming that the whisperers would take him in (and potentially even let him serve as a leader under Alpha) and I have no idea why he feels so safe right now.
PLEASE DON’T DIE IN THE NEXT ISSUE NEGAN! PLEASE!
You know what, your comment is very valid, your point makes sense to me, but I think that we still need to know why Kirkman kept Negan alive after AOW, because if it was just to keep him in jail and then escapes to get killed just like that, no way, Negan is too big a character to kill him off, so in the next two issues I am pretty sure de will know what is Negan up to with the whisperers, finally, I dont want him to die either, just too hilarious, although I hate him for killing Glenn, greetings.
Not impressed with the color of this issue or that arc title font. Doesn’t work at all for me. I like what I see in emotions, tho.
I hope this is a Cover Bluffer & Alpha has actually been gutted by Negan.
This war means death for Rick… has to. Or it brings something else that sets it apart from AOW.
I concur. Not a fan of the reds and yellows, and the A-Team style “War” writing. I’d imagine that this is not a bluff though. I had hoped the other one was Negan stabbing Alpha, but it doesn’t add up to have her on if she’s dead.
Rick looks piss, but the thing that gets me is the townspeople appear to be looking at something truly frightening. Whether Rick bit another jugular out or what, it doesn’t seem pleasant. Hopefully its not the return of Michonne’s remains.
The colored in part of the cover is horrid and looks Alpha (?) looks like an 80’s cartoon character. The bottom part is great, though. It almost looks like the people in the background are afraid of what Rick will do when he turns around, but could also be their reaction to seeing the Whisperers and their herd, I love it.
I’m having this terrible feeling that Alpha will be showing up wearing an Andrea mask…
Everything here seems to support it… Hope I’m wrong.
I hope you’re wrong, too!!
I think it would be likely that alpha Walks up with a michonne mask because she is in the whisperer territory, I think I would prefer that over Andrea…
I absolutely love this cover! The colors and fonts are great!
Imagine a mask with the dreads! That would be epic!
Well at least my favorite Michonne is still ALIVE in the comics TOO ! But Andrea dead on tv version!
Why do I have a feeling the sanctuary will be wiped out completely? They are the weakest at the moment and are scrambling about without no leader.
I also feel like these may be the end of times not only for Negan but for Rick as well? This is a new world and who better to rule it than the kids who grow up in it.
Reminiscent of the All Out War style covers. I’m sure the callback is quite intentional, though. I’m curious to see what happens. This will be one volume instead of two so obviously the conflict won’t be as long as All Out War. I personally like the colors. It’s experimental, certainly, and I think it paid off. Wouldn’t be good to have this style all the time but it makes an interesting single issue cover.
Above all, this cover has made me exceptionally curious.
I can’t believe people are nitpicking this cover. I think it’s something new and refreshing. Reminds me of an old school western film cover.
This is normally what we do on cover reveal posts… nitpick the look of it & toss in some predictions.
I, for one, was terribly dissapointed with ALL OUT WAR. This had better be a superior arc to that overrated one. I still think AOW was one of the weakest arcs in the entire series.
Holy. Fucking. Shit. This is HUGE!
I see Michonne’s death in the horizon!
Wouldn’t it be messed up if, say, one of the Whisperers came into view wearing a Michonne skin, with the dreads and everything?
Maybe Alpha will have a Michonne skin and Negan will have a generous crotch area Aaron skin!
Oh snap!!
Can’t freaking wait!
The Walking Dead Comics is so much better than the TV show. A lot more emotion involved and brutality. I wonder why they didn’t include the swearing in the TV show…? This makes it a lot better IMO.
I’ve also been following this survival guide. It’s got some amazing tips I can even start using now. At least I know I’ll be safe when the world ends haha. http://the-walking-dead-fans.com. Good luck out there everyone.
Because it’s on cable TV and the FCC would be up their asses if they do.
One thing I don’t get is, I thought Alpha had lighter colored skin? I looked at the figures of her I have as well as the pictures of them on the store page and she’s got much lighter skin.
So I’m just a bit confused. Not that I care, other than an action figure that doesn’t leave the writer/illustrators obligated to adhere to, and a white,blond haired daughter which may be of mixed ethnicity or adopted.
So it’s not an issue with me other than the factors I’ve brought up. I love the strong, ethnically diverse female characters in both the comic and the show, so to have a strong dark skinned female villain is great!
Rick’s not orange either, is he? These are filtered colors, not their actual skin. It’s a stylistic choice.
True, but it looks like she, her clothes, and the blood are “normal” colored while Rick, Alexandria, and the Alexandrians are the only ones with the orange filter. But she could also be in shadow used for ominous effect. Like I said, I have no problem at all if Alpha is dark skinned, in fact I think it would be awesome.
http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0505/1057/products/Alpha-color-nomask_grande.jpg?
See?
I don’t see what you’re seeing, dude. Rick and Alexandria are orange colored. Alpha and the background are filtered entirely red. Her clothes are colored red, not normal.
Yeah, I didn’t notice the red filter you’re talking about until you pointed out her clothes being red–tinged. Makes much more sense now. I still think she’s drawn like an ’80’s GI-Joe cartoon character, though. lol
The bottom half looks a bit like Rick is squeezing out a massive crap in front of everyone and they are reacting in horror.
So not a huge fan of the cover. Aside from the giant crap interpretation, though. 😉
I just cannot shake the feeling that we will see an arron skin i mean when i was reading issue 154 it stood at to me that beta only stabbed hi and did not slash his skin i mean could you imaging the oh shit moment of alpha in michonne skin and a fellow whisperer in arrons that shit would be crazy
Any chance the Aaron skin would come with a generous crotch?
The orange & red colors make me think about western stuff, i like it :p
It does have kind of a wild western feeling to it, doesn’t it? I guess Rick and the gang ARE on the verge of a new expanding frontier.
Made me think of “Southern Bastards”.
Exactly what I was thinking! Just like Southern Bastards. Maybe the townsfolk are seeing Coach Boss for the first time. Go Rebs!
No hint of Negan on this cover and Alpha and Rick on the same cover but not necessarily together. So I am thinking Negan created some kind of cluster fuck for everyone, being the giving sort that he is.
The colors are not my favorites either but they do set a dirty and violent mood, which points to a good arc. I agree with all about the font though. Not liking that one.
I don’t like the coloring that much. I’m super excited for the content though. 🙂
The fear on everyone’s face has me.. intriiiigued. If the cover is representative of the innards, it seems like Alpha is going to make another statement here. However, as a friend of mine said, I hope this isn’t a sign of TWD becoming about having a war every few arcs with a new ‘big bad’.. this is already kind of ‘eh’ just a couple years after AOW. Hopefully we’ll actually learn more about Alpha before this is all said and done and this conflict will really serve a purpose besides “us versus them.” I love this series, but I am kind of turned off by the familiarity of this.
P.S. Thank god this isn’t another 12 issues. AOW was too much.
Every time I think they are going to do a retread of a past storyline or try to predict what’s to come (aside from obvious stuff like Woodbury attacking the Prison in broad strokes) I’ve been wrong. Kirkman has a knack for doing the unexpected. For all we know “The Whisperer War” (worst arc title ever) is a conflict between factions of the Whisperers and Ricks group gets caught in the middle or allies with one faction over the other.
So twice a month during this arc, right?
Holy cow!
I like this cover pretty well. I’m curious to see who dies, i doubt that Negan, Alpha, and Beta all die in this arc. Is this Magna’s time to shine? …. please… i’m begging…
I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Negan went to the Whisperers, he’s not on the cover of this issue, and Alpha’s warning to Rick in #144 of “if you cross onto our land…” so it’s probably Negan’s fault the Whisperers decide to go to war with the Communities. Up until #154 they just wanted to be left alone and Negan has messed that up by going to them. He’s also too loud and over-the-top for their lifestyle of blending in with the horde so he’d never work out there even if he could become the new Beta or Alpha. It’s a good thing Rick’s camp is already prepping for war. So if I’m right, Alpha will do what Rick couldn’t. RIP Negan (unless the covers are totally bogus because they have been… loooots of times before). Also, Negan as a lead zombie pet for the Whisperers would be something else
The Alexandrians are horrified over something. Could The Whisperers show up with a massive walker herd? Or maybe there’s an Aaron/Michonne skin suit on display – courtesy of Alpha? Really looking forward to this volume. Hopefully it’s not the end of Andrea.
I like the old vintage, pop culture feel with the colours.
Really excited for this one. 🙂
Alpha in Negan skin
Strike that. Negan in Alpha skin
I still say Rick is taking a massive poop and they are reacting to THAT. I mean that’s how I would react. :v
hmmmm! Alpha shaves her head, not what I would think since they are living like animals. Animals dont shave. Lydia did not have shaved head nor did I notice other bald tops.
Was alpha included on the cover to not spoil her up coming death? Is she really not dead?