Much like an episode of the television show, these volumes are over way too quickly. Volume 18 is another tense installment, but the zombies took a back seat to new enemy Negan and his gang.

It was surprising that Negan took Carl back to Rick, and I figure there's got to be more that happened off screen that will be revealed in the next issue. I can't imagine it was any kind of abuse of Carl, which I was afraid would happen, because Carl didn't act like he'd been hurt when he was reunited with his dad. I hope I'm right about that. Strange that Negan let Rick get away with attacking him too...something is definitely up.

Toward the end there was some rapid back-and-forthing with setting that felt rushed after all the time spent in Negan's domain. The transitions could have been better in spots.

I like Ezekiel, and I hope he'll be the game-changer he seems. I will hunt down Robert Kirkman and kick his head if anything happens to that tiger. ( )

The only reason this gets three stars is simply because it's one of the interim editions. That is, while there is a fairly self-contained story in here involving Carl, overall, this is more of a set up to the next volume.

That being said, this is still an excellent series. As long as Kirkman keeps pumping these out, I'll keep buying. ( )

Really solid volume, really enjoying this arc. Negan makes the whole thing more interesting. ( )

I love a good twist and this novel had two good ones … looking forward to seeing how things continue!

Adrianne ( )

Well, here we go.

Carl is following well in Rick's footsteps, making foolish decisions on his own. Luckily, his foolish decision did bring with it some vital information about Negan and the Saviors - where their main village is, what it contains, and what weapons they have. Once more, people are all caught up about guns and bullets. Why would anyone want to risk another firefight after seeing what swarms it can bring? I don't know. I really don't know.

Once more, the world of The Walking Dead has expanded. There are more small outposts and civilizations, more groups and style of governing. For what it's worth the Saviors way of living doesn't seem altogether terrible. Nor does The Kingdom's from what little we've seen. Everyone is fighting to make life better for their people and themselves and... well, this is the result.

Here comes the war. ( )