3.5 stars

I don’t know. I’m not sure how much longer this can go on. I liked Michonne’s surprise and how the panels were done for her story. Princess is amusing. The new group is making me nervous, like new groups always do, and I wonder if the inevitable conflict is going to be any different than past conflicts. I’m still interested enough to stick with it, but I’m just not as excited by this series as I used to be. ( )

I don't know, man. This one was just a breath of fresh air for me. Does it contain some of the familiar tropes that Kirkman has used in the past? Hell yes. But at the same time, Princess stole the damn show, and it'll be interesting to see how our merry band faces this newest threat. ( )

This one was a clunker for me. I've hung on with the comics longer than the show but its starting to get a bit wacky in its coincidences and repetitive in its arcs. I hope it ends before Rick is revealed to really be Armin Tamzarian, who shared a hospital room with Rick and when Rick failed to wake up from his coma after the zompocalypse started, took his place. At the end of the volume, Michonne says anyone that says the name Armin Tamzarian again will be executed.

Why wasn't this great?
-The dialogue was really on-the-nose in some places, verging on being self-aware/genre-savvy. Especially Eugene's.
-Similarly, some of the editing was really on the nose, like cutting from a heartwarming reunion panel to another character saying "That was really heartwarming and touching" followed by a really forced sequence about creative writing to make the cut make sense. Just....just don't.
-There's absolutely no subtlety or mystery about the Commonwealth. The forced class system makes no sense and isn't sustainable, the 'bad guys' are cartoonishly racist and sexist and violent. There is no real complexity or ambiguity to the new community/culture/characters; it seems to be set up explicitly to show Rick Is Right yet again. I hope I'm wrong, I really do.
-I hate Princess. I hate her for the same reasons I hated Sera in DAI. She's childish and impulsive and dumb and wacky. I half expect her to make jokes about *snort* BREECHES hahahahaha *giggle*. She alone dragged this down from a 3 to a 2. ( )

Well, this Commonwealth thing is obviously totally fine, and people there are totally not evil. Yep. (Fair class system? Ugh.)

And the governor’s (HAHA GOVERNOR) son is approximately twenty dudes I know IRL. UGH. I hope the little twerp bites it asap. ( )

Felt like a lot of set up. I can see some interesting fallout for sure. ( )