I haven't posted in awhile because I wanted to let these last few issues really settle in...
I have to say, I'm not digging this new direction at all. I suppose I mainly feel that it's way too early to get to this point in the story. Not even halfway into RK's planned 300 issue run and the main character from day 1 now, in issue 127, looks like a toolbag and is worthless in a fight.
Zombies do not appear to be any sort of threat to anyone that isn't crippled, unless they are in a massive herd. I mean...1 dude on a horse is supposed to cover 5 miles? Seems a bit skimpy to me... By the way, where the hell did they find all of these horses? Did zombies as a collective grow to not like the taste of horse meat?
I've found these last few issues to be some of the most boring in TWD history, and I think that has a lot to do with the jarring time jump. These don't seem like the same characters that I grew to know, and in many cases love. If RK was going to bore me then I would preferred to see an arc showing me how Rick and the others got to this point of semi-civilization rather than shit like touring the bread factory, Andrea dressing down construction workers, and those two losers doing whatever the hell they are doing near that zombie herd. Have an issue a few months later, then another a few months after that, etcetera, etcetera and show me how they got this stage? And I suppose that's something else that bothers me...people were dying left and right for the 1st 18 months of the ZA and then...2 years with apparently nothing significant going on? No one significant dies or is maimed?
I don't like how Magna and her gang appear to be a rehash of Rick and his crew arriving at the ASZ just about 60 issues ago, except rather than steal their guns back Magna breaks in to talk to Negan. I'm sure she and her gang will do something stupid like falling under Negan's spell. Which I guess leads me to another point...it would suck if there was time jump and then all of it gets laid to waste either by the herd or by Negan. What would the point be of any of it?
Where the hell is this story going, because Rick, Carl, Andrea, et all won't be sitting around living a relatively comfortable life for the next 170 issues. But like I said, it would be pointless to also just time jump and then force the main crew back out on the road...and it would be equally lame to sort of start anew again by following new characters.
I've been reading tWD for about 5 years now, and never before have been just outright disillusioned with the direction the story is taking. Like I said, it just feels way too early to reach this point in the tale. This is like issue 200 stuff to me, or maybe even something you would end the story with...giving the reader a semblance of hope but letting them know that everything is not alright yet.
I'm still along for the ride, I want to see where this is going and 3 issues in is not enough time to tell what's happening given how this is essentially a reboot. But it does not seem promising, mainly because I keep wondering where this can possibly be going and how it can keep me hooked like it did for the 1st 126 issues. And I hope it does...