It's All Rainbows and Unicorns and Zombies

The Walking Dead Vol. 17 - Something to Fear
by Robert Kirkman,
Image Comics

Rick’s group of survivors thought that their recent success in wiping out a huge herd of zombies along with The Walking Dead.
finding that there were other communities nearby that they could start trading with had provided the first rays of sunshine in the long dark night that is

However, long time readers shouldn’t be surprised that was just writer Robert Kirkman setting us up like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick.  If you’re familiar with this series and still ended up flat on your back after he yanked the ball away, you got nobody to blame but yourself.

Following the classic lesson of George Romero, Kirkman again demonstrates that while zombies may be dangerous, it’s other people that are really terrifying.  When Rick learned that the neighboring community had problems with a group called the Saviors, he thought that his battle-tested crew of crusty veterans was more than a match for some gang working a post-apocalyptic version of the protection racket.  Unfortunately, Rick is wrong.

So very, very wrong.

The Saviors turn out to have a lot more members than anyone knew about, and their leader, Negan, is a vicious bastard who will make Rick wistfully think about the good ole days when he only had to deal with the Governor.

So once again all is lost, and if you think it might get better soon, the next collection will be titled Abandon All Hope.*  You know, just in case you hadn’t already…

*(I learned that they've changed the title of the next volume to What Comes After and ruined my joke.  Thanks for nothing, Kirkman!)

Also posted at Goodreads.