The Walking Dead Vol. 14 Review: The Walk Continues

Rick Grimes is one poor bastard. Through 14 volumes of “The Walking Dead,” he’s been separated from his family, only to be eventually reunited and find out his best friend slept with his wife. If that wasn’t enough, he saw his own son kill his best bud, who ironically was trying to kill him.

Oh, and yeah, he was kidnapped by a group of crazed baddies who cut off his hand.

And for the record, we haven’t forgotten about the time in the prison and the hundreds of fights to the death with undead beasts either.

Things just get to a tipping point emotionally in “No Way Out” and Grimes doesn’t let up. It says so much about this character, a leader in the wake of disaster who should be the first person to get to smile.

That opportunity just never comes.

In this trade, writer Robert Kirkman continues his mind games with the reader. He makes them think, for a second, that Grimes may have found a small inkling of happiness. After starting over so many times, the dedication of the group is grounded in Grimes’ dedication and persistence. It’s something he’s never let up on. Even with the death of his wife and young daughter, he’s kept the group and his young son alive and safe.

This trade continues that effort, but for a short while, it appears Grimes has found love. It’s a bittersweet scene that shows Kirkman’s zombie apocalypse isn’t meant to destroy humanity, it’s made for them to adapt and grow in a way they couldn’t before. Things considered normal, such as a relationship and moments of clarity are rare commodities in this new world. Every second of them is important and for these characters to thrive emotionally and physically, they must make the most of them.

The art by Charlie Adlard continues to get the job done and caters to the emotional and thought-provoking style of Kirkman. The expressions on characters’ faces sometimes tell the story before the speech bubbles do. This harmony is what guides and drives the tale.

But harmony isn’t something you’ll find within the group right now. Things are bad and every character has their own problem to deal with. Hearts are on the line as well as souls. Anything can happen from here on out, and while the group continues to get smaller, the vital cogs are still here. “The Walking Dead” is still a great read.

If only the television show was as good as the books.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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