Well, it took forever for Image to release "Walking Dead 5: The Best Defense." Thankfully, it was worth the wait.
Our heroes are still holed up in their prison fortress, and they're trying to make it homier by restoring electrical power. Glenn and Maggie have discovered some riot gear, which leads to the idea of siphoning gas for the generator from abandoned cars in the prison lot. However, during that operation Rick and Tyreese spot a helicopter overhead. It starts spewing smoke and goes down a couple of miles away, so Rick decides to mount a rescue mission. But Rick, Glenn, and Michonne discover that another group has beaten them to the crash site. They track them to the nearby town of Woodbury, where a leader called "The Governor" has created a stronghold with around forty souls. As Rick discovers too late, zombies can be the least of one's problems.
The characters continue to evolve nicely in this series. As with other apocalyptic stories such as "The Stand" and "Earth Abides," traditional mores are gradually being modified or replaced. For example, Carol wants marry both Rick and Lori. Woodbury is a place similar to the human stronghold in "Land of the Dead," where the familiar has become horribly warped. Speaking of George Romero, there's even a homage to the original "Dawn of the Dead," the tone of which fits with how he tends to end his zombie movies.
As usual with the zombie genre, the humans are worse than the living dead. Indeed, the Governor is one of the more terrifying psychopaths to grace the pages of a comic series. He's not a mustache-twirling, cackling villain. Instead, he's ruthless, calculating, and intelligent - an astute student of human nature who is the perfect nemesis for Rick. And his domestic situation is, shall we, say, quite dysfunctional (wait until you see his "home entertainment system.").
I was a bit disappointed with the previous collection, but Mr. Kirkman has regained his shambling stride with "The Best Defense." His goal with "The Walking Dead" was to pick up where most zombie movies end, and he has done that in spades. As usual, this edition ends with a cliffhanger that will keep you anxiously waiting for the next release. There will be a terrible reckoning between Rick and the Governor, and I'm hard-pressed to wait another six months to see it happen. Hopefully it won't be delayed like this one was. Definitely recommended.