Issue 93

Issue 93 is part 3 of Volume 16: A Larger World.

Plot Synopsis
As "ambassador" from a previously unknown nearby community, Paul Monroe, offers to escort Rick to the Hilltop Colony to meet the community's leader, Kenneth, "the guy in charge". Rick surprisingly lashes out at Paul, knocking him unconscious. Rick, Michonne, and Abraham tie Paul up. They carry him back into the Safe-Zone and lock him in the infirmary, so as not to alarm everyone.

Once in Alexandria Safe-Zone, Rick tells those gathered that he believes there will be an imminent attack from Paul's community and asks the group to start preparing for war, improvising weapons such as boiling oil if need be.

As the crowd disperses, Andrea asks Rick to consider that what Paul is saying about his community's good intentions may actually be true, and that holding Paul captive will "piss off" the new community.

Rick then questions Paul, who is tied to a chair, about his motives. Paul insists that his community's motives are not to attack the Safe-Zone. Rick leaves Paul, unconvinced by anything that Paul said.

Michonne, Abraham, and Rick then set out to see if Paul was a scout for a raiding party, and to set themselves up as bait for any would-be attackers. Andrea is dispatched to the tower to also watch for oncoming attackers.

Michonne, Abraham, and Rick's search takes them far from the Safe-Zone, and they witness no other living human nor any sign of an impending attack. Rick realizes that he and his people have been hardened by their world, and that he may not be perceiving an honest offer for being just that. He considers the possibility that the stranger may be telling the truth, and if he is, then their whole world might be changing. Rick decides that if Paul's community is decent and sincere, then Rick's group will work with them, but if they are dangerous, then Rick's group will take their supplies and leave them for dead.

Credits

 * Rick Grimes
 * Carl Grimes
 * Michonne
 * Andrea
 * Glenn
 * Sgt. Abraham Ford
 * Rosita Espinosa
 * Dr. Eugene Porter
 * Heath
 * Olivia
 * Dr. Denise Cloyd
 * Nicholas
 * Holly
 * Spencer Monroe
 * Paul Monroe
 * Kenneth (Mentioned)

Deaths

 * None

Trivia

 * First mention of Kenneth.

Review
Comic Book Resources write:
 * The juxtaposition between the man that Rick has become (a calculating killing machine bent only on the survival of himself and his son as well as a general commanding an entire community) and the man he wants to be (the leader of a functioning and healthy community, father to his son) is well done in this issue. After some horrible miscalculations that resulted in some deaths and his son being shot in the face, we’ve watched Rick come to the realization that he wants to do more than just survive; he wants to live, to thrive, and he wants it for the friends and adopted family around him too. But confronted with a stranger that poses who knows what kind of danger, it’s hard for him to hold onto that idealism. He quickly falls back into his learned survival patterns of caution and distrust. It’s hard to disagree with his actions, but it’s nice to see within this same issue, Rick beginning to doubt himself, to wonder if this stranger offers him the very thing he was looking for: hope for a different and better life for his son and his people.


 * A double-page spread view from a hilltop, showing the surrounding areas, is a great moment both visually and as a metaphor for Rick’s shifting attitude. A different Rick might look out across that hilltop and see only danger and obstacles, death around every corner. This Rick is trying his best to see potential and opportunity, life. It’s well done character work, and subtler than I gave it credit for on a first read.

IGN writes:
 * Robert Kirkman offers no overt reason why readers should distrust the messenger, and it speaks volumes about the current state of our heroes that they immediately assume the worst. This issue continues one of Kirkman's recent themes -- the idea that a very fine line separates good and evil in a world where the dead roam.
 * As a counterpoint, Kirkman also continues to explore Rick's growing sense of optimism. For several issues now we've seen him bounce back from his usual funk and set out to finally make a better life for his friends or family again. Knowing this series, he's merely asking for something horrible to happen, but it is interesting to see the juxtaposition of lighter and darker elements in the story...
 * Walking Dead #93 is a solid entry for the series, but not necessarily as fast-paced or exciting as it could have been. The plot only lightly pushes forward by the end. Given how slow the book has been moving since the end of "No Way Out," it's more than time for Kirkman to kick things into gear again.