Issue 127 (subtitled as A New Beginning) is the one-hundred and twenty-seventh issue of Image Comics' The Walking Dead and the first part of Volume 22: A New Beginning. It was published on May 14, 2014.
Plot[]
Over three years after the events of "All Out War".
A group of survivors led by Magna walk through the woods, trying to be as discreet as possible to avoid zombies. This fails when a group of horse-riding survivors, led by a much different Paul Monroe, advances on them leading a gigantic herd of over a thousand roamers to an uninhabitable area. Magna and her group hides over their horse-transported container, to no avail as the horde manages to topple it. They are saved just in time by strangers, including Heath, now wearing a prosthetic leg and others.
Away from the herd, Eugene Porter comments how they've successfully managed to change the herd's trajectory away from The Kingdom, 10 miles down the road. They introduced themselves to the new survivors, inviting them to Alexandria to talk to their leader, Rick.
In Alexandria, Rick wakes up, goes to the bathroom and puts on his prosthetic hand, then goes back to bed and is greeted by Andrea, they both have a brief talk about their routine. When making breakfast, he is hounded by Carl, who wants to have a "talk" with him about something important. Rick dodges it, saying they'll talk later at night. He goes outside and sees a much different Alexandria, now completely rebuilt, with several new houses, buildings, crops, and farms.
Outside, Andrea greets Siddiq, who's working on some sort of pathway leading to the safe-zone for the upcoming fair, a community event between the communities set to happen in a two months time. She comments how she expected more progress, with him saying that Rosita took half of their manpower to herd duty, also mentioning that they should be back in a day. Just as he says this, Rosita shows up, also remarking how little progress has been made.
On their way back, Andrea asks Rosita about Eugene, asking whether or not she talked to him yet, to which she replies "no". Andrea then says there isn't much time left.
At the grand hall, Rick greets the new survivors brought by Jesus, after a brief introduction, the new survivors led by Magna agree to stay. He then meets with Eugene, who reports on the munitions factory report and the herd duty. He then says Eugene has become too valuable and won't go out on herd duty anymore.
After a long day, Rick returns home and is met by Carl, who takes the opportunity to finally have the talk. Rick is already prepared and says that he's still too young. It is then revealed Carl wants to be a blacksmith under Earl Sutton at the Hilltop Colony. After some convincing, Rick agrees to think about it. Later, Rick and Andrea have a talk about how he's growing up. Andrea says to Rick, "your boy is growing up". To which he replies, "our boy is growing up".
Later that night, Carl goes to the basement of an unknown house and talks to a figure in the shadows. Saying how he, Mikey and some other boys went to a girl's house after class, and that she showed them her breasts. He says it was cool and all but he kind of had a crush on her, but after this he's not sure, remarking how he doesn't want someone who does that sort of thing. The figure says that it's nothing wrong and the girl probably just wants some attention. He then says to Carl that he enjoys the talks, that it's good for him to keep track of time and days. Carl says he's leaving, before he leaves, the figure asks him if, after all this time, all the things they've shared and the talks they've had, Carl still wants to kill him. He turns around and faces the person behind bars, simply saying:
"Yes, Negan. You know I do."
Credits[]
- Rick Grimes
- Carl Grimes
- Andrea Grimes
- Eugene Porter
- Rosita Porter
- Aaron
- Heath
- Olivia
- Paula
- Paul Monroe
- Negan
- Magna
- Luke
- Yumiko
- Kelly
- Connie
- Bernie
- Annie
- Siddiq
Deaths[]
Trivia[]
- First appearance of Magna.
- First appearance of Luke.
- First appearance of Kelly.
- First appearance of Connie.
- First appearance of Yumiko.
- First appearance of Annie.
- First appearance (in Comic Series continuity) of Siddiq.
- Only appearance of Bernie.
- This issue's tagline is used for the title of the story arc this issue is collected in.
- Sean Mackiewicz confirmed in the Letter Hacks that it has been two years since "All Out War" ended. In the following Letter Hacks it was mentioned by Robert Kirkman that the timeskip length was supposed to be a secret. Many Letter Hacks columns later, the timeskip was stated to be longer than two years.[2]
- In response to a question on Letter Hacks in #119, Kirkman revealed that, "Rest assured ALL OUT WAR is taking us to some very new, very different and exciting places. This will be a drastically different book starting with Issue 127, but that's all I'm going to say."
- This issue is 44 pages long, which makes one of several extended issues, alongside Issue 100, Issue 150, Issue 163, Issue 167, Issue 191, Issue 192 and Issue 193.
- It is also the second largest issue of The Walking Dead, with only Issue 193 being longer.
- This is the first issue to feature a new The Walking Dead logo that stretches across the top of the cover.
- This is the sixteenth issue to get a second printing.
- Stefano Gaudiano and Dave Stewart became permanent members in the artwork after originally only signing up for Volume 20 and 21.
- Gaudiano's run as inker lasted for 78 issues, ending with Issue 192. Stewart still remains as the cover colorist.
Goofs/Errors[]
- In the first couple pages of the issue, Kelly's skin is white. However, a few pages later his skin is black.
Reference[]
- ↑ May 2014 Comic Book Sales Figures - Comichron
- ↑ Issue 162, Page 23.