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Issue 20 is the twentieth issue of Image Comics' The Walking Dead and the second part of Volume 4: The Heart's Desire. It was originally published on July 13, 2005. The deluxe colored version was released on August 4, 2021.

Plot Synopsis[]

A roamer trips on Thomas Richards' corpse by getting its intestine tangled in his rib cage. A knife is then seen going through another nearby walker's head, it is revealed that it is Glenn and Maggie testing Glenn's new idea of how to clear the roamers from the fence, with the idea working. Maggie wants to talk to Glenn, as they haven't done so since she shot Thomas. Glenn obliges, but asks to postpone the talk, as Andrea wants everyone gathered at the cafeteria for an announcement.

Tyreese asks Rick if Lori's coming, but Rick says she has morning sickness. Then Andrea holds a meeting for the survivors in the cafeteria, giving them all brand new orange jumpsuits she found in the prison. She promises to sew some new clothes for everyone for the future seasons, possibly even making shorts for everyone in the summer. No one is particularly excited for this news, but they all take and wear the jumpsuits.

Rick asks Lori if she's feeling better, but she isn't. She's worried that any of the people in the prison could be just as big of a threat as the walkers outside. Rick reminds her that Thomas and Dexter are dead, and they're keeping a close eye on Michonne, but Lori points out that Axel is still with them and there is no telling what Patricia could do next. Rick assures her that Axel is harmless (though they are keeping and eye on him) and Patricia is just incredibly naive or stupid.

Otis goes to see Patricia, but she says she doesn't want to talk to anyone. Bitterly, Otis assures her he doesn't want to talk to her either, but tells her to shut up and listen nonetheless. He says he doesn't care anymore if Patricia wants to dump him, and thinks she's lost her mind. He doesn't understand why Patricia would release Thomas or side with "a couple n*ggers" who wanted to kick the group out. He tells her that she's dead to him, leaving her in tears.

Tyreese and Carol are lying on the floor of the gym. She lists her chores for the day and asks Tyreese what he'll be doing, to which he replies that he'll probably just play some basketball. Carol scolds him for being lazy, but Ty claims he has to be rested for the next zombie attack. They are interrupted by Michonne, who's come to lift weights. Tyreese and Carol go to talk to Michonne, with Ty asking her if she likes it at the prison. Michnne replies that she does, before recognizing Tyreese as a football player for The Falcons. They strike up a friendly conversation, much to Carol's jealousy.

Glenn goes to see Maggie in her cell. He asks if she wants him to move his stuff out, but she claims it's the opposite, and tells him to forget all the things she said to him when she was upset. She says that it would be foolish to push away a guy who she really likes and who genuinely cares about her, telling him she needs to get laid, besides.

Dale compliments his new clothes and Andrea is glad he likes them. She jokingly wishes he would get rid of the hat but he tells her that isn't happening. She asks Dale if they're staying after all, and Dale replies that they are, at least for now, as he doesn't see the point in leaving. He then leaves to meet up with Rick.

Axel greets Hershel in the yard, but Hershel only glares at him angrily. Axel says he knows Hershel doesn't like him, but assures him that he didn't know Thomas and he damn sure didn't like him. He goes on to say that he knows he's an outsider and that his fellow prisoners didn't leave the best impression of him, but claims he's just a man who made a mistake he payed for, and not a monster, so he'd prefer not to be treated like one. As Hershel continues to stare at him, Axel leaves, but not before telling Hershel "Fuck you, too" for ignoring him. Rick arrives a moment later, and recruits Axel to help him, Ty and Dale clear out the A-Block. Allen volunteers as well, wanting to do something useful.

Rick, Tyreese, Dale, Allen, and Axel all go into A-Block, hoping to clear out the remaining zombies that they didn't kill in the shootout. Rick hopes that most of the roamers got out when Dexter and Andrew left the door open, leaving only the lurkers. Allen almost shoots a lurker but is stopped by Rick, who tells him not to use his gun unless they're surrounded, as they have no idea how many walkers are left in the block and the noise would bring them all to their location. After finding a library, Allen investigates what he assumes it a corpse, but turns out to be a lurker, causing him to shoot it in panic. The group splits up. Rick, Axel and Allen go one way, and while Allen is taking a break to catch his breath, he is bitten on the ankle by a lurker. He shoots it, and Rick and Axel simply stare on. The other group, Tyreese and Dale, hear the scream and gunshot, but they figure it is taken care of and do not investigate. They open a door to find an enormous generator.

Credits[]

Deaths[]

  • None

Trivia[]

  • Last appearance of Thomas Richards. (Corpse)
  • Allen's death wasn't planned until the issue came out; Kirkman stated he loved the character. The same thing happens in Issue 98, where Abraham getting pierced with an arrow wasn't planned until the very issue.

Cutting Room Floor[]

  • The first scene of the issue was going to be Glenn killing zombies.
  • After Andrea's meeting, Rick and Tyreese were going to talk.
  • There was going to be a scene featuring Lori and Carl.
  • Kirkman originally planned for the comic to adopt a Mad Max-like esthetic, with people forced to make their own clothes out of scraps, and thus had Andrea volunteer to do this during her meeting. However, he later realized that, with so few survivors, the characters would realistically never run out of fresh clothes, so they kept wearing regular clothes for the most part.

Errors/Goofs[]

  • Thomas Richard's corpse is seen with glasses however he wasn't wearing them when his body was eaten.

References[]

  1. July 2005 Comic Book Sales Figures - Ranked #117 Overall