Originally written September 4, 2017

So, I’m definitely a fan of The Walking Dead comic and think that it’s almost always stronger than the show that’s adapted it. Compendium One covered issues #1-48, which was a really strong set of issues that makes for a pretty amazing read. Compendium Two follows that up by compiling issues #49-96, and sadly I feel that during the entire comic’s run up to this point in time, it was amidst this set of issues that the series had its most amount of stumbles.

So, quick spoilers for Compendium One, so skip the next sentence if you want to avoid that. (SPOILERS) Compendium One ends with the prison being destroyed by The Governor, which leaves Rick and his group out of a home. (END SPOILERS) Compendium Two naturally picks up where that left off, and so a big span of these issues covers the aftermath of that. Most of this compendium features Rick and company out on the road again, until they can find a more permanent home. This compendium is then where the Alexandria settlement is introduced, and so storylines of what goes on there is where the series goes for the rest of this set of issues.

My main problem with this set of issues is that this is where the most amount of lulls happen in the series so far. I just felt like there were too many points where nothing of importance was happening for multiple issues in a row, and so it gets a little uneventful at times. These times mainly happen when the group is on the road and when they’re in Alexandria for a little while. It’s not like it ever becomes bad, but the engagement just wasn’t as strong for me at times.

However, there are definitely still some really great points in this compendium as well. In particular, without going into details, the hunters storyline and the “No Way Out” storylines are particularly great. So, I don’t want to give the impression that this is just an uneventful compendium in general, because it’s not. There is more good than bad to it, it just wasn’t as strong of a showing as Compendium One was. That being said, it’s still an enjoyable read, and Compendium Two ends in a spot where things start to get really good for the comic again. Things definitely start to improve again for Compendium Three, but this is still worth it.

3.5/5