The Bullpen

[Wood]

I stopped reading Walking Dead after the Governor tortured Michione in whatever trade that was.  Five maybe?  I realized that it was a very good series, but it just wasn't for me.  I didn't enjoy it and I wasn't entertained. (And, to respond to what I believe hypothetical VinceB's opinion might be- I realize that not all art needs to be enjoyable or entertaining, but this is an expensive hobby.)

That said, when someone wrote Carl got shot in the face, I assumed it was joke, because Derek was asking for spoilers, so the first one was made up.  This is a thing that really happened?  Or is everyone going along with the joke and I'm too lazy to Google it?

No, it really happens in the 14th trade (whatever issue that was, I don't know as I read it exclusively in trades). There's a fence collapse at the town, and tons of zombies break through. The towns people, led by Rick, decide to stand and fight rather than try to escape, and are making great progress, pretty much eradicating hundreds of undead in a much better occurrence than they were worried about. But one of the original townies is panicked and shooting, and they keep telling him to stop shooting (so as not to bring more zombies), and then...BOOM!...double page splash of Carl with a gigantic hole on the side of his head.

[Tom from West Chester]

No, it really happens in the 14th trade (whatever issue that was, I don't know as I read it exclusively in trades). There's a fence collapse at the town, and tons of zombies break through. The towns people, led by Rick, decide to stand and fight rather than try to escape, and are making great progress, pretty much eradicating hundreds of undead in a much better occurrence than they were worried about. But one of the original townies is panicked and shooting, and they keep telling him to stop shooting (so as not to bring more zombies), and then...BOOM!...double page splash of Carl with a gigantic hole on the side of his head.

Holy shit!  Even after everything else he's done, that's a surprise.  Thanks, Wood.

[steve bryant]

I stopped reading Walking Dead after the Governor tortured Michione in whatever trade that was.  Five maybe?  I realized that it was a very good series, but it just wasn't for me.  I didn't enjoy it and I wasn't entertained. (And, to respond to what I believe hypothetical VinceB's opinion might be- I realize that not all art needs to be enjoyable or entertaining, but this is an expensive hobby.)

That said, when someone wrote Carl got shot in the face, I assumed it was joke, because Derek was asking for spoilers, so the first one was made up.  This is a thing that really happened?  Or is everyone going along with the joke and I'm too lazy to Google it?

It happened.

Rick, Michonne, Maggie, Carl, and Sophia are inside a walled neighborhood (Glenn and Andrea are outside). Rick has just slept with Jessie (a suddenly single mom)—his first partner since his wife was killed. The walls are coming down and Rick suddenly decides he can't save everyone and that they need to run. Maggie (and Sophia) choose not to leave.

Some debate about leaving the town and their friends behind, but Rick coldly says "They're not OUR children."

Rick, Carl, Michonne, Jessie (and her son, Ron), do something that Rick has done before, cover themselves with zombie guts in an effort for them to pass through the zombie horde unmolested. Ron, however, panics, and gets chomped. Rick has written Ron off at this point and is hellbent on saving Carl, so he presses forward.

Other townspeople are shooting wildly at the zombies while this is going down. Knowing the gunfire is drawing more walkers, Rick yells for the shooting to stop.

Jessie, deep in denial and desperate for someone to save her son, grabs Carl's hand and won't. let. go.

Rick chops her hand off and pulls Carl to safety.

Gunfire continues all around them.

Rick continues to yell to ceasefire.

...and turns to see Carl has been shot in the head, blowing out his right eye, ear and a chunk of skull.

Later, after rushing to the doctor's office and pleading to "save my son," Rick comes to the realization that running was a mistake, and (essentially) killing Jessie and Ron is something he'll have to live with, the dead are a manageable threat and that with proper training and more fortification, they can rebuild their world.

Trade #14 ends with Rick pleading with a comatose Carl to live so that Rick can show him a world of hope.

----

The problem I had with Carl getting shot was that maiming a main character (and there are really only two of them in this book, Rick and Carl, both now maimed) is such a big deal...such a "can you top this?" moment that it's hard to have a more impactful situation short of killing one of them.

I understand that it's a karmic payback for the way that Rick casually discarded Jessie and Ron, but there are other ways to have handled the ramifications; Carl could point blank ask "Why are we more important than them?" This could have brought Rick around to a similar conclusion and Kirkman could have kept that card (maiming Carl) in his hand a while longer.

From a storytelling perspective, it shook me. But my concern, going forward, is that short of killing Rick or Carl, it will be nearly impossible to top.

That said, Kirkman has consistently been able to push my buttons on the series, and he may very well have a solution in place that still pushes everything forward without killing off the dad or son.

[Tom from West Chester]

Thanks, Steve.  Since I haven't read it I can't comment on it the way you have, but from your description of the events I likely would have a similar feeling to yours.  Does this seem to be a turning point in the series/ actual new direction, where Rick tries to lead the survivors rebuild society in some fashion and get the dead problem under control so-to-speak?  More succinctly, I'm asking is this leading to a place where the survivors themselves are no longer the "Walking Dead?"

[Scott C.]

IThe problem I had with Carl getting shot was that maiming a main character (and there are really only two of them in this book, Rick and Carl, both now maimed) is such a big deal...such a "can you top this?" moment that it's hard to have a more impactful situation short of killing one of them.

That's my problem with the act.  What are the stakes now?  Short of death, anything can and will happen to these characters but what can it mean?  If Carl survives (I haven't read anything past the latest trade,) where can Kirkman take the character.

Of course, Kirkman is writing a soap opera here so I guess almost anything is possible.

[Wood]

I'm kind of with y'all on the Carl thing. I love the land and setting Kirkman has weaved, but I would really like to see the focus turn to a new set of folks. Rick and Carl have kind of started to bore me.

[Scott C.]

I'm kind of with y'all on the Carl thing. I love the land and setting Kirkman has weaved, but I would really like to see the focus turn to a new set of folks. Rick and Carl have kind of started to bore me.

I keep expecting Kirkman to kill Rick and Carl and make Andrea and Micchone the main characters of the title.  Maybe that's what #100 will be.

[Wood]

I keep expecting Kirkman to kill Rick and Carl and make Andrea and Micchone the main characters of the title.  Maybe that's what #100 will be.

I actually found Rick and Carl most interesting when they were on their own for awhile. That's when we saw some real character development from both of them (heartbreaking though those developments may be). Reminded me of The Road, which is one of my favorite modern novels.

[Scott C.]

I actually found Rick and Carl most interesting when they were on their own for awhile. That's when we saw some real character development from both of them (heartbreaking though those developments may be). Reminded me of The Road, which is one of my favorite modern novels.

I think Carl has become the most interesting character in the series.  Here is a boy who can't even remember if he's 8 or 9 years old because of the way that the world has changed.  He wants to be his father so badly that he's unknowingly sacrificed any chance he has at a semi-normal childhood to act like his father and do what his father would do.  But does he have the emotional maturity to do it? 

To me, it felt a lot like Kirkman was trying to reset the series so Carl could be the heart and soul of it but I can't imagine how he can do that now. 

[legion of daves]

i've long held the belief that kirkman is gonna kill Rick.  maybe not by issue 100, but i wouldn't be surprised if Carl survives, and then Rick gets killed and leaves a disabled Carl to be taken care of by others. 

[steve bryant]

I think Carl has become the most interesting character in the series.  Here is a boy who can't even remember if he's 8 or 9 years old because of the way that the world has changed.  He wants to be his father so badly that he's unknowingly sacrificed any chance he has at a semi-normal childhood to act like his father and do what his father would do.  But does he have the emotional maturity to do it? 

To me, it felt a lot like Kirkman was trying to reset the series so Carl could be the heart and soul of it but I can't imagine how he can do that now. 

Yeah, I agree. Carl's journey to young man will be perilous. I disagree with an earlier poster who said the kid is a sociopath. I do feel Carl has some emotional scarring and that the moral relativism of the situation has embedded some mixed messages in his head.

Morgan's deathbed speech to Carl starts off as a message to Carl. Maybe Morgan just slips up and says the name Duane because he'll never get to have that talk with his own son, or maybe he loses track of who he's talking to. But the early parts, where he tells Carl that he's a good person who's had to make some difficult decisions really rings true. The kid has had plenty of sleepless nights because, as Scott said, he's trying so hard to be his dad.

I'd hate to see Kirkman write Carl out. Like Scott, I'd like to see Kirkman steer it back around to Carl as the heart and soul of the book.

[jacobi]

I actually would like to see Carl carry on with Michonne, who's character arc I'm finding more interesting than Rick's.