Nee ets THE WALKING ROBERT KIRKMAN Creator, Writer CHARLIE ADLARD Penciler, Cover STEFANO GAUDIANO Inker CLIFF RATHBURN Gray Tones RUS WOOTON Letterer SEAN MACKIEWICZ DAVE STEWART Editor Cover Colors Previously: Rick and Car! travel to Hilltop and run into some walkers along the way, while Ken and Marco have their own trouble on the open road. Meanwhi breaks into Alexandria's j , Magna |, bringing her face to face with Negan. Robert Kirkman For Skybound Entertainment sean Mackiewiez Bein Huntington June Alian Uzzy Iverson Helen Leigh Ben Petersen Rachel Skidmore Nok Palmer Eric Stephenson Jessica Ambriz For Image Comics sSteiarat somone lon Richarde Robert Kirkman SeREitera oes” Jennifer de Guzman Kat Salazar rik Larsen Todd McFarlane Mare Silvestri Emilio Bautista ‘Tyler Shaintine David Brothers onativan chan Meredith Wallace PTE Monica Garcia, enna Savage virn Valentino Branwyn Bigglestone Emily Millor cava ange www.imagecomics.com THE WALKING DEAD #130. August 2014. Published by Image Comics, Inc. Office of publication: 2001 Center St, Gth Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704. Copyright » 2014 Robert Kirkman, LLC. All rights reserved. THE WALKING DEAD" (Including all prominent characters featured herein), its tego and fll character likenesses are trademarks of Robert Kirkman, LLC, unless otherwise noted. Image: Comics and its logos are registered trademarks and copyrights of Image Comics, Ine. All rights reserved. No part oF this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (except for short excerpls for review purposes) without the express written permission of Image Comics, Inc. All names, characters, events and locales in this publication are entirely fictional. ‘Any resemblance to actual persons (living and/or dead), events or places, without satiric intent, i ‘ecoincigental, DIGITAL EDITION.Fl iz| | il FUCK! \ im HRDID YOU GUYS EVER DECIDE ON THAT HALFWAY PONT? WEREN'T YOU GONG TO PUT SOME KIND OF STOP THERE? THAT'S THE PLAN, BUT IT ID LIKE TO Bay GET IT UP AND. Ble) RUNNING BEFORE WINTER... BUT THAT'S IFFY, DON'T GO TOO FAR. I'M NOT LOOKING.on i te =e > : LeBK Grimes? = iN ‘i HE'S ONLY ABOUT TRIPLE THE SIZE HE WAS WHEN YOU LAST SAW HIM. BRIANNA TS WATCHING HIM.ITHNK CARL CAN. TTHINK HE'LL BE FINE, ACTUALLY. THERE WERE TIMES THAT BOY WAS. HE WAS ALL T WAS LIVING FOR, HE WAS My‘LIFE, NOW T HAVE. TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TOLET HIM GOP THINK SO. BUT THAT ONLY HELPS "AUTTLE, TIM SORRY TO INTERRUPT YOU, SIR BUT IVD BE AREAL HONOR TO ‘SHAKE THE HAND OF DID you RICK GRIMES. SAY RICK GRIMES? SURE TLLT Don't LET 17 GO TO YOUR | EAD.’ / STOP. T DONT AND YOU KNOW I YOU'RE ONLY MAKING THINGS WORSE, SERIOUSLY, T SHAVED MY HEAD AND cc Pt 3 SREW MY BEARD SO aR "DAVE ALITTLE ACE. THIS CRAP IS ARTING TO SPREAD INTO ALEXANDRIA Now. WOULD Have DErINITELy AND BESIDES... THNGS TURNED OUT DIFFERENTLY IF YOU HADN'T TAKEN OVERWHERE WE KEEP THE WOOD. UNLESS YOU HAVE ABETTER IDE.They can.. good stuf talk?! Now we're getting to the That's certainly a weird development! Stay tuned! LETTERS! Dear Kirk & Co., Loving the time jump “of an undetermined amount of time” and the little mysteries it’s created amongst our beloved Survivors. Two points of concern: 1. Magna sounds an awful lot like Rick did at the end of issue #70 and Rick looks an awful lot like Douglas Monroe did back in those early ASZ days. We all know history repeats itself eventually for those unaware. Is Rick watching his back carefully enough? Only time will tell. I have to address this Douglas thing, though... you might remember Douglas looking something like Rick does now, but they're actually quite different. Go back and compare them. 2. Why would Andrea buy that Magna & Co. never ‘saw another living person out there? We ali know that if you kill you live. Surely it’s suspicious iF you can make it 7 months without seeing another breather out in the world, even if you are a newly introduced peripheral character that we don’t quite care about yet. OR it’s possible that this far into the zombie apocalypse, people are few and far between and the only ones who have survived this long did so by forming communities that are very far apart and hard to just stumble across in seven months of traveling. OR... she was lying. Looking forward to seeing what unfolds in issue 129, Bummed we're back to a standard monthly schedule, That accelerated All Our War saga got me spoiled, Best, Sean We got two issues in October. You'll do just fine, Best Sean. Starting in 2015 we'll put the book out weekly. 52 issues a year! Think we can do it, Sean? Charlie? Anyone? C'mon, guys! It'd be so fun! Dear Cpt. Kirk and Crew, WRITE TO US AT: DE ecu Congratulations for making an awesome comic book series. I started reading the comics because the show was amazing. T have now caught up with the series, so issue 128 was the first issue I got out of the gate, Great twist with keeping Negan alive in issue 126. So, I have some questions and ideas (Sorry if any of the Q's/ideas are in the governor book series or TWD game, I ust started both of them 1) Why haven’t we seen anyone holed up in a store, like Sam's Club? Whenever I go in that place, I think how perfect it would be for a zombie apocalypse, with all the food and high shelves. I would think that those would've been raided Pretty early. That's everyone's first idea, t? Exactly. 2) Why haven't any characters brought up the idea of going on a boat, and living off the sea? At this point in the comic it probably wouldnt matter, but maybe a group could break off from. the communities (or from one of the groups in the other series) and try going to the Atlantic Ocean, or maybe a river. And even though the Atlantic Ocean is a bit away from D.C, It’s not like the group hasn't traveled far distances before We'll be dealing with this very soon. BUT I will say it takes a LOT of specific knowledge to live on the sea... and it’s really just not practical long term. 3) We've already seen the Alexandria Safe Zone, and we'll see The Hilltop in 129, but are we going to see the other 2 communities in the next few issues, or will we have to wait a while to see The Kingdom and/or The Sanctuary? It’s going to be a while before we've learned the status of every character. Not too long... but a while. Thank you for reading my letter, and again, superb job with the entire TWD franchise. Please DO NOT STOP making these comics. Great job to the entire TWD team. Noah Jacobs Fruitport, Michigan Thanks! To Mr. Kirkman & his talented coworkers As a (nearly) 50 year old woman, you wouldn't think walking dead would be my thing. I actually did resist reading it for a long time because I waspretty burned out on the whole zombie thing after Marvel Zombies. (Yes, I am aware RK wrote that one too) But I have to say, after my 15 year old son got interested, I got interested, And we were completely hooked. It'has become our ‘thing’. So thanks for that. Awesome. Also, Wall Zombies. 9 Dead >>>>> Marvel Man... doing Marvel Zombies actually cost us a reader?! Now I REALLY regret doing that Re: All out War, I really don’t understand why anyone has a problem with it. It was awesome! You did a few things that I did not see coming, and I really appreciate that in a writer. The only disappointment was Shiva. But I feel that everyone including the people working on the book were probably a bit bummed about that. We haven't seen Ezekiel yet! Maybe he's got a giraffe now! Fingers crossed! Really, really good storytelling. I really don’t know What élse to say, I should also probably mention that I have worked at comic shops & comic con's for about 20 years now. Kudes from everyone down at Warp 9 comics. Sincerely, Kitty Dunn Thanks for reading, Kitty! The best is yet to come... I assume. I think so, but I’m biased. Letter Hacks, With Negan locked up and Dwight taking over as leader of the survivors, it'll be interesting to see how his relationship plays out with his wife, Sherry. Are they going to reconcile? Or is Dwight so disgusted and angry at her, that he wants nothing to do with her? Or something else entirely? Now that Negan is locked up, where do his wives fit in with the group? They turned their backs on their husbands and children to be more or less just 2 concubine to this leader who has now lost. Do their respective husbands and families accept them back? James Moore These are all excellent questions, James, that we endeavor to mostly answer in this comic eventually. Man, maybe we better go back to two a month to get to Dwight quicker. Or maybe we'll be seeing Dwight before you know it?! After All Out War's conclusion, I didn’t expect much from the next few issues and I am still kind of up in the air as to what to think about 127 and 128 of The Walking Dead. First off, I think the new logo sucks all kinds of ass and you need to go back to the larger, more traditional logo. Please do that, because I'can barely tell what book I am looking out without a large title to make the book jump out, May I suggest spectacles? Or just identify it by Charlie and Dave's cover art... But we're not going back. We dig it. Negan is trying to manipulate Carl, but Carl is leaving for an apprenticeship at the Hilltop. Now, Negan is going to have to talk someone else into helping him escape (that’s what he’s doing, Working in the prison system myself, I see his kind every day). This little group of individuals that has been brought in has not learned to trust our main cast yet, and these are the people who are going to be manipulated by Negan into helping him escape, setting up what might possibly even be a sequel to All Out War, although who knows? These people are set on finding what our folks are hiding, and they will find it, as these situations typically go. Negan will toss a sob story about being misunderstood and that's all she wrote, I'm sure there will be some kind of crazy twist, though, and that’s why [love you guys so much and continue to buy your books even through the slower parts of the story. Negan totally tried that, but Magna’s got a pretty good bullshit detector. Slower parts of the--?! Why I oughta! Keep up the amazing work, gentlemen...you may Just keep me around a while. Also...you know... bet if you played your cards right, The Walking Dead would make a HELL of a TV show... Lonnie Henderson II Lafayette, GA ATV show you say. that?! man... could you imagine To the Kirkman Krew: Why do I get the feeling that once Carl moved to, Hilltop, he won't be seeing Rick again for a very long time? Also, back in the Ail Out War days, two years had passed since the outbreak, right? { don’t remember that being mentioned in any issue, it was probably somewhere else. Care to clarify when the two-year mark was? Thanks. Graham Since Hacks answers are totally not continuity, as previously established, I'd estimate that not long after the events of AOW, two years had elapsed. Dear Mr. Kirkman, Mr. Adlard, et. al, Long time listener, first time caller. You know, during All Out War, what really hit me was that I felt genuine tension when I was reading those issues. I couldn't predict what was gonna happen, and I was really worried for the various characters. When Rick got shot with the bolt it was like, FUJUCKI So with the new group we've met recently, I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out, [like how they are kind of doing the same thing that Rick and company did when they first came to Alexandria. Are they going to find Negan and set him free, I wonder. I'm sure it will play out differently than I expect. Negan and Car'’s relationship is interesting. Negan seems genuinely hurt that Car! still wants to kill him. He's a complex character, with shades of gray and different aspects to his personality. He even had a certain understanding and empathy for the girl that Car! liked. But is he manipulating Carl in addition to being his “friend”? Guess we'll have to wait and see. Will he manipulate the new group when/if they findhim? Hmm, Speaking of Negan, the thing I keep coming back to is his speech, “the best way to a man’s heart is through his vagina.” That has to be one of the best villain menologs of all time! That bit has a secret origin that maybe we'll discuss sometime. Or if we're asked nicely. Nah. I’m not telling. The vague answer is that I‘d originally come up with that speech for a villain in a different book... but then I realized how Negan-ish it was. Questions, i. Are there dentists in Alexandria, Hilltop, Kingdom??? Is anybody growing poppies to make laudinum, morphine or other painkillers? Does Eugene have that figured out too??? What's going ‘on with Rosita? (don’t answer that one.) Heh, Stay tuned on all fronts. Because, man, if there was a zombie apocalypse, I would be scrounging for dental floss. 1 wouldn't want to have a cavity 10 years down the line and no way to fix it. 2, Where's Michonne??? It was only a few hours after reading 126 it occurred to me, no Michonne. (OK, don’t answer that one either!) We know where she is. And soon you will, too. 3. Can we keep to a 3 week production schedule? I got spoiled with AOW, and I don’t want to have to go back to once a month. TWD is just too good... No! 2015! Keep up the great work!tlt Jack Musick Hilo, Hawaii PS. If you print this and I have made any spelling errors, please correct them so I don’t look like an asshole, Peace! a good job, buddy. Exemplary work. How's it going there tough guys? First of all I have to thank you for turning me into a total walking dead fan boy... love everything about it from the T.V. show to the comic book to the video game to the books, I've read rise of the governor, Tl be catching up on the rest soon. My big question is about Jesus or more about his relation to the T.V. show. First of all I am really happy about your portrayal of gay characters, I'm gay myself and also don’t really fit into any typical gay stereotypes and I have to say itis totally refreshing to finally see gay characters in the media that aren’t just stereotypes, the walking dead and shameless are the two’things that come to mind when it comes to portraying gay characters properly and you should be pretty happy about that and I'm sure I'm not the only ‘one who truly appreciates that. I also like that you decided to not make Jesus’ orientation a central, part of his character, orientation isn’t the central part of any person so it is as it should be. So here is my question, Jesus was an all-around bad ass. that turned out to be gay which shocked most of Us until you look back and notice that nothing at all indicated he was straight to begin with, and one character is in exactly the same position on the TV. show..Daryl, Ihave... fantasized about having this discussion. Absolutely nothing has given any indication that Daryl is straight and the relationship between him and Carol makes it seem even more likely that he is not only gay but that Carol is probably the only person he has confided in so far, and I feel like little hints have been dropped about it as well along the way but maybe not. I thought of this a long time ago but now I am pretty certain of it after the most bad ass character in the comic book turned out to be gay. I feel like if you had your way that Daryl would turn out to be gay since it’s true to the comic book and makes total sense for his character. So the real question is, would AMC let that fly? For the record, they absolutely would. I think it would be awesome to make Daryl gay but I could also see extremely heavy resistance from AMC at the Idea for fear of losing ratings and fear of fan backlash. The walking dead T.V. show is known for being unconventional but Daryl being gay sounds like a whole new level of unconventional even by the standards of T.V. today. Basically I am asking how much control you actually have over the Walking Dead T.V. show and if Daryl being gay is an idea that AMC wouldn't flinch at? Is Daryl being gay even an idea you have considered and if AMC shot the idea down would you a least let us know what you originally intended for his character? am aware that this could have heavy spoilers for the TV. show in answering these questions so understand if this doesn’t get published in the letter hacks but it would totally make my day to see this in the letter hacks two months from now. Long fucking live lucking Negan, Nick Muller Worcester, Massachusetts AllI can say is that it’s been discussed. We have very specific ideas about Daryl’s sexuality (or the seeming lack thereof), and if there’s ever a quiet period in the show where he’s not constantly distracted by crossbowing... we'll tackle it in the show. P.S. If Daryl dies, I will not riot. I know people love Daryl but I think’everyone forgot the fact that the first two episodes don’t even feature Daryl and everyone loved those episodes too. There have been other episodes that didn’t feature Daryl at all later in the series, but make no mistake, if he dies... there will be plenty of rioters. That's all we have time for. See you next month, where “A Journey Begins.” Man, I don’t have to spoil nothing if I just keep using the story titles. Robert's doing my work for me! -Second Best Sean I'm doing what I can to make things easier after that grueling All Out War schedule you had to deal with. Did we mention we're doing two issues on October? Things are about to get pretty crazy... so stay tuned! -Robert Kirkman