For those that may have forgotten, a couple months ago Robert Kirkman stealth released the 17th issue of a comic. Officially this is an issue that showed up from a parallel earth. Unofficially I think he’s showing us what his next idea would have been if The Walking Dead was not successful.

Leaping forward 17 issues into a title is a hell of a gimmick. I’m lost, but so is everyone else. This is the middle of a story no one knows. It’s a good story. I’m intrigued. But there isn’t any great drama or tension because nothing has been built up. The characters look great. The idea is cool. It’s beautifully drawn. I do want to see the previous 16 issues and maybe more. Also, putting this on the more newsprint than glossy paper felt like grabbing a comic off the racks in the 80’s or 90’s that was hundreds of issues into the run. I may not know what’s happening, but I’ll have fun figuring it out.

For the gimmick alone, this was a fun read. If anything comes of it in the future I’ll add it to my pull list and see how the story began.