As The Walking Dead continues its “All Out War” so too does the dual reviews. Before we find out what Adam and Jordan thought of the issue here’s what the issue is about: “ALL OUT WAR” continues! The first battle of the war rages on!

Pretty straight-forward! Now on with the reviews!

Jordan:

F#$king-A “All Out War”. In the most balls to the walls installment of The Walking Dead in recent memory it’s Neegan vs. Rick in a total knock-down drag-out.

I’ve always liked Neegan—well, kinda. He’s funny and bombastic in a ways a lot of characters aren’t in the series and it’s refreshing. That said, damn if it isn’t fun to see all his plans go straight to hell. Indeed a Neegan in distress is, id dare to say, even more fun than one who’s in control of things. Lines like “I hope you have your shitting pants on” prove that even in his worst hour, this character is still as darkly endearing as ever.

On Rick’s side it’s a game of pure tactics, outgunned and on poor ground he has his work cut out for him to win this battle, and that’s really what this issue is about. Rick totally taking on the mantle of leader and helping his people succeeds against nearly insurmountable odds. But we get strong moments from many charterers here as Rick’s plots unfold in a great first-shots-fired portion in what is sure to be an awesome war.

Action is pulling out all the stops in “All Out War” and the series is exciting now more than ever. Of course Adlard is on point as always with shocking violence and gorgeous spreads of the whole thing that bring you into action of all fronts, his spot-on paneling making you feel like you’re ducking behind barriers and buses with the rest of the crew. If you’ve fallin’ off the The Walking Dead wagon, it’s a better time now than ever to jump on, shit is starting to sizzle.

Adam:

The fact that Negan has complete control over Gregory, the leader of Hilltop, seen at the stand-still we witnessed at the end of last issue is nothing short of terrifying.  It looked like for a second, maybe Jesus would back out and go home like Negan was demanding.  But, it didn’t pan out quite how Negan was expecting, and we finally have a glimpse of war…or a skirmish, at least.  The bottom line is there was finally bloodshed, and we should all be happy about that.

It was great finally seeing all of Rick, Jesus, and Ezekiel’s hard work and intricate planning pay off in a victory, however so slight, over Negan.  Their strategic maneuver was very admirable, even though the way it went down left a bit of a cliffhanger regarding Holly.  Negan again proves himself as my favorite TWD villain; I loved his reaction to the three groups’ retaliation.  I actually laughed out loud when he looked at one of his slain men and said “Lucille, you believe this shit?!”  I’m also very curious as to see where Dwight’s loyalty will lie and how that will affect future issues.  I’ll probably just be handing out 5’s for this whole story arc; they’re really going to have to screw something up for me not to.  Here’s to hoping they don’t.

Score: 5/5 and 5/5

Writer: Robert Kirkman Artists: Charlie Adlard, Stefano Gaudiano and Cliff Rathburn Publisher: Image Comics Price: $2.99 Release Date: 11/13/13