The Walking Dead #190: Welcome to the Commonwealth

Civil War strikes the Commonwealth as Rick and company struggle to maintain civility in the once prosperous and hopeful community.

The downfall of the Commonwealth’s leadership has been in motion essentially since the community was introduced under the direction of Governor Milton and her bratty child. Already boiling tensions reached their tipping point with Rick’s arrival, spurring Mercer to finally take action, and now the people are divided and taking up arms to fight one another. This type of collapse isn’t something new for The Walking Dead as a series, but it really hasn’t happened on such a large scale before. There are a lot of moving pieces to this conflict and Kirkman handles them all with noticeable ease.

With Michonne caught in the middle of Mercer and Governor Milton’s ongoing feud as she tries to protect her newly-found daughter, we see Rick desperately trying to keep the peace and avoid the seemingly inevitable confrontation. It’s a scenario that is all too familiar for him, but seems absolutely foreign to Governor Milton. This creates an interesting duality between the two leaders that delves into the horrific consequences of their fighting.

During this brewing conflict, Rick’s backup arrives in the form of Maggie and her people who somehow manage to divert an entire herd of walkers moving right through their community. This plot point does a great job in emphasizing the real dangers of the world that the people should be focused on, but instead, the walkers turn out to simply be a precursor to Governor Milton’s arrival with her own army. This worked particularly well because it showed the creative team’s ability to highlight the ongoing dangers presented by both the dead and the living, without focusing too heavily on one or the other.  

The heart of The Walking Dead as a franchise has always been a focus on character drama set against a backdrop of a zombie apocalypse. The conflict between Rick and Governor Milton at the Commonwealth is one of the best recent examples of this concept at work. The emotional depth of their decisions and the consequences they assume help to elevate the story, especially during momentous events like this. The cliffhanger builds on this very momentum, delivering a truly satisfying reading experience overall.

With a relentless narrative accompanied by powerfully expressive artwork, The Walking Dead #190 shows that there is still plenty of room left for high-quality storytelling in the long-running series!