The Walking Dead, Volume 8: Made to Suffer by Robert Kirkman

Book Details
The Walking Dead, Volume 8: Made to Suffer by Robert Kirkman
Paperback, 136 Pages
2008, Image Comics
ISBN: 9781582408835
Series: Book 8 of The Walking Dead

Synopsis
The series that created the zombie movement reaches its most pivotal, series-altering arc yet! They thought they were safe in the prison. They were wrong. A force far more deadly than the walking dead is at their door and when the dust settles, their rank will be reduced by more than half. No one is safe!

Review
Made to Suffer, the eighth volume in The Walking Dead graphic novel series, is by far the very best one - at least in terms of shocking deaths. In the past, Robert Kirkman has managed to surprise us repeatedly with his ability to kill off characters that we think of as safe. In Made to Suffer, it's not just the quantity of deaths (it's a truckload), nor the specific people he kills off (even the most cynical horror fan may find themselves surprised by the end of this one), but both - mixed with his continuing need to present the horror of man even in the face of the monsters.

Made to Suffer is written much in the style of a last book in a series. High death count, no one is safe, end of an arc showdown. The Governor finally comes calling and while the survivors were prepared for him, no one could be fully ready to deal with his amount of sheer crazy. At the end of Made to Suffer, we don't know all the specifics about who lived, but we certainly know who died, on both sides. Multiple long term characters are killed, unceremoniously, right along side newish characters. I say newish because we haven't really had a newer "good guy" character since the survivors moved to the prison.

I'm slightly wary about how things are going to play out now that the group of survivors has dwindled to such a small number, but I have faith in Robert Kirkman and The Walking Dead. I can't believe he would have written such a mind blowing, game changing volume if he didn't have a plan for those who remained. Made to Suffer is one of the very best in The Walking Dead series thus far.

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