The Walking Dead Volume 31 delivers action, drama, horror, drama, and then even more drama in the usual Robert Kirkman style. The story centers around the interaction between the survivors who fans of the Walking Dead are familiar with and survivors who populate the most recently-discovered settlement in their area. The government of the new settlement is both unusual and innovative, unlike anything the survivors have encountered before, and Kirkman uses this fictitious setting to provide commentary on some of the social aspects of the real world. That setting is populated by characters who are easy to like or to despise, depending on their place in the story. The narrative delivers some shocking and interesting moments, but overall it feels like this installment is simply and placeholder between the last volume and the next.
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 15 religious exclamations; 8 mild obscenities; 12 scatological words; 3 anatomical terms; 20 f-word derivatives.
Violence/Gore: A verbal threat; a character points a gun another; a character sports a graphic, but healed, facial wound; report of a character being shot; a few mentions of past deaths;a character is knocked off a horse; a character hits another in the face; a character punches another; a riot occurs; a mob beats a man and woman; characters are attacked by zombies a few times; a few instances of property damage; an unarmed character is beaten to death; zombies are shot and stabbed many times; a character is shot in the head, and it is illustrated with graphic gore.
Sex/Nudity: Characters kiss a few times; report of an extramarital affair; illustration of a woman in her bra and panties; a man and woman kiss and discuss their sex lives while in bed, with an implication that they just had sex; teen characters discuss their sex lives with each other; a teen laments that it doesn’t seem like she will ever lose her virginity; a character gets dressed after implied sex.
Mature Subject Matter:
Class discrimination; government corruption; loss of family member (spouse, child).
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Mention of wine.
