Walking Dead Volume 32: Rest in Peace

Throughout the Walking Dead series, the authors have shown no hesitation in killing off main characters, and in this final episode, they make no exception. The rot in the Commonwealth continues to grow and it is on the brink of a ruinous civil war. Some of the people in the leadership openly want Rick Grimes to assume the leadership role, but he is very reluctant. He knows that as an outsider he would at first be hailed but as time moves on, he would be criticized for that very characteristic. When two forces prepare to square off in the street and the death machine is about to start, Rick steps forward and manages to diffuse the situation. However, not all people in the Commonwealth are willing to accept his lead. Fortunately, things do get calmed down and both societies accept internal and external peace between them. The story closes with a lengthy epilogue when Rick's son Carl is a mature adult and the world is stable and the safe zone is expanding with the creation of a rail network. The reader is given a glimpse into the lives of some of the people that followed Rick through the early horror. This book is a more lengthy and fitting end to the Walking Dead saga. Rick Grimes is placed in his proper position as an unwitting and flawed father of his country and we see a society once again based on law and civil order not carried out via the threat of violence. Roamers are little more than a historical curiosity to most young people.