REVIEW: The Walking Dead Vol. 4: The Heart’s Desire by Robert Kirkman
The Hearts Desire is the fourth volume of Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead franchise. He teases the reader just a bit in the beginning after leaving you hanging at the end of Safety Behind Bars. The opening scene introduces a new and mysterious woman named Michonne.
This installment picks up the snow globe that is the world of our survivors and shakes it really good. It seems everybody gets their own scene in this one which is nice because it extends the depth of attachment the reader feels towards the characters. Of course you know Kirkman is only doing that so he can hurt you later.
The strain of the situation is beginning to take its toll on the survivors here, even with—or perhaps because of—marginally better living conditions, the survivors begin to show some very pre-apocalypse proclivities. Racism and infidelity pop up exemplifying that we are often our own worst enemy.
There is a very edgy quality to this volume that has the reader waiting for the pot to boil over. Kirkman does not disappoint. The two biggest bulls in the field eventually lock horns, both claiming some tenuous perch on righteousness. While this is not a case of “Team Edward†and “Team Jacobâ€, other people I know who have read this are split on the support of Rick versus Tyreese. Honestly, I’d never considered the possibility—for the record, I took Rick’s side.
Like any good zombie story with depth, the zombies have taken a background role in the story by now. This is really about the human condition. Occasionally a zombie pops up to be dealt with, but unlike the start of the story when they are the focus, they’ve become wallpaper.
The Heart’s Desire ends a bit differently from previous installments. There isn’t really some cliffhanging dilemma or anything of that nature. Instead, there is a bit of a speech that concludes with a moral declaration. This is one of those episodes where you serve yourself well by reading slowly and then reading it again. There is a lot going on here.
The beauty in the ending is that the reader haws absolutely no idea what to expect in Volume five. Can this group survive without a true tender? Where is the line between good and evil? Are these people gonna go crazy and kill each off? This is the “deepest†volume thus far and it throws a bit of mud on the romanticized sheen that we zombie fans tend to put on the idea of a zombie apocalypse. However, this is the story that makes me proud to be a fan.
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