COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Walking Dead 193 Signature
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Grade:
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9.8
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Page Quality:
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WHITE
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Certification #:
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1575556025
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Owner:
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StephenWA
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
193. The End - Convention Edition, LE 500.
The last issue of The Walking Dead comic book series.
Signed by Charlie Adlard in silver sharpie on 8/5/2019. It has been graded into CGC's prestigious Signature Series with a TWD Rick label.
Story summary: Twenty-five years have passed since Rick's death (it is now c. 2033). A lone walker approaches the Grimes family farm, but Carl spots it and quickly kills it. His wife, Sophia, comes to see what happened. Carl has no idea how a roamer had slipped through their defenses. Sophia asks why Carl didn't just shoot it, but he points out there could be more of them. Carl worries where their daughter Andrea is, but Sophia tells him she is still sleeping. Carl checks the walker's teeth to see if it had bitten anyone, then asks if Hershel is in town.
Hershel welcomes Carl, but is greeted with a punch to the face. Carl furiously asks him how many walkers there are in his cart, which prompts Hershel to immediately ask if he'd found his escaped walker. Carl replies that he did, and that he killed it. Outraged, Hershel asks if Carl has any idea how much a walker is worth, and yells that Sheriff Kapoor will hear about this as Carl walks away.
The Grimes family is having dinner at the Sutton residence, where Carl tells Earl about what had happened with the walker. Sophia tells Earl that he should consider moving back into town, since there are a lot of people his age, but Earl denies this, as after the third expansion, he knew he didn't belong in civilization anymore, and that he likes living out of town. As the Grimes family departs, Earl notes that Hershel wasn't raised right, since Maggie was so busy with the Commonwealth and just gave him everything he wanted.
As they put little Andrea to sleep, Carl tells Sophia that he is thinking about his father, and how sorry he is that Rick never got to meet his granddaughter. He sighs that he misses his father so much.
Carl and Sophia arrive to the hearing only to find a long line of people in front of the building. Kapoor apologizes, and supposes that word must have gotten out about Carl coming into town. As the hearing begins, both Hershel and Carl make their cases before the judge. Hershel complains how he acquired the walkers at great expense for his show, and that Carl shouldn't be above the law because of his father.
Sophia catches up with Carl and reminds him that she is on his side. Carl says that he knows, but wishes she wasn't the only one. Sophia jokingly asks if she's not enough for him, but Carl tells her she's almost too much, before challenging her to a race to Andrea's school, which she gladly accepts.
As they prepare to go to bed, Sophia informs Carl that Andrea is worried about him, so Carl promises to talk to her tomorrow. Sophia asks if he's ready for bed, but Carl wants to go outside first and clear his head.
Carl knocks on the door repeatedly, but there is no reply. Carl decides to leave, and explains to Lydia that he likes talking to anyone who knew Rick when he was alive, since he wasn't just a myth to them. They make it to the river, where Carl trades supplies with someone and tells them to say hi to Aaron and Jesus. He then brings supplies to Elias, who is disappointed Carl didn't bring any carvings for Lauren. On their way to their next destination, Carl and Lydia are startled by a sound, and look up in the sky to see a giant flock of birds. Carl tells Lydia about how when the first settlers came, they could hunt by blindly firing their guns into the air. The bird population went down, but apparently recovered now that there isn't enough living people to cull them.
The next day, they arrive to a station and board the train. They ride for a few hours, until they reach the end of the rails. Both Carl and Lydia are surprised at the progress made on the rail construction. At the construction site, they are greeted by Eugene, who welcomes them to the "Western Front". Eugene asks about the grading attachment, and Carl informs him that he has it, as the two embrace. Carl is in awe about the progress Eugene has made, while the latter informs him that they will meet the Western Alliance's tracks within a year, uniting East and West for the first time since the trials began. He wishes Stephanie was alive to see it, and hopes to survive long enough to witness it himself. Carl assures Eugene that he's as healthy as a horse, but Eugene isn't so sure. As they go to unload the cart, Lydia asks Carl if Eugene is really sick. Carl replies that Eugene has been talking like that for years, but that he doesn't know. They notice Laura staring at them, so Carl goes to say hello. He tells Laura that he didn't know she was working on the frontier, but she replies that it's one of the few places that still needs security, and that she prefers places where Rick isn't worshiped as much. She bitterly tells Carl that she will never forget what his father did. Carl snaps back at her, telling her that Dwight wasn't the only person who died because of Rick Grimes, but that every single person alive today is alive because of him, including her, and tells he to show a little respect. With that, he leaves, as Laura angrily glares at him. Lydia asks if Carl is ready to head back home tomorrow, and Carl jokingly replies that, after that, he is a little.
After they arrive back home and Carl returns the cart, he gives Lydia her cut and heads back to his home. Andrea runs over to embrace her father, while Sophia looks at him angrily. Sophia demands to know why Carl did what he did, but Carl remorsefully tells her that he just wanted to keep Andrea safe. Sophia tells him that Andrea was safe, but won't be without her father. Their argument is interrupted by Kapoor and his posse.
As they're waiting for the train, a guard offers to take Carl's cuffs off, but Carl tells him not to worry about it. The guard tells Carl that he doesn't fault him for what he did, and thinks that the shows like that should be outlawed in the Commonwealth, no matter who's doing it. Carl appreciates the sentiment, as the guard tells him that they're taking him all the way to Commonwealth One to see Judge Hawthorne, deducing that Carl must have pissed off the President, though the guard believes this isn't the way a Grimes should be treated.
Sophia comes to see Carl in the room he is confined to. She apologizes for yelling at him, but informs him that he will be attending an informal hearing, although she adds that Hershel is now claiming that he took the massacre of his walkers as a threat on his life, and supposes that this is why it got kicked up to the high court so quickly. Sophia is optimistic that Judge Hawthorne will be presiding over the hearing, and Carl hopes that is a good thing, too.
At the hearing, Judge Hawthorne turns out to be Michonne. Carl smiles at Michonne, but his face quickly drops when Michonne glares at him. Michonne says that she won't bother restating the issues, and reminds those present that this is not a trial, but an informal hearing at the high court, which means that her ruling is final, and she alone rules against the accused, without a jury, lawyers, or trial. She says that the hearings are meant to be swift, so asks Carl so speak in his defense. Carl thanks her and goes on to say that he is not ignorant to the laws of the Commonwealth and knows how important personal property is. However, when he saw the roamer walk across his lands, he didn't see a piece of property, but something that took so many of their lives, and simply did what needed to be done. When he was ordered to replace the roamer he'd killed, he couldn't bear the thought of something he brought back hurting someone, and was thus pushed over the edge. Carl acknowledges that he might be looking at the world the wrong way, but explains that his job as a messenger requires him to spend weeks on end outside the safe-zone, where things are nearly as bad as they were before, so he remembers the dangers of the past all too well.
Back at their house, Carl and Sophia observe the sunset from their porch and reminisce. They are about to kiss, but are interrupted by Andrea, who wants Carl to read her a bedtime story. Carl reads her a story about the Trials. As he does so, many people who lived through them are seen, including Maggie and Hershel at their apartment, Jesus and Aaron on the riverbank, Negan placing flowers at Lucille's grave, Mercer and Juanita walking their dog, Lydia at home with Conner, Magna and Yumiko feeding pigeons, Eugene observing the railroad construction, Laura eating with the other workers, Michonne and Elodie with Michonne's grandson, Pamela visiting Sebastian in jail, and finally Rick and Andrea's graves. Carl wipes away a tear after he finishes his story and tells Andrea she really would have liked her grandfather, informing her that the book is about him. Andrea rolls her eyes and says that she knows, since Carl tells her that every time, but then asks Carl to read the story again, which he happily does.
Sales: 111,121 (3 editions)
Cover price: None shown (Comic Con Exclusive / SDCC 2019)
Robert Kirkman - creator and writer
Charlie Adlard and Stefano Gaudiano - interior art
Charlie Adlard - hand-signed cover. (150)
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