Want to weird yourself out? The Walking Dead started October 31st, 2010. Nearly 7 years ago. Time flies!

Going into Season 8 is exciting for me but also very bitter sweet. Over the past few years there has been a lot of criticism of the show. People seem to want to argue with me on the many reasons why it has failed (has it?!?). They have some very valid reasons but others I just don’t get. I still would like to get that original “water cooler talk” spark back that I hold onto so dear. All that aside, we are entering Season 8. For us comic readers, we are about to dive straight into the All Out War story arc. From all 100+ comics, that arc has to be my utmost favorite.

So let’s recap Season 7 to see why I am so very excited with what is to come (WARNING: Season 7 Spoilers ahead). Season 7 started with the brutal opening and true introduction to Negan and Lucille. Issue #100 of the comics is still SUPER hard to read for the gut wrenching brutality forced upon a character that we loved. But the show took it to a new level and took down some of the best characters of the group: the comedic relief and the moral compass. So we wander through the season trying to get our footing. It goes off track with the “trash heap” gang and adds intrigue with the “lost city of women” detour. We watch Rick try to hold it together and lose it (sometimes all in the same episode).

As I tell everyone though, if you watch the story as a Father/Son apocalyptic drama, it seems to peel back different layers. Carl is by far the most annoying yet still an interesting character in the group. Before you start arguing with me, let me explain. He was super young when it all went to hell. In that time he has seen people he loves murdered, decapitated and eaten. For Pete’s sake he even had to kill his own mother! Now think about the trials and tribulations of you at the age of 14. I honestly could not imagine those experiences mixed in with just the regular hormonal life of puberty. So that is why I loved season 7 (not all but most).

The interaction between Negan and Carl was subtle yet gave so much introductory light into Negan’s character. We proceed to see him do some more horrific things and even some compassionate things that make you stop and think. The question: Do I like him? Do I hate him? Rick vs Negan is perfect. Rick struggles to keep it together and to appear sane while Negan just smiles and nods and accepts the insanity around him. The death toll of Season 7 was gnarly (Glenn, Abraham, Spencer, Denise, Sasha, etc.).

And now the war is set to begin. As I noted, the ALL OUT WAR series is great in the comic book. It is exactly what you want our team to do and what you want them to become. The many (the Saviors) versus the few (Alexandria, Hilltop and the Kingdom). The series dives into some of the best character development I have seen in comics to date. The mentality of King Ezekiel, the motivation of Dwight, the determination of Michonne is why I stick around. That and to see if Rick actually finally loses his mind.

We left off at the end of Season 7 with the realization that the three communities are no longer going to play by a dictator's rule. We left off with a villain so exposed that every action forward must be to the extreme. We left off with vengeance, with love and with determination.

BRING IT ON!!!

Oh, and Negan will always be my favorite written villain out there!