Thank god... they just walk away from the crazy bastard. Oh, and Sophia looks pissed! lol

 

Sophia! With chin-length hair!

 

Me too man. Sad thing is, not that they know we'll settle for 3 panels, they'll never go back to the several page previews. Especially not with the hype and popularity that surrounds TWD now. Ah, the good ole' days.

 

Man, look at Sophia. You can tell she's grown up quite a bit, it's strange seeing her without all that lustrous, flowing hair she always had. She appears angry in the panel, as if she's arguing with, or yelling at the other child(not sure if boy or girl) in the panel with her. Also, I think it goes without saying, who the person calling her name in the panel is, it's obviously Carl. That's why it's in the form of a question-"Sophia?", he probably hasn't seen her in quite some time. I really hope she doesn't harbor and hard feelings from their various disagreements and experiences together. Especially, the last time they saw each other back in AOW, when Carl made an ass out of himself, and she got up and walked away, saying she's got better friends and doesn't need his crap. I hope she's happy to see him, because I know sometimes, when people share terrible and traumatizing experiences with another person, they push them away and grow to hate them because the person reminds them of the bad times.

I'm hoping it goes something like this, a sad and disappointed Carl, goes moping around Hilltop aimlessly, in search of his father; after having his dreams of blacksmithing crushed by freckle-faced Ronald. As he mopes around the grounds, head down, kicking at the dirt, he over hears a nearby argument between two kids about his age. Out of curiosity, and the need to distract himself, he wanders over, as he approaches, a twinge of recognition sparks in his head. The voice, the hair, it all seems so familiar. Then it hits him, he calls out--"Sophia?"; and she turns around confused, surprised and elated all at once. She runs and give him that patented crazy-Sophia running hug, and they go off on their own to talk. Carl is upset, and confides in Sophia about Earl Sutton, and they talk about his Dad, and baby Hershel, and eve a little bit about the past. Eventually Carl tell her he planned to move to the Hilltop, but without his apprenticeship he doesn't see the point, and doesn't think Rick will let him. Blushing and batting her eyes she asks Carl is that's the only reason he wanted to move to the Hilltop. Shyly, he says no. Sophia springs to her feet, with a gigantic smile on her face and says-"OK!", then leans in, kisses Carl on the cheek and runs off, leaving Carl flustered and confused. Later that evening, when things settle down, Sophia is talking to Maggie as they get ready for bed. She tells her about Carl, and his dreams of blacksmithing, and his disappointment upon finding the position filled. Sophia successfully puts the bug in Maggie's ear, and the next day she goes and talks to Sutton, telling him that he needs to take on Carl as an apprentice. So not only does Carl get his apprenticeship, but it's also the beginnings of a relationship that's been a long time in the making.

Also, in the panel with Marco, I don't think people are walking away from him in a dismissive way. It appears like there is someone standing right beside him, that hand on his arm isn't his hand, and it appears to be clad in a latex glove. It's most likely Doc. Carson tending to him still. The folks in the doorway, which are obviously Rick, Carl and Maggie, don't look like they're leaving because they think Marco's a lunatic, it looks like they're heading out to investigate these claims, before things possibly get out of hand.

And the final panel, this is my favorite. I love how Adlard is addressing that fact that at this point, several years into the apocalypse, mother nature would be well underway with taking back her land from mankind. At this point, the world outside the walls would look much more like untamed jungles and forests, rather than the urban city-scapes of the days of yore. It's a completely different world now, one that belongs to nature, and the dead. It seems like Adlard is hard at work, doing his best to exhibit this decay, and vast change in the world. I'm excited to spend some more time outside the walls after the time jump. We haven't seen much of the world and it's current state at this point in the timeline, we saw a little bit in#127 with the herd, and what we saw in #129 was on the road between the communities, which is maintained and controlled, so it doesn't exhibit the same things as other, more untouched places. Ken and Marco were wandering outside of the safe zone, and even outside of charted territory. They were roaming around in the apocalyptic frontier-land where anything is possible. Since this is where they were, this is where they'll have to go to investigate Marco's claims and search for Ken. So we'll be along for the ride, as they venture into the frontier, and I can't wait to see how much the world has changed out there.


One more thing about that last panel; the people on horseback, I think may be residents of the Kingdom. It's hard to tell, but for some reason, their garb and armor looks a little more medieval than what we've seen so far, and I remember Ezekiel's "knights" dressing in a similar manner. Could be wrong, but I know that several Kingdom resident are employed as sentries and patrolmen for the trade-road. The patrolman Rick reprimanded, Benjamin, was a resident of the Kingdom. Maybe, before they set out, Rick gets on the horn, and calls a meeting of the leaders, to discuss these claims, and request help from all the communities in investigating.

 

Here's a higher quality, and full size version of the preview panels.

 

Never thought I would be this happy to Sophia back. Looks like she is running things at the Hilltop. And in the bottom panel I just picture the horses thinking "Damn I remember when they used cars and didn't have us running around all day and night"

 

Agreed happy they just walk away from Marco. Could tell from the look on everyone's faces that Maggie is outright shocked, Carl is at least modestly concerned, and Rick's already made up his mind that this guy has just completely lost it. I'm sure they talk about it a bit more either before or after walking out - it kind of draws a sense of sadness that they can't really do anything for the mentally unstable.

Sophia indeed looks pissed, but without context as to what we're just gunna have to wait for the issue. I'd kind of expect it to be Carl calling out her name, but it could just as easily be Maggie. For all we know it might even be Rolland!

Last preview panel really draws out how much has changed since The Turn; old decrepit gas stations might as well not exist, it has an odd sense of anachronism about it, a location so out of place in their world, but still a reminder of how things once were. Yet we all know they won't stop to ponder that, they're clearly on a mission for something. If I had to guess they're on their way to go investigate Ken's whereabouts & scope out the size of the herd -- but for some reason I don't think Rick would go, he's probably going to leave Hilltop and convince Jesus to go on a run, setting up the #134 cover.

 

Wow, Sophia looks pretty good! She's growing up, just like Carl. It's great to see how far they've come over the course of the series.

The last panel is giving me The Last of Us vibes with nature beginning to take the world back, and modern transport like cars becoming scarce.

 

Oh wow. Is it that time of the month already.


Preview panels are getting worse...

 

Yeah, not only have the consistently made the preview panels shorter over the years; but now you have to register for an account on the Skybound website to be able to view them. Sheesh, there's no doubt they're definitely capitalizing on the shows epidemic popularity; they'll make sure they get their pound of flesh either way. LOL

 

Ugh, I still wish I could have played that game. It looked so amazing; I've watched countless YouTube videos. Curse me for being an Xbox/Microsoft loyalist.

 

Peace up, Hilltop down!

Carl-moe-dee and the notorious three!

 

Sophia is just Andrea without her hair pulled back and no scars.

 

Sophia kinda looks like Andrea.