Issue 48 is the forty-eighth issue of Image Comics' The Walking Dead and the sixth and final part of Volume 8: Made To Suffer. It was originally published on April 2, 2008. The Deluxe version was released on October 5, 2022.
Plot Synopsis
Rick has found Alice pointing a gun at Lori and Judith. Rick is shocked and confused, until Lori explains that it was just a ruse to protect herself and Judith in case the Woodbury soldiers made it into the prison. Alice would pretend to help the Woodbury soldiers by taking Lori hostage. Carl crawls from his hiding spot under the bed and the Grimes family embrace. Alice reminds everyone that they should leave the prison. Lori is concerned about the lack of a plan but Rick calms and reassures her that they will be fine as long as they move quickly and stick together.
The Governor is outside with a large number of Woodbury soldiers and orders them to shoot at Hershel, Billy, and Patricia who are taking cover behind a corner of the building. Patricia believes that they will die if they just stay where they are, so she begins running away. Billy attempts to stop her, however, she gets shot in the head. Billy is paralyzed by Patricia's death and cannot move so Hershel grabs his arm saying that there is no time to be shocked. They begin to run towards the truck, firing at the Woodbury soldiers; however, Billy is shot in the head. Hershel turns and notices that he is no longer holding Billy's arm but is dragging his limp body and looks in disbelief at his son.
The Grimes family and Alice arrive outside and see Hershel kneeling over his dead son. Rick calls to Hershel notifying the Governor of their position. Hershel refuses to join them and with tears in his eyes replies, "Just leave me." Alice stands in the doorway and fires upon the Woodbury soldiers to cover the Grimes family as they start running. She is shot in the knee and falls, killing one more soldier before the Governor kicks her gun out of her hand and shoots her at point-blank range.
Carl, Rick, and Lori continue to run when Lilly, one of the Woodbury soldiers, is commanded by the governor to execute them. Lilly obeys and shoots Lori in the back, however, not knowing she is carrying a baby, the gunshot kills Judith too, and Rick looks at his wife and daughter in shock and horror. He then turns and yells at Carl to not look back and keep running. Rick stops Carl from running to the truck and they instead force their way through the zombies in the opening in the fence. The Governor lets them go as he thinks they don't stand a chance out in the open. He then turns his attention to Hershel who is still crouched over Billy's dead body. He looks up at the Governor and says; "Dear God... Please. Just kill me." The Governor obliges him and shoots him in the head.
Lilly then realizes that she has killed a baby and turns on the Governor, calling him a monster. She hits him with her shotgun and puts the barrel in his mouth as the other Woodbury soldiers yell for her to stop, when zombies overrun the group. The Governor pulls the shotgun out of his mouth, and tries to calm the group and get them to stick together but Lilly takes out a pistol and shoots him in the head and kicks his body into the oncoming zombies. The remaining Woodbury soldiers now led by Lilly retreat to the building, firing as they go. They run out of ammo right as they reach the doors and get inside.
Rick and Carl managed to escape, however, Carl asks where his mother is and Rick tries to explain with tears in his eyes, Carl then asks where Judith is and starts crying himself after realizing that they died. Rick stops Carl by hugging him saying that they couldn't.
Credits
- Rick Grimes
- Lori Grimes
- Carl Grimes
- Hershel Greene
- Billy Greene
- Patricia
- Brian Blake
- Alice Warren
- Judith Grimes
- Gloria Pyne
- Austin Ballard
- Lilly Caul
- Tom Blanchford
- Hap Abernathy
- Red
- Smitty
- Speed Wilkins
Deaths
- Patricia
- Billy Greene
- Alice Warren
- Lori Grimes
- Judith Grimes
- Hershel Greene
- Brian Blake
- At least one Woodbury soldier
Trivia
- Last appearance of Lori Grimes. (Alive)
- As of Lori's death:
- Rick and Carl are the only survivors of the Grimes family.
- Andrea and Sophia are the only surviving female characters from Volume 1: Days Gone Bye.
- As of Lori's death:
- Last appearance of Hershel Greene.
- As of Hershel's death:
- Maggie is the only survivor of the Greene family before the birth of her son Hershel.
- Maggie is the only survivor from Volume 2: Miles Behind Us.
- As of Hershel's death:
- Last appearance of Billy Greene.
- Last appearance of Patricia.
- Last appearance of Brian Blake. (Alive)
- Last appearance of Alice Warren.
- Last appearance of Judith Grimes.
- Last appearance of Gloria Pyne.
- Last appearance of Austin Ballard.
- Last appearance of Lilly Caul.
- Last appearance of Tom Blanchford.
- Last appearance of Hap Abernathy.
- Last appearance of Red.
- Last appearance of Smitty.
- Lori Grimes and Brian Blake is third and fourth characters, Robert Kirkman misses and regrets killing.
- There are 6 graves on the cover, which accurately depicts the events of the issue (how many people in Rick's group die in this issue.)
- This issue currently holds the most main character deaths with a total of 6: Patricia, Billy Greene, Hershel Greene, Alice Warren, Lori Grimes, and Brian Blake.
- Creator Robert Kirkman wrote: "Things did change a bit in arc while I was writing it--originally, Lori and Judy were going to die in Issue 47, but then I moved things around and it got shoved into Issue 48. Which on one hand, made that cool twist with Alice possible, which resulted in the death being more of a surprise. But at the same time, it made it to where most of the deaths in this arc took place in one issue—which wasn't originally the plan." [1]
- Kirkman also wrote: "I'm not going to say (the Woodbury survivors) were all killed (when their bullets ran out), but it's very unlikely that we'll ever see them again. The prison is dead to me. I've moved on and so have the characters."[2]
- Their fates are further explored in the Novel Series.
- Kirkman also wrote: "I'm not going to say (the Woodbury survivors) were all killed (when their bullets ran out), but it's very unlikely that we'll ever see them again. The prison is dead to me. I've moved on and so have the characters."[2]
- In response to questions about Rick and the group knowing if The Governor was alive or dead, Kirkman stated, "Michonne was still lurking around the prison in the aftermath of the attack, so I always figured she ID'd the Governor and passed that message along off-panel."
- This issue concludes the first compendium of the series.
- For the volume version of this issue, two more pages were added, which are between Lilly shoving her rifle into the Governor's mouth for making her kill Lori and Judith and the Woodbury soldiers making their way inside the prison.
- These scenes were later added in the Deluxe version.
Goofs/Errors
- Even though Rick had his right hand amputated by The Governor in #28, he is seen with both of his hands when hugging his family in this issue.
References
- ↑ Issue 50, page 33, "Letter Hacks". See Development for more examples of plot changes during writing.
- ↑ Issue 50, page 34, "Letter Hacks"
External Links
- The Walking Dead #48 Review The most exciting, violent and eventful issue in the series so far...and that's saying something, IGN, Dan Phillips (April 2, 2008).