Safety Behind Bars is the third volume of Robert Kirkman's epic Walking Dead series that follows the ongoing adventures of Rick and a small band of survivors in a post-apocalyptic zombie world. This volume focuses both on starting a new life and contrarily the acceptance of death.

Volume 2 ended with the discovery of a maximum security prison that everyone could call home. The irony of this situation has been noted previously. Now the survivors begin to make new lives for themselves while dealing with the problems that come with making a prison home. Secure the fence, clearing out the zombies, and most importantly, dealing with the surviving prisoners.

When a young couple attempts to kill themselves (which turns horribly wrong) the survivors learn a terrible truth; everyone is already infected with the zombie virus. When you die, you become a zombie. the consequences of this revelation reverberate throughout the survivors. For some, it just pushes them further into depression. Others use it as a reason to live for every moment.

Safety Behind Bars also deals with an issue not often thought about in these zombie worlds, murder. When two girls are found horrifically decapitated, fingers are pointed in every direction. Rick's people point at the prisoners saying they are criminals, the prisoners point back saying they survivors have gone nuts. When the murderer is finally discovered, Rick institutes the rules "You Kill, you die," a precedent that will no doubt come back later in the series.

This volume is a great example of what makes this series interesting, Kirkman's characters. Safety Behind Bars is nearly zombie free, yet you can still feel the tension and darkness of the world through the characters actions. How they deal with death. How they deal with one another. At the very least it is simply interesting to watch everything unfold. Like any good zombie story, zombies play second fiddle to the deeper themes of human survival and the characters therein.

The art continues to perfectly compliment the story by creating a dark and gritty atmosphere. Adlard is able to illustrate both the grandiose and the subtle, never holding back. When a character falls victim to a zombie, or is murdered, for better or for worse you see it all in gruesome detail. Make no mistake, the Walking Dead is not for the faint of heart and Adlard pushes the limits.

Safety Behind Bars sets the stage for many stories to come while beginning to explore the complex issues that arise in a zombie-apocalyptic world. Much like the preceding volume, there is less action and more focus on character, which is never a bad thing.