Cover analysis: The Walking Dead issue 175 ‘New World Order Part 1’

A strange new group of characters will be introduced to The Walking Dead comic book series in January 2018, as the New World Order take over in issue 175.

The Walking Dead and Image Comics have been teasing that something big is coming to the world of the popular zombie survival series, and the bomb was dropped as to what that might be at New York Comic Con.

In the Letter Hacks section of issue 172, it was hinted that the next big story arc would begin in issue 175 of the comics in January. And that appears to be more than true from the cover released on Thursday, October 5, 2017.

Here is the cover of The Walking Dead issue 175 titled ‘New World Order Part 1 of 6’ as shared from the official Image Comics website:

Interestingly enough, the cover shown on the official website of The Walking Dead as well as Image Comics isn’t the exact same one that is making the rounds on a lot of fan pages and news sites.

Here is a tweet from the convention showing the cover being passed around by other sites as shared by TheComicon on Twitter:

The changes between the two covers are subtle, but enough for collectors to take notice. The logo for The Walking Dead changes from a one-line yellow text to the popular red multi-line format seen in the past.

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Also, the “Part 1 of 6” moves from the top right of the book to underneath the logo on the unofficial one, with the Image Comics logo to the left of the book name and the price and issue information on the right.

The artist information also shifts from under the book title on the official release to the bottom of the book on the other version, leading to believe that this was a version of the book that was never meant for release.

The changes shouldn’t be considered significant enough to lead fans to think this is a variant version of the cover. However, fans should expect to see the version shared from Image Comics above as the one that ships in January.

Next: Cover analysis for The Walking Dead 174 'A Solitary Life'

As for the New World Order itself, fans still are left up in the air as to what this means for the survivors and who or what these strange characters represent going forward. But at least comic book readers only have to wait until January 2018 to find out if this has something to do with the group in Ohio or an all-new threat to survival in The Walking Dead comics.