The Walking Dead #165 (Image Comics 2017) Charlie Adlard & Dave Stewart Cover

This is Issue #165 of the landmark Image Comics horror series, delivering the “Opportunity” storyline as the survivor community faces its most devastating coordinated assault yet.

Written by Robert Kirkman with interior artwork handled by Charlie Adlard, Stefanco Gaudiano, and Cliff Rathburn, the book employs a deliberate black-and-white aesthetic that removes visual clutter to emphasize tension and procedural survival tactics. Charlie Adlard and Dave Stewart create the cover illustration, pinpointing the narrative's core conflict: an offensive strike launched while Alexandria’s security infrastructure remains critically compromised.

Spanning 28 pages with a Mature rating, this release anchors a crucial turning point in the publication's final production cycle. Readers experience the erosion of fortified territories through tight dialogue and unflinching character decisions rather than spectacle. The stark monochrome interiors require focused sequential reading, making this edition particularly valuable for archivists tracking the structural shift that occurred during the series' closing months.

Growing from Kirkman’s foundational concepts and refined through a decade-plus serialization, this specific numbering completes a distinct era of direct-market releases. Because later printings adjusted cover treatments and distribution windows, securing the original 2017 run requires this exact issue sequence to maintain chronological and bibliographic accuracy for complete collections.