Beta is back, and he wants revenge.
The Walking Dead has more or less circled back around to where it was in the aftermath of "All Out War." Once again, things are looking up for humanity as our heroes shift focus from the immediate battle for survival to their ongoing effort to rebuild civilization. The tone is more optimistic, even as it becomes clear there are new threats lurking on the horizon. That status quo is still compelling, though it does begin to raise the question of how much the series has actually accomplished with arcs like "The Whisperer War." Does the narrative really need to be quite so cyclical?
That problem is exemplified by the return of Beta and the Whisperers in this issue. As promising as these villains were starting out, they didn't really live up to that potential in "The Whisperer War." It seemed that Robert Kikrkman and Charlie Adlard might have the opportunity to change that with Beta's sudden return in issue #172. Sadly, that doesn't pan out. The initial confrontation between Jesus and Beta offers a welcome dose of dramatic tension (especially in light of last month's breezy, unencumbered chapter), but the payoff is lacking. That encounter eventually transitions from one of violent tension to unexpected comedy. At this point, it doesn't seem as though the Whisperers will ever become the villains they could have been, especially as the focus shifts firmly towards the next big bump in the road.
Still, that new threat brings with it a huge degree of unpredictability, and that's an element that always seems to work in this book's favor. The series really needs a certain degree of danger and uncertainty to offset the more positive tone of the scenes set in Alexandria and the Hilltop (not that everything in those cities is 100% rosy at the moment). The Michonne subplot succeeds on that front, propelled both by a fear of what may be lurking for our heroes and an excitement at the changes this new encounter may bring.
Adlard's art helps generate a much more energetic follow-up to last month's fairly lackadaisical chapter. This issue is very much a study in visual contrasts. The fight between Jesus and Beta is one dominated by stark imagery and lighting - two brawlers juxtaposed against a black void. But in later pages, Adlard focuses a great deal more on building out his environments and establishing a world caught in the murky territory between post-apocalyptic devastation and recovery. It's very much to Adlard's credit that the scenes set in urban Ohio look and read so differently from those taking place in the familiar Southeast setting.
The Verdict
The Walking Dead is in a state of flux right now, which is proving to be both good and bad. On the downside, the series has reverted so directly back to its post-"All Out War" status quo that the book is developing a redundant, cyclical quality. But despite that, the brewing tension in Michonne's storyline is enough to give the series that dangerous, unpredictable quality that has served it so well in the past.
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