Zeb Larson reviews The Walking Dead #131….
A Journey Begins.
Last issue’s cliffhanger revelation that the dead may be speaking to each other doesn’t get resolved here, unfortunately. For anybody who wanted that to be addressed quickly, this issue is probably going to feel like a disappointment. This is an organic look at life among the survivors, so pulse-pounding action is not easily found here. Still, it’s a good issue, and good set up for the things to come.
Hearing what Marco says about the dead talking to each other but dismissing it as hysteria, Rick sends several men out on patrol to look for Ken. They range for a while, worrying about how far they are from home. Eventually they find a barn with some signs of recent habitation, but are interrupted by a group of attacking walkers. Back in the Hilltop, Sophia and Carl are reunited after Sophia beats up some local bullies. During the communal meal in town, Carl confirms his apprenticeship with his mentor. Rick and Maggie share a quiet moment together and talk about how much better things are than they used to be. Even so, Rick admits he misses people, including Michonne. Back in Rick’s colony, Andrea returns home only to be jumped by Magna’s group of survivors, who demand some answers about how things really work.
A lot of the moments in this issue are just small slices of life, which doesn’t usually for really gripping action. In a series like The Walking Dead though, scenes of ordinary life are such a reversal of what we’ve come to expect. We might have had quiet moments of the survivors huddled around a fire joking or in a safe house, but except for the prison, we haven’t really had a lot of time just spent living normally. As such, the scenes of the town meal or Sophia beating up some bullies are really interesting to see. What also helps with these slower issues is that the jump forward in time has left so many open questions. I hadn’t even realized that we haven’t yet seen Michonne, and we’ve barely spent any time with Jesus or numerous other survivors. There are so many open questions about Rick’s society and the order that exists that the little revelations which happen in each issue still make the slower ones feel faster paced.
But of course, normalcy is a fragile veneer even in the best of times, and these are not the best of times. Magna’s group is a sort of eerie parallel to Rick’s group in the early issue of this series. They wander into an established social order and disrupt it and challenge the leadership. How Andrea is going to react to all of this will make the next issue a lively one. None of this is even taking into account Marco’s possibly real news about the walkers, which if true turns this world that much further on its head. Then again, it could all be Marco’s delusion, and the trip out to find Ken could just be a setup for a different discovery altogether. Next issue is the last issue of A New Beginning, and I’m curious to see what kind of fireworks Kirkman has packed for us.
Zeb Larson
Originally published September 14, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
