Issue 157 of The Walking Dead starts off a new arc as the 4 communities and the Whisperers come into another conflict with one another. Now this conflict is driven by Negan’s actions as he successfully killed Alpha. As a result the Whisphers, due to the information they have gathered from Negan, have decided to kill every person in the 4 communities. Thus issue 157 of The Walking Dead kicks off the war between the 4 communities and the Whisperers as both sides begin to mobilize their forces in an attempt to eradicate their enemy.
The Good :
Now the comic does an excellent job of planting seeds with various characters and their actions. In particular with Negan as the comic makes it unclear what role Negan will play as the Whisperers and the 4 communities go to war with one another. This is due to the actions that Negan has taken in getting close to Alpha and then killing her. As a result of her death Negan returns to see Rick resulting in trust issues between the two of them despite providing an advantage to the 4 communities. This is primarily due to Negan’s past as he has attempted to kill Rick on multiple occasions and just killed Alpha, which makes it hard to trust him as a member of the community. As a result of this Rick has Dwight watching Negan as it is unclear whose side he is on and what his intentions are in the upcoming war. Due to this Negan’s character is relevant as he is in a position that will affect who and how the war will be won between both sides. The comic also plants seeds for the character Beta on the Whisperers side. In particular with Alpha’s death he takes command of the group and the herd and begins to mobilize them to go to war. Due to this action we begin to see his motives and goals and command style. Much like Negan, Beta’s command style is unknown which generates suspense on how his actions will play out against the 4 communities. Finally, the comic shows that the 4 communities are the aggressor thus capturing the idea that Rick is realizing certain forces threaten their way of life. And the only way to deal with these forces is to go to war due to a different set of ideology that the two groups possess. Thus the comic capture the idea that something’s are worth going to war for.
The Bad:
Now the comic was a solid comic overall, but it had fragments of “story” that did not fit in to the entire start of the Whisperers war theme. In particular the elements of Eugene communicating over the radio with a random women named Stephanie. For the past several issues there has been an on and off communication with her. Yet it has no direct connection to the Whisperers or there actions and seems like a side story to fill up space. As a result it breaks up a good part of the issue and seem like an awkward tangent in the comic that doesn’t fit into the issue.
The Verdict:
The Walking Dead issue 157 kicks off a new arc and era for Rick Grimes, Negan, and the members of the 4 communities, as they are the aggressors in a war against the Whisperers. The issue is a great issue as it plants the seeds for both Negan and Beta to become influential characters as the war progresses between the 4 communities and the Whisperers. Furthermore, the comic also positions the 4 communities as the aggressor in this war rather than the victim, which shows how they have changed since Rick first, arrived there. It is no doubt that issue 157 is a great issue to start reading The Walking Dead and continuing to read The Walking Dead as another war is about to occur that will once again change the landscape that Robert Kirkman has created.
