Originally written October 9, 2017

All right, so Compendium Three of The Walking Dead comic series is a compilation of issues #97-144. I had noted in my review for Compendium Two that the series kind of went through a bit of a rough patch there for a while. While the series did have its moments, the time between the group’s arrival at Alexandria and their first encounter with the Saviors had its slow patches. Luckily, the start of Compendium Three really kicks things back up, and so I found (most of) this set of issues to be a welcome rejuvenation for the series.

So, as noted, Compendium Two ends with Alexandria encountering the Saviors, a very deadly, dangerous, and large group. The group is led by the mysterious and previous unseen Negan. Well, we finally see Negan in Compendium Three, and he turns out to be possibly the best villain the series has seen by this point. After the very brutal 100th issue, Rick and his group find themselves under the Saviors’ thumb, with Negan ruling over them. I won’t spoil the rest of this storyline, but it covers a large portion of this compendium. After this, the series jumps ahead two years and shows how everyone is moving forward. The last set of issues in this compendium then introduces a new group of enemies, the Whisperers, who are people that wear the skin of zombies and blend in with them. The Whisperers aren’t quite as compelling as the Saviors, but they are unique enough that this storyline is pretty fun.

Essentially, the whole storyline with Negan and the Saviors is gold. I think that these are some of the greatest heights that the series has reached. I did find that after this storyline was over, the series started to drag a bit again, but I like the things that are done with some of the characters during the Whisperer storyline, particularly Carl. This compendium then ends on a gruesome note that shows how deadly the Whisperers can be, so it does set itself up for some greater things to come. However, while the Whisperers are unique, it’s around this point that I started to feel a bit of fatigue with the series. This is probably because the franchise is being beaten into the ground between the comic, TV series, and games, but even with just the comic alone, its nature is starting to get a bit repetitive, so I just don’t know how long this series can realistically continue while still feeling fresh. However, for right now, I found Compendium Three to be a welcome improvement over Compendium Two, so this is recommended.

4/5