It’s a risky move taking your main character out of the main setting, and that’s what ‘Revival’ has done this issue. Whether or not it’s going to pay, time can only tell. Most reviews on this move have been positive, citing that it’s good to see what’s going on in the outside world, and stop being stuck in Wausau. I’m a little cautious, as I think there are plenty of things in Wasau to keep us busy, from the burned Reviver who is supposedly in a coma (but come on, we saw him murder someone two issues back!) to the alien/ghost that is following Edmund Holt and the “terrorist” attack on the CDC.
Taking Dana out of the action to have her scooping up a mutilated Polish man (who is also a Reviver) might make some worry if the series is getting “Glee”d, which is to mean, they are gradually changing the setting and dropping old characters.
Now, I don’t think this is really happening. Too much of the issue is spent on Martha and her new sort of boyfriend, the Reviver who dies for internet fame, Edmund and Sheriff Cypress’ feud, and Ibrahim’s investigation of Revival in Wausau. Plus, Dana’s investigations of a Reviver in New York City that is connected not only to the Check Brothers, but is Polish, and therefore may have other connection to the very Polish town of Wausau, means that this is all going to come together in interesting ways.
I can’t even begin to guess what those interesting ways may be, which is a sign of good story telling. Was the Polish butcher who was mutilated a Reviver because he partook in meat the Check Brothers were sending him? Is a genetic trait? Is Revival happening every where, but it was only statistically noticeable in Wausau?
We are just going to have to see, and I for one can’t wait.
REVIVAL #21
Art by Mike Norton
Story by Tim Seeley
