New 'The Walking Dead' Preview Fuels Beta Speculation

The Walking Dead artist Charlie Adlard has posted a preview from issue #173, and it's making fans feel they're one step closer to finally finding out just what the supersized Beta is hiding under his mask. (Comic book spoilers below.)

Introduced in issue #154 as second-in-command of The Whisperers — an enigmatic group of nomads who walked freely among the undead by wearing the skins of Walkers as camouflage — Beta is a hulk of a man and the former second-in-command to Alpha, the merciless Whisperer leader. After Alpha's death, Beta took over as the unchallenged leader, but we still don't know what his face looks like: he won't be seen without his fleshy mask. No one, not even his allies, can see his true face — he once stabbed a Whisperer for daring to steal a peek.

The most recent issue of the Comic ended with quite the surprise: Jesus (played in the show by Tom Payne) and Aaron (played in the show by Ross Marquand) are together in the woods, with Jesus watching over his boyfriend as he sleeps. Beta sneaks up behind the unsuspecting Jesus, draws two blades and — to be continued.

Fans suspect that Beta and Jesus have some sort of history, and that Beta may even have ties to a group of branded individuals that first appeared in The Walking Dead: A New Frontier video game, in which Jesus made an appearance.

The leading theory is that Beta sports a facial brand that Jesus would recognize — and with Beta protecting his true face to the point where he'll kill someone for trying to look beneath his mask, Beta seemingly trying to kill Jesus lends credence to the idea that Beta is someone Jesus might recognize.

The Walking Dead issue #173 drops November 1.