For people who aren’t fans ofThe Walking DeadTV series,the case can still be made that Robert Kirkman’s original comic series, which was published from 2003 to 2019 is worth checking out.The comic differs from the show in a number of different ways – not just in terms of plot trajectory and tone, but also in the impact it has on readers, and its impact on popular culture.
There are any number of reasons a viewer might check outThe Walking Deadshow and ultimately not stick with it, but for anyone who was interested in, but ultimately disappointed by, the AMC series, Kirkman’s series should still be given a chance as an alternative.
Though the comic originated the best of what the series had to offer, there is much about it that could not be replicated on screen, and this list explores some of the aspects that make it worth engaging with, even for people who dislike the show.
A Generational Comic Book Series
WhenThe Walking Deadtelevision series premiered in 2010, it wasn’t a given that it would be a hit, despite the popularity of Robert Kirkman’s ongoing comic series, which had been running for seven years at that point. Within several years, however, it had become a certified phenomenon, ranking as one of the most popular shows on television alongside the likes ofBreaking BadandGame of Thrones. The series' popularity continues to this day, in the form of a number of spin-offs, and multimedia extensions of the series, but it doesn’t necessarily reflect what made the original comic stand-out, and worth adapting, at the time.
The Walking DeadTV series' successreiterated the appeal of the zombie genre in general, and the strength of the show’s source material in particular – but while the pop culture impact of the adaptation has been undeniably strong, it cannot compare to the groundbreaking quality of the original book. Though not the first zombie comic,Kirkman’sWalking Deadredefined what it meant to tell a zombie story, in any medium, while also expanding many readers' perception of what comic book storytelling could be at the same time.
No Limits
The zombie genre, as it is understood today, originated in film, withGeorge Romero’s 1986 movieNight of the Living Dead, but as long as they have appeared on screen, zombie stories have been limited in one way or another: by special effects technology, by standards and practices, or simply by budget. Robert Kirkman’sThe Walking Deadhelped to inaugurate a zombie renaissance in the early 2000s by showing how the genre could flourish in comic book form.
The Walking Dead Team Felt Negan Was Too Extreme for TV: “They’ll Never Be Able to Put This In the Show”
According to Robert Kirkman, the adaptation of his long-running Walking Dead comic series had an unexpected impact on the direction of the story.
WhileThe Walking DeadTV series invariably had to navigate the same restrictions as its cinematic predecessors, Kirkman’s comic was uninhibited by any of these concerns.Kirkman was able to use zombies in unrestricted ways – which led to him using them in unexpected and unprecedented ways. In his comic, Kirkman was able to make zombies more than just scary; he made them a force of nature that his human characters had to live with as much as fight against.
7The Comic’s Violence Is More Visceral, But Less “Realistic”
Kirkman’s Comic Violence Hits Different
Violence is a major part of bothThe Walking Deadcomic and TV show, but there is a tangible difference between violence depicted on screen vs. on the page. Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard’s violence could be hyper-gruesome, but it was just as often hyperbolic– something particularly apparent withCarl Grimes' infamous eye injury, for example. The TV adaptation offered a more grounded, “real” depiction of its violence; while likely an appropriate choice for the tone of the show, this also makes it more off-putting to sensitive viewers.
That is to say, readers can emotionally and intellectually detach themselves from the violence on the page inThe Walking Dead– they can recognize that it is horrifying, without necessarily connecting it to real-world violence.The Walking DeadTV series is more intense with its gore, in some ways, because of it is live action. For people who shied away from the show because of the violent aspect, the comic offers an alternative – the worst images and moments of gore can be glanced at and then quickly moved on from, rather than having to be sat through, or, alternatively, fast-forwarded through.
The Journey, Not The Destination
The nature of an adaptation – especially an ongoing TV series, adapting an ongoing comic book series – means that there are certain major story beats and tentpole character moments that the adaptation is expected to hit, or otherwise subvert in some ways. Case in point:The Walking DeadTV show did both with its version of Negan’s brutal introduction; in the comics, Negan murders Glenn, while in the showhe beats both Glenn and Abraham to death.
Negan’s Survival Made Walking Dead More Morally Complex — But Was It The Wrong Decision?
Robert Kirkman’s decision to keep Negan alive, and give him some manner of redemption arc, is one of the most pivotal in the Walking Dead series.
The expectations placed on an adaptation create a kind of constant tension that the adapation’s creative team must navigate; ultimately, the story of any adaptation is constituted by what changed, and what stayed the same. WithThe Walking Dead, this had a way of dominating the discourse around the show,while in Robert Kirkman’s original comic, each major moment was carefully built toward, and felt earned. In other words, nothing felt like it “had” to happen – and in fact,The Walking Deadcomic’s most devastating moments tended to be those that emphatically didn’t have to occur, but did because of their dramatic weight.
5Robert Kirkman’s Characters & Dialogue Are The Comic’s Greatest Strengths
Unmatched By The TV Series
The Walking DeadTV series used Robert Kirkman’s comicas source material mostly for its characters, and to varying extents, its plot; while it did occasionally lift tidbits of dialogue or visual cues from the comics, the process of transposing between mediums meant that things like dialogue, especially, had to be totally reinvented to suit the new version of the story. This is natural, but it also means that the greatest attributes of Robert Kirkman’s story are to be found on the page.
That is, Kirkman is an incredibly strong writer when it comes to dialogue, and he has a keen sense of character development; these are the things that truly madeThe Walking Deadcomic worth reading, and they what makes the comic hold up as a worthwhile piece of literature to this day. While the plot of the comic was routinely exciting, it was the way characters acted, reacted, and interacted once Kirkman placed them in a certain situation that provided the true engine for the comic on an issue-by-issue basis, in a way that the TV series was rarely able to fully replicate.
The Comic Is About More Than Individuals
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The Walking Deadis a story of survival, but in Robert Kirkman’s comic,what started out as a tale of surviving the zombie apocalypse soon became more of a meditation on how humanity might survive in the face of an unexpected existential crisis at the societal level.This theme kept the story invigorated for nearly two hundred issues, and over fifteen years.The Walking DeadTV show, meanwhile, never seemed to get past that first stage, continuing in the vein of a more traditional “zombie survival” story even as it started to introduce more of the conflicts between groups of human survivors that preoccupied the latter stages of the comic.
Again, in both mediums, these themes derive as much from plot as from character, dialogue, and the rest of the elements that constitute a story. Yet while Robert Kirkman was willing to devote entire issues to furthering this theme, the TV series continually placed a greater and greater emphasis on the franchise’s action and horror elements. This helped with its widespread commercial appeal, but it also mitigated its thematic impact, at least in comparison with the source material.
The TV Show Is A Commitment
The Walking DeadTV series ran for eleven seasons, and the franchise now includes multiple spin-offs, all total amounting to hundreds upon hundreds of hours of content to consume. This is a major time investment, and for those viewers who don’t find themselves immediately hooked by the show’s early seasons, it can potentially be difficult to justify. The comic series, despite comprising 193 issues, requires much less investment of time and energy to get through, making it a great alternative for anyone who might be interested in the franchise in theory, but who does not necessarily appreciate the TV show.
Walking Dead Is Settling the Score: How Smart Are Its Zombies Anyway?
Zombies in The Walking Dead are always a problem simply due to the sheer number of them, but do they have any intelligence to prove an actual threat?
Walking Deadcomics are a quick read, and they offer regular surprises, shocks, and subversions of expectations, in the manner of the best stories in any genre. Readers can consume entire arcs in a fraction of the time that it takes towatch aWalking DeadTV episode, let alone a full season, and move through the comic expediently – or, in any case, at their own pace. While the comic certainly has its nuances and its subtext worth slowing down and pouring over in more detail, it is reader-friendly enough that a brisk run-through won’t result in the average reader missing too much.
The Walking DeadTV series ended, but its spin-offs and sequel shows have made that conclusion far from definitive; the success of the live-action franchise has, in a sense, become its own worst enemy, in the sense that it has incentivized AMC and the people who make the shows to keep pumping them out in perpetuity.The Walking Deadcomic series, by contrast, ended abruptly, and definitively, if open-endedly.
Without giving it away, the penultimate issue of the comic featured a moment that fans had been bracing themselves to deal with for years, while also simultaneously coming to believe would never actually happen. Though Robert Kirkman initially intended to carry on the story well past this point, he ultimately opted to swerve the audience one last time, by makingThe Walking Dead#193 an epilogue, jumping forward into the future to offer a glimpse of how society would begin to reconstitute itself following the zombie outbreak.
Walking Dead Has Already Set Up Its Second Zombie Apocalypse. Sorry, Folks.
Walking Dead already set up a second zombie apocalypse, ready to be triggered once humanity regains control from the original wave of undead.
This tied a bow on the long-running themes of the series, and offered a sense of narrative closure, even if it didn’t tie up every loose endleft dangling by the decision to stop publishing the comic. ThoughThe Walking DeadTV finale is satisfying in its own ways, fans' knowledge that the franchise will continue on in myriad different forms took the edge off of it. For fans who want a firm, concrete ending to a story,The Walking Deadcomic once again proves a stronger alternative than the show.
The Walking Dead
The Walking Deadis a massive multimedia franchise that began with a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The franchise gained widespread popularity with the launch of the television seriesThe Walking Deadin 2010 on AMC, which chronicles the lives of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies, referred to as “walkers.” The success of the original show has led to numerous spin-offs, web series, video games, novels, and other media. The franchise explores themes of survival, human nature, and the breakdown of society in the face of an existential threat, making it one of the most successful and influential horror series of the 21st century.
