The Walking Dead (comic book)

The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead #1
Publication information
Publisher	Skybound Entertainment (Image Comics)
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre
Publication date	October 2003 – present
No. of issues	110
Main character(s)	Character list
Creative team
Created by	Robert Kirkman Tony Moore Charlie Adlard
Written by	Robert Kirkman
Artist(s)	Tony Moore (#1–6) Charlie Adlard (#7–)
Letterer(s)	Rus Wooton
Colorist(s)	Cliff Rathburn
Editor(s)	Sina Grace
Collected editions
The Walking Dead, Volume 1: Days Gone Bye	ISBN 1-58240-358-9

The Walking Dead is a monthly black-and-white comic book chronicling the travels of the survivors of a zombie apocalypse. First issued in 2003 by publisher Image Comics, the comic was created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore (who was later replaced by Charlie Adlard from issue #7 onward, though Moore continued to create the covers through issue #24.)

The Walking Dead received the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series at San Diego Comic-Con International. The series was adapted into the AMC television series The Walking Dead, which premiered in 2010. The television program follows a different storyline from the comic book. The franchise has also spawned multiple additional media properties, including videogames (e.g., The Walking Dead video game), webisode series (The Walking Dead: Torn Apart and The Walking Dead: Cold Storage), and various additional publications, including books (e.g., The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor).

Plot

Sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes has been injured in a shootout and awakens in a hospital. Finding it full of zombies, he leaves, and finds his family gone. He goes to Atlanta, where it is said people were taken for protection, and meets a man who takes him to a survivor camp where Rick's wife Lori and son Carl, are. Lori is pregnant. Rick joins the group and helps gather supplies, then helps them look for a safer location. Picking up other survivors on the way, the group tries settling on a farm, whose owner keeps zombies in his barn; and they finally settle in a prison.

After getting settled in the prison, Rick and others discover a nearby group in the town of Woodbury, led by a tyrant called The Governor. The Governor severs Ricks right hand and brutally rapes Rick's fellow survivor Michonne.

Lori gives birth to a daughter. The Governor finds the prison and launches an attack. Both sides suffer many casualties, but one of The Governor's own people shoots him in the head. A number of Rick's people escape the prison.

Rick's group meets a man who lies about being in contact with survivors in Washington, D.C., so they all head there. They're invited to a peaceful, walled-off town named the Alexandria Safe-Zone. After the town is attacked by bandits and zombies, Rick destroys the entire herd of zombies and vows to rebuild civilization at Alexandria. Carl suffers a gunshot wound to the head and wakes up with amnesia.

A larger nearby community, The Hilltop, wants to trade with Alexandria, and they talk Rick into fighting off a gang called The Saviors. The Saviors, led by a man named Negan, ambush Ricks group and brutally murder Glenn, afterwards demanding Rick give half of all their supplies to the Saviors.

Rick, with the Hilltop's best fighter, Jesus, heads to a place called "The Kingdom" seeking help from its leader. While plotting an end to Negan's tyranny, Negan's lieutenant appears ready to defect and fight alongside Alexandria and its allies.

Artists

• Tony Moore: #1–6 (2004) (interior), #1–24 (covers) (2005), collected trade paperback volumes 1–4 (covers).
• Charlie Adlard: #7–present (interior), #25–present (covers), collected trade paperback volumes 5–present (covers).
• Cliff Rathburn: #5-present shades

The Walking Dead Weekly

Due to the popularity of the TV show, in October 2010 Image Comics announced The Walking Dead Weekly. Starting on January 5, 2011, the series was reprinted in chronological order with the release of one issue per week. The series ended with the reprint of the 52nd issue.

Reception

Creator Robert Kirkman signing a copy of the first issue at the 2011 New York Comic Con.

The series received critical acclaim, winning the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series in 2010 and prompting Eric Sunde of IGN comics to call it "one of the best monthly comics available". Among its fans are author Max Brooks. Because of the popularity of the series, which increased considerably when it was adapted into a television series of the same name, artist Tony Moore's original artwork for the series' early issues has gone up in value. On the March 28, 2013 episode of the VH1 reality television series For What It's Worth, Moore's original artwork for Page 7 of issue #1 was professionally appraised to be worth $20,000.

IGN ranked The Governor as the 86th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time in 2009, describing him as "a sadistic evil that 'The Road Warrior' forgot." In 2011, Wizard magazine ranked The Governor as the 131st greatest comic book character of all time.

Also in 2011, IGN ranked the main protagonist Rick Grimes as the 26th Greatest Comic Book Hero of All Time, stating that Kirkman "has an endless supply of [wringers] to run Rick through." IGN ranked Michonne, another protagonist, as the 86th Greatest Comic Book Hero of All Time the same year

Lawsuit

On February 9, 2012, Tony Moore filed a lawsuit alleging that Kirkman, in 2005, had deceitfully engineered him into surrendering his rights to The Walking Dead comic book and eventual TV series in exchange for payments that never materialized. Kirkman said in a statement the following day that he and Moore "each had legal representation seven years ago and now he is violating the same contract he initiated and approved and he wants to misrepresent the fees he was paid and continues to be paid for the work he was hired to do." Kirkman in turn sued Moore. On September 24, 2012, the two released a joint statement saying they had reached a settlement "to everyone's mutual satisfaction."

Collected editions

The series has so far been compiled into the following collections:

Trade paperbacks

The trade paperbacks collect six issues each, but contain only the story and none of the original cover art from the comics. Each paperback follows the convention of having a three-word title.

Title	ISBN	Release Date	Collected Material	Issues Published
The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye	1-58240-358-9	May 12, 2004	The Walking Dead #1–6	October 2003 – March 2004
The Walking Dead Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us	1-58240-413-5	November 24, 2004	The Walking Dead #7–12	April – September 2004
The Walking Dead Vol. 3: Safety Behind Bars	1-58240-487-9	May 18, 2005	The Walking Dead #13–18	October 2004 – April 2005
The Walking Dead Vol. 4: The Heart's Desire	1-58240-530-1	November 30, 2005	The Walking Dead #19–24	June – November 2005
The Walking Dead Vol. 5: The Best Defense	1-58240-612-X	September 27, 2006	The Walking Dead #25–30	January – August 2006
The Walking Dead Vol. 6: This Sorrowful Life	1-58240-684-7	April 11, 2007	The Walking Dead #31–36	September 2006 – March 2007
The Walking Dead Vol. 7: The Calm Before	1-58240-828-9	September 26, 2007	The Walking Dead #37–42	May – September 2007
The Walking Dead Vol. 8: Made To Suffer	1-58240-883-1	June 25, 2008	The Walking Dead #43–48	October 2007 – April 2008
The Walking Dead Vol. 9: Here We Remain	1-60706-022-1	January 21, 2009	The Walking Dead #49–54	May – November 2008
The Walking Dead Vol. 10: What We Become	1-60706-075-2	August 12, 2009	The Walking Dead #55–60	January – April 2009
The Walking Dead Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters	1-60706-122-8	January 6, 2010	The Walking Dead #61–66	May – October 2009
The Walking Dead Vol. 12: Life Among Them	1-60706-254-2	August 3, 2010	The Walking Dead #67–72	November 2009 – May 2010
The Walking Dead Vol. 13: Too Far Gone	1-60706-329-8	November 23, 2010	The Walking Dead #73–78	June – October 2010
The Walking Dead Vol. 14: No Way Out	1-60706-392-1	June 22, 2011	The Walking Dead #79–84	November 2010 – June 2011
The Walking Dead Survivors' Guide	1-60706-458-8	November 1, 2011	The Walking Dead Survivors' Guide #1–4	April – July 2011
The Walking Dead Vol. 15: We Find Ourselves	1-60706-440-5	December 27, 2011	The Walking Dead #85–90	May – October 2011
The Walking Dead Vol. 16: A Larger World	1-60706-559-2	June 6, 2012	The Walking Dead #91–96	November 2011 – April 2012
The Walking Dead Vol. 17: Something To Fear	1-60706-615-7	November 21, 2012	The Walking Dead #97–102	May – September 2012
The Walking Dead Vol. 18: What Comes After	1-60706-687-4	June 18, 2013	The Walking Dead #103–108	October 2012 – March 2013

Hardcovers

All hardcovers contain the contents of the comics, including the covers, and in some cases bonus material. The books' trim size is larger than the paperbacks. Each hardcover contains two story arcs from the series. Signed versions of the books are available, each limited to 310 pieces.

Title	ISBN	Release Date	Collected Material	Cover Character
The Walking Dead: Book One	1-58240-619-7	July 19, 2006	The Walking Dead #1–12	Rick
The Walking Dead: Book Two	1-58240-698-7	March 7, 2007	The Walking Dead #13–24	Michonne
The Walking Dead: Book Three	1-58240-825-4	December 19, 2007	The Walking Dead #25–36	The Governor
The Walking Dead: Book Four	1-60706-000-0	October 29, 2008	The Walking Dead #37–48	Lori and Judith
The Walking Dead: Book Five	1-60706-171-6	May 5, 2010	The Walking Dead #49–60	Abraham
The Walking Dead: The Covers, Vol. 1	1-60706-002-7	October 19, 2010	The Walking Dead #1–50 (covers)	N/A
The Walking Dead: Book Six	1-60706-327-1	October 26, 2010	The Walking Dead #61–72	Carl
The Walking Dead: Book Seven	1-60706-439-1	October 18, 2011	The Walking Dead #73–84	Rick
The Walking Dead: Book Eight	1-60706-593-2	October 9, 2012	The Walking Dead #85–96	Andrea
The Walking Dead: The Covers, Vol. 2	1-60706-595-9	July 9, 2013	The Walking Dead #51–100 (covers)	N/A
The Walking Dead: Cutting-Room Floor	1-60706-520-7	July 9, 2013	N/A	N/A

Omnibus editions

Limited omnibus editions collect 24 issues in a slipcase with several extras. For each edition a separate very limited Signed and Numbered edition (S&N) has been released signed by Robert Kirkman. Typically the print run has been limited to 3000 for the standard edition and 750 for the signed and numbered edition.

The Walking Dead Volume 1 Deluxe HC

Title	ISBN	Release Date	Collected Material
The Walking Dead: Volume 1 Deluxe HC	1-58240-511-5	December 14, 2005	Collects #1–24
The Walking Dead: Volume 2 Deluxe HC	1-60706-029-9	February 17, 2009	Collects #25–48
The Walking Dead: Volume 3 Deluxe HC	1-60706-330-1	February 2, 2011	Collects #49–72
The Walking Dead: Volume 4 Deluxe HC	1-60706-616-5	December 18, 2012	Collects #73-96

The Limited Edition Retailer Giveaway is a limited hardcover of the softcover Volume 1, with black faux-leather cover and red foil highlights.

Compendium editions

These are 48-issue paperback editions. The massive volume contains over 1000 pages but includes no cover art. Compendium One was also released as a limited edition hardcover in 2012 at the Emerald City Comicon and San Diego Comicon with 1000 pieces available.

Title	ISBN	Release Date	Collected Material
The Walking Dead: Compendium One	9781607060765	May 6, 2009	Collects #1–48 and the 6 page story from the Image Comics Holiday Special 2005
The Walking Dead: Compendium Two	9781607065968	October 3, 2012	Collects #49–96

Trivia

• In April 2013 Polish studio Sound Tropez released audio play based on first two volumes of The Walking Dead. Cast of audio play including, among others, Jacek Rozenek as Rick, Anna Dereszowska as Lori, Maria Seweryn as Carol and Krzysztof Banaszyk as narrator.

See also

• List of The Walking Dead characters
• The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct
• Zombies in comics
• Comic book

External links

• Official website
• AMC's Official The Walking Dead TV Series site
• The Walking Dead A Telltale Games Series