The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead is an American black-and-white comic book series created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore, first published by Image Comics in October 2003. Its opening follows Kentucky sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes, who awakens from a coma in a hospital after being shot and discovers civilization has collapsed amid an undead outbreak. Rick travels to Atlanta seeking his wife, Lori, and son, Carl, then joins survivors including Shane Walsh, Glenn Rhee, Andrea, Dale, Carol, and T-Dog. The series avoids naming its reanimated antagonists "zombies"; characters generally call them walkers, roamers, or biters. Its story centers on survival. Kirkman initially developed the book with artist Tony Moore, whose interior art runs through issue 6. Charlie Adlard took over with issue 7, became the defining artist, and drew most subsequent issues. Cliff Rathburn supplied gray tones for Adlard's pages, while Rus Wooton lettered the series. The book was published without the Comics Code Authority seal, a choice that allowed its graphic violence and adult language. Monthly single issues continued for 193 installments, ending unexpectedly in July 2019. The completed narrative was collected in trade paperbacks, hardcovers, Compendiums, and deluxe editions. Its title logo became distinctive part of Image's catalog. Within the plot, Rick becomes a leader of a changing community, confronting human factions as dangerous as the dead. Major settings include the Greene family farm, a prison, the walled Alexandria Safe-Zone, the Hilltop Colony, the Kingdom, and the Sanctuary. The latter is controlled by Negan, leader of the Saviors, who kills Glenn with a barbed-wire wrapped baseball bat named Lucille. Negan's introduction comes in issue 100, an especially notable turning point that also claims Abraham Ford. The survivors later unite against the Saviors in the "All Out War" storyline, ending Negan's rule but not his lasting narrative relevance thereafter. The comic's principal narrative concludes in issue 192, when Rick is assassinated by Sebastian Milton, the resentful son of Commonwealth leader Pamela Milton. Issue 193 jumps forward years and depicts an adult Carl Grimes living with Sophia and their daughter, Andrea. In that epilogue, the dead are rare enough to be displayed as curiosities, and Carl defends Hershel Greene from prosecution after killing walkers owned for a traveling show. The series won the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series. It also inspired AMC's television adaptation, which premiered in 2010, though its television narrative diverges substantially in character and events.