Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic book series officially concludes with the release of issue #193 this week.
The Walking Dead comic book series launched in 2003 and the Robert Kirkman story has since been dubbed “the zombie movie that never ends.” However, after nearly a decade, Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comics will come to an unexpected conclusion with the release of issue #193 on July 3.
The conclusion of The Walking Dead comics comes as the series was nearing the 200th issue and the extra-sized edition will serve as the epilogue to the story of Rick Grimes, the long-time lead character who was killed off in issue #192. In the final pages of issue #193, Robert Kirkman explained his reason for bringing The Walking Dead comics to an end without any advance warning:
“I hate knowing what’s coming. As a fan, I hate it when I realize I’m in the third act of a movie and the story is winding down. I hate that I can count commercial breaks and know I’m nearing the end of a TV show. I hate that you can feel when you’re getting to the end of a book, or a graphic novel. Some of the best episodes of Game of Thrones are when they’re structured in such a way and paced to perfection so your brain can’t tell if it’s been watching for 15 minutes or 50 minutes … and when the end comes … you’re stunned. […] I love long movies for that very reason. You lose track of time because you went in convinced that you’re going to be there for a long time, but the story moves at such an entertaining and engaging pace that by the time the movie’s wrapping up … you can’t believe it’s already over. Surprise, it’s over! All I’ve ever done, all a creator can really do … is tailor-make stories to entertain themselves, and hope the audience feels the same way. That’s all I’ve ever been doing … and it seems to work most of the time
After noting The Walking Dead comics have thrived on the element of surprise, Robert Kirkman added, “It just felt wrong and against the very nature of this series not to make the actual end as surprising as all the big deaths … from Shane all the way to Rick.”
What do you think of Robert Kirkman’s decision to end the comics? Let us know below!
While The Walking Dead comics may have concluded, the story continues in AMC’s The Walking Dead universe. The original series is set to begin its tenth season in October 2019, the spin-off titled Fear The Walking Dead is currently in its fifth season, and a third series is on course to launch in 2020. Andrew Lincoln, who portrayed Rick Grimes on the original series before departing early in the ninth season, will reprise the role for a trilogy of The Walking Dead movies.
The Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Seth Gilliam, Ross Marquand, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Khary Payton, Callan McAuliffe, Avi Nash, and Samantha Morton as Alpha.
The Walking Dead season 10 will premiere in October 2019 on AMC.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
