The Walking Dead: Robert Kirkman Explains Why He Wrote Rick’s Story the Way He Did
Rick Grimes of The Walking Dead is one of the most famous characters ever in both television and comics. Last year, the comic book came to an end after 16 years. The ending was a surprise with it’s creator, Robert Kirkman, ending the run without any warning.
Possible Spoilers Ahead
Rick Grimes was killed when he was shot while sleeping. What was even more surprising was that he was killed by a minor annoyance at best, Sebastian. This wasn’t some epic battled or climactic moment against Negan, The Governor, or some other villain. It was just a cold-blooded murder that was out of nowhere.
ComicBook.com spoke with Kirkman and asked him why he chose Sebastian as Rick’s killer:
“Rick Grimes fixed the world to the point where he was so safe that he could be killed by the weakest character in the book. It’s a statement on how good of a job he did… At no point in the history of the comic could he have been killed that way. It wasn’t until the very end that he was able to relax to the point where [that could happen].”
After Rick’s death in #192, the final issue jumps to the future and reveals Carl and Sophia have a family. The current state of civilization reveals that Rick Grimes is a beloved figure and that life has returned to a more civilized structure. The book does show some of our characters and where they’ve wound up. However, Kirkman discussed some of the characters we don’t see:
“I definitely have little tidbits of, ‘Oh, that happened to this person, that happened to this person,’ and you see some glimpses of that in the last issue. But there’s obviously a lot more going on.”
Although the comics are over, Kirkman recently released a one-off comic that updated fans on Negan and what happened to him after he disappeared in the comics.
The Walking Dead is set to return on October 4 at 8 p.m. with the Season 10 Finale. There has also been the announcement of The Walking Dead movies that will star Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes. Production of those films is delayed due to the pandemic.
What do you think about Kirkman’s explanation? Let us know in the comments below!
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