Summary

Zombie epicThe Walking Deadends with three elementary Christian Bible that redefine the series ' subject matter , telling reader how to read its true signification . According to creator Robert Kirkman , almost no - one realise the taradiddle the first time they have it , with the last quarrel intended to unlock thetheme that runs through Rick Grimes ' storyfrom showtime to terminate . For those who think they knowWalking Dead , Kirkman has laid down an awesome challenge to re - experience it in a newfangled way .

Recently , Image Comics commence to publishThe walk all in Deluxe- a new version of Robert Kirkman , Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore ’s bump off mirthful serial with colouring by Dave McCaig , plus new cover art and creator commentary . In the first way out , Kirkman welcomes fan back to the report by revealing it was essentially always intended to be read twice . In the story ’s last issue , anadult Carl take the story of Rick Grimesto his daughter Andrea . Andrea Grimes gets the last words of the series , tell her dad,“Read it again ! "

Kirkman explains that this was always intended as a meta pedagogy to the reader . He write thatThe Walking Deadis a story about hope , but that thanks to the many dark events of the news report and the instant where it seems the character are doomed or damned , that fact is hide until you know the news report ’s close . Because of this , devotee can readWalking Deadonce for the thrill and drama , and then a second prison term as an epic about hope make it possible to survive the worst possible circumstances . Kirkman enounce :

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead next to Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead comics

" scan it again . " … When I wrote those Scripture , I want them to be kind of meta . They touch to the story in an emotional way , but they also have a literal meaning in the real world . Now that you ’ve study the entire walk Dead series and you know how it concludes and where it leaves you emotionally , you ’ll have a dissimilar perspective on what you ’re reading . The journey will seem different now . I ’ve always felt The Walking Dead was a fib of hope , it almost never reads that way if you do n’t know how things end . So now readers can , for the first time , see the story how I did as they read it .

The Walking Dead ’s zombie are dangerous enemies , but humans face a large scourge in the post - apocalypse - and it ’s not each other !

Walking Dead ’s darkest moments do n’t exactly invite the reader to experience promising , but once you know the account is make to humanity ’s revival , everything take on new meaning .

The Walking Dead Finale Comic Ending Spinoffs

Walking Dead’s “Read It Again” Is an Instruction to the Reader

Walking Dead Is a Story of Hope, But That’s Only Clear in Retrospect

In this globe , the days of terror and destruction fans take in Rick ’s grouping fight to surviveare recognize as the Trials , with the stay humans now regard this prison term as an era which stripped away unnecessary and detrimental aspects of human existence , leave them with a mediocre and more purposeful society . Marking Rick ’s contribution to this new eld , fan see a giant statue of Rick lead the survivor into struggle , and it ’s clear he ’s become a semi - mythic figure , with Carl having mixed feel about how the facts of his don ’s life are being warp by the fable .

The Walking Dead has a hugely satisfying ending that ties up a lot of liberal threads , but one unaddressed threat spells disaster for the survivor .

The risible closing with Carl reading Rick ’s story to his daughter , just as the reader themselves has come to the end of Rick ’s tale . According to Kirkman , Andrea ’s instruction to"read it again"is meant to send them back to the start , this metre reading all of Rick ’s struggles and near - corruption as the way of life to a better creation .

walking dead’s rick looks heartbroken as someone dressed in swat gear kills a zombie with an axe

If Rick had simply hold up and made it to the Commonwealth but not become someone open of changing it , the level would finish with world returning to its worst inordinateness .

Walking Dead’s Darkness Hides the Hope At Its Core

The Ending Reveals That Without Rick’s Suffering, Humanity Would Have Come Back Worse

It ’s deserving noting that there are some truly sour moment inThe walk Dead , including Rick viciously slaughtering multitude who he comprehend as threats . Kirkman has share before that onedark conflict in which Rick bite his opponentwas mean to notice the moment he became a"living automaton " , withGrimes at one point declaring,“We are the walking dead"to his fellow survivors , intromit he has lost any mother wit of Bob Hope for the future . The storey later sees Rick twist away from his most horrific violence , crucially sparing Negan ’s lifetime and rekindling the former scoundrel ’s faith in human potential . Rick also takes back his iconic announcement , bump strength again in the connections he ’s make .

In this sentiency , Kirkman is exactly right thatThe Walking Deaddoesn’t feel like a hopeful storey in its coloured moments . Indeed , there are heap of minute where it seems like Rick may be on the road to becoming a teras , and multitudinous moments where darling characters go horribly . The Walking Deadportrays a earth where no - one is ' safe , ' and where even children can kill and die . However , with the next destination ofwhat the Commonwealth will becomein mind , Rick ’s journey is more clearly work him into the leader the earth demand to come through the trial run .

Looking back on The walk Dead in retrospect , Robert Kirkman admit that there is one aspect of the series that makes him feel embarrassed .

walking dead’s rick grimes alongside comic art

It ’s worth noting thatzombies are n’t the only threat to humanity . When Rick ’s survivors reach the Commonwealth , they discover a corrupted club where unbending societal category are maintained through force , with those who were favour before the zombie outbreak ram their way back to the top of the pile . It ’s only because of who Rick and the survivors have become that they ’re able to tumble the Commonwealth ’s leadership and instal a system base on equality . If Rick had plainly survived and made it to the Commonwealth but not become someone capable of changing it , the news report would terminate with humanity render to its sorry excessiveness .

However , while there ’s a lot of darkness , hope is n’t absent from the first reading ofThe walk Dead . While the character incessantly suffer and commit flagitious crimes , the story sees them find their way back to humans again and again . No matter how regretful thing get , The Walking Deadreturns repeatedly to the approximation that variety and improvement is possible . Negan in special embodies this idea , as the ostensibly unredeemable villain is persuaded by Rick ’s vision of the world , living the residual of his spirit in repentant exile .

The walk Dead creator Robert Kirkman revealed he nearly killed a major part much sooner in the series than what in reality ended up happen .

walking dead rick deadly animal tiger

Walking Dead was in the first place signify to have a far bleaker ending , with Kirkman even warning Rick Grimes actor Andrew Lincoln what to carry .

Walking Dead’s Ending Was Almost Completely Different

The Story Didn’t Always End with Hope

Theeffectiveness ofWalking Dead ’s endingmakes it particularly surprising that Kirkman originally had a totally dissimilar vision for how the story would end . InThe Walking Dead Deluxe # 84 , Kirkman disclose that the mental imagery of Rick ’s statue was always planned , but with an excess element that was"bleak , sad , maybe terrible . “Kirkman ’s original aim was to end with a surprise clock time jump into the future , cutting from Rick leading the survivors into battle to a statue of him in the same airs . However , the art would then have zoomed out , revealing a zombie stumble around its infrastructure .

The logical implication was thatwhile Rick ’s survivors had lived long enough to bring back some kind of company , the zombies had ultimately bring home the bacon out- perhaps ultimately force back humanity to extinguishing . Kirkman was so confident of this ending , he even distinguish it to Greg Nicotero ( executive manufacturer and conductor of theWalking DeadTV show ) and Rick Grimes actor Andrew Lincoln . However , because this end could be pushed back indefinitely , Kirkman kept delaying the serial ' cease , eventually coming to palpate that it was n’t a satisfying end to the story he was planning to tell .

Walking Dead ’s Jehovah has revealed his original plan for the franchise ’s cease - a twist that would have totally changed the series ' meaning .

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In this manner , walk Dead ’s gumption of hope really deliver it from a barren ending , as the chronicle gradually sway Kirkman that total defeat did n’t become the story of hardship and firmly - pull ahead redemption he was telling . Any buff who read the originalWalking Deadcomics should go back to the beginning and ship on a 2d reading , as the series ' creator shares that not only is this the best way to understand its key theme , but that this is so much the case , the chronicle even ends with the educational activity to"read it again . "

the walking dead comic - a zombie walks past a statue of rick grimes