Robert Kirkman Reveals if He'd Do a New Walking Dead Comic

In 2019, after 16 years and 193 issues, The Walking Dead unexpectedly ended. Creator and writer Robert Kirkman concluded his Image comic book saga that inspired the live-action AMC television series, having completed the story of Rick and Carl Grimes. ("This is the end of The Walking Dead. That's it… it's over," Kirkman wrote in the surprise final issue, which closed on the words "THE END.") Just as abruptly as it ended, the Walking Dead comic would return from the dead one year later when Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard reunited for Negan Lives #1, a one-shot revival benefiting comic book stores impacted by the pandemic.

Kirkman went on to co-create the ongoing original comic Fire Power with artist Chris Samnee, a successful superhero-esque series for Image and Skybound. But Kirkman hasn't fully walked away from The Walking Dead: the writer continues to answer fan mail in Letter Hacks and reveal tidbits and trivia in Cutting Room Floor, a back-up feature included in issues of the colorized reprint series The Walking Dead Deluxe.

Asked about reviving The Walking Dead comic book in The Walking Dead Deluxe #55 (now on sale), Kirkman wrote, "I gave 16 years of my life to this world. I may dabble in it at some point in the future, but I doubt I'll ever return to do a full series. But... I'd never say never." 

In response to another fan letter asking if he would write a new Walking Dead comic, Kirkman replied: "Lots of people asking for a new series here. The closest we'll likely come to this is an entirely new series from me that's completely separate from TWD but has subject matter that would appeal to TWD fans. That's the best I could do at this point."

The Walking Dead: The Alien, a spinoff story set within the comic book universe, was released in 2016. Set in Barcelona, Spain, the one-off from writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Marcos Martin told the story of Rick Grimes' brother at the onset of the walker apocalypse and is the first TWD comic not written by Kirkman.

Kirkman wrote and created the post-apocalyptic supernatural sci-fi series Oblivion Song, which is headed to the big screen with Jake Gyllenhaal starring and producing, and the since-ended superhero series Invincible, which inspired an ongoing adult animated series on Amazon. Kirkman also wrote Rick Grimes 2000, a non-canon TWD-inspired sci-fi serial published in the five-issue anthology series Skybound X.

Fear the Walking Dead: The Final Season – Part 1 premieres May 14th on AMC and AMC+, followed by The Walking Dead: Dead City in June and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon later in 2023. Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @NewsOfTheDead for more TWD Universe coverage.