‘The Walking Dead’ Comic Coming To An End With Latest Issue

The Walking Dead comic book series is coming to an end with issue 193.

In an essay, series writer Robert Kirkman said that he has concluded the long-running comic, which first began in 2003. He also explained why he chose not to prepare readers for the ending.

“The Walking Dead has always been built on surprise. Not knowing what’s going to happen when you turn the page, who’s going to die, how they’re going to die … it’s been ESSENTIAL to the success of this series.” Kirkman wrote, per Entertainment Weekly.

He also said that the element of surprise was at least part of what has kept the series going for as long as it has, adding that all of the surprises throughout the years kept readers engaged with the story. Following that tradition, he also said it felt wrong to not make the end a surprise as well.

Kirkman also said that he resisted the temptation to extend the story line so the series could last longer.

“As I worked to come up with ways to expand the story, none of it felt right,” he said.

“Everything felt like an unnecessary detour … it was, for lack of a better word, filler. The harder I tried to come up with new places to go, the clearer it was to me that this is what this story needed … it needed to end,” he said.

The Walking Dead comic unexpectedly ending with latest issue https://t.co/huL57B7KiC

— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) July 2, 2019

As for the hit television series on AMC, fans will just have to wait and see what happens. However, the television show has not always followed the comic. In fact, fans of the show and the comic will recall that the television show has strayed from the comic many times. Some of the differences included the fate of major characters — including Rick Grimes, who died in the comic issue 192, but whose fate remains unknown in the television series.

It is also worth noting that earlier in the year, AMC revealed that it was planning another spinoff for its hit television series, which will debut in 2020.

While not much is known about the new series, Deadline reported that it will cover the story of two young female protagonists, who were part of the “first generation to come-of-age in the apocalypse as we know it,” AMC said in a release.

The primary focus of the show would be to see which character turns out to be “good” and which one “turns evil.”