This Week In Retro: The Walking Dead (Patreon)

October 8. 2003: When there's no more room in hell…

by Diamond Feit

I never expected to develop a deep appreciation for horror as I grew older. As a scared little kid, the barrier to entry seemed unsurmountable. If I could barely look at the screen without covering my eyes at the sight of gore, there was no point in buying a ticket to see a scary movie. My early attempts at trying horror video games ran aground in a similar fashion; even though I bought Resident Evil on launch day, I couldn't play it alone, so the only way I could enter the world of survival horror was in the company of my closest friends.

I know my tolerance for terror and violence developed slowly over time, and no single piece of media undid my initial cowardice. Access to a wide variety of movies in the DVD era certainly helped, enabling me to explore creations from around the world and from filmmakers large and small. Years later, when digital distribution made buying video games a carefree experience I could enjoy anytime, I likewise found myself trying new genres and expanding my comfort zone.

I suppose one subset of horror became so inescapable in the early 2000s that it would have taken an incredible force of will to avoid, as zombies rose from their graves to occupy nearly every medium. Movies like 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead helped refresh the public's appetite for shambling corpses. Video games like Resident Evil 4 and Dead Rising helped millions of players discover the joys of mowing down slow-moving targets. Not even the printed page escaped the touch of the undead, as Max Brooks' World War Z and Stephen King's Cell both became best-sellers.

Meanwhile, 20 years ago this week, a black-and-white comic book made its inauspicious debut on American store shelves, offering readers a glimpse of society's downfall at the hands (and teeth) of the recently deceased. Yet from these humble beginnings, The Walking Dead would grow into a legitimate media empire, eclipsing all other zombie fiction of its time.

We meet our protagonist on the first page of The Walking Dead, as local lawman Rick Grimes faces an agitated armed man. Pinned down under fire, Rick and his partner Shane attempt to subdue the prison escapee, but when Rick leaves cover to flank their attacker, he takes a round to the chest.

In the very next panel, Rick wakes up in the hospital, an inspired, disorientating jump-cut that keeps the reader and Rick on the same page—pun intended. Rick falls out of bed only to find no response to his cries for help. He grabs his clothes and sets out looking for answers, making his next shocking discovery when the elevator doors open and a mangled corpse falls to the ground. Again, his screams fall on deaf ears.

Increasingly confused and frustrated by the complete absence of both staff and patients, Rick forces open a barred door and learns the awful truth: The hospital isn't empty after all. Face to face with a cafeteria full of groaning ghouls, Rick decides he's better off exploring the unknown outdoors rather than spend another minute inside these walls. With the parking lot empty, the surrounding grass obviously unmowed, and zero traffic on the streets, it's clear that the emergency situation is not restricted to hospital grounds.

A chance encounter with squatters brings Rick up to speed, as they tell him all about the chaos that unfolded during his coma. They advise Rick that the creatures are slow and uncoordinated, but very dangerous in close quarters or in large numbers. A single zombie bite will lead to death and then reanimation, no exceptions. The only way to stop a zombie is a direct blow to the head; they will ignore any other wounds. Until the airwaves went dark, the government had advised all survivors to migrate towards emergency shelters in major cities. Rick figures his missing wife and son must have headed towards Atlanta, so he gathers as much ammo and food as he can and does the same.

The Walking Dead thus tells the tale of Rick's odyssey to reunite with his family and survive in a world where no one stays dead. As our point-of-view character, Rick walks a tricky line between optimism and pessimism, never giving up hope that his family might still be alive but quickly abandoning the idea that any permanent solution exists to this ongoing disaster. He will find allies, safe harbor, and occasional pockets of joy left in the world, but Rick always keeps one ear to the ground and one eye checking for an escape route.

The eponymous creatures remain a constant threat in The Walking Dead, but as in most zombie fiction, people turn out to be the real monsters. A nation full of shuffling cannibals is no picnic, but they pale in comparison to the evil one human being can bring about. Rick learns this lesson firsthand when his surprise reunion with his family brings him into conflict with his good buddy Shane. Shane assumed Rick's death meant he could find happiness with Rick's widow, and the prospect of seeing her return to her husband offers Shane ample motive for murder.

The Walking Dead arrived amongst a crowded lineup of zombie-infested media but slowly spread its influence farther and wider than any of its contemporaries. A television adaptation, initially overseen by award-winning filmmaker Frank Darabont, debuted in 2010 to mass critical and commercial success, eventually running for 12 seasons while also launching five spin-off programs—with even more shows announced for the future.

A 2012 Walking Dead video game produced by Telltale Games scored a slew of accolades, earning praise for both its dramatic impact and its savvy episodic release structure. That game, like the television series, would run for multiple "seasons" while other studios would produce their own takes on the property, running the gamut from first-person shooter to strategy to an arcade light gun game. The Walking Dead grew into such a phenomenon, its characters crossed over into other franchises, making special guest appearances in all-ages fare such as Fortnite, Minecraft, Magic: The Gathering, and Tekken 7.

The zombie boom of the early 21st century did not last as other horrors and fiends usurped the undead's commanding presence, but The Walking Dead never went anywhere. The 2010 series eventually ended in 2022 but multiple spin-offs remain in production. Telltale's Walking Dead video games proved so popular, not even the studio's bankruptcy could kill the final season; Skybound Games hired ex-Telltale developers to complete and release the end of the story in 2019.

The Walking Dead comic book did eventually conclude after 16 years and 193 issues; creator Robert Kirkman explained the surprise ending to fans in a letter in the final issue, writing, "I’d rather keep going... but the story is telling me what it wants and what it needs. This needs to happen. Whether I want it or not." Yet with more adaptations already on the way, it's clear The Walking Dead will soldier on so long as the characters and situations they fall into continue to connect with audiences.

In other words, 20 years after it first crawled into the light and three years after its creator put down his pen, The Walking Dead refuses to die. How much more on brand can any franchise get?

Diamond Feit lives in Osaka, Japan but is forever online, sharing idle thoughts about video games, films, and dessert.