InThe Walking Dead’s comic universe, characters are introduced and then killed off quicker than a shambling zombie can rip flesh from bone, with Rick Grimes and his band of survivors gaining and losing members at a consistent clip throughout the series’ almost 200-issue-long story. With dozens of deaths to his credit spread between main and supporting characters alike,The Walking Dead’s creator,Robert Kirkman, has revealed whose death was his favorite, with the answer being a surprising one.
Murdering, maiming, and straight-up zombifying characters who fans love and hate in equal measure, Robert Kirkman is known for always putting his characters first no matter the situation, leading to several gut-wrenching deaths and unforeseen twists thataffected the largerWalking Deadnarrativein highly consequential ways.
In the supplemental “Cutting Room” floor content seen at the back ofThe Walking Dead Deluxe #98,Kirkman explains that his favorite death came about whenAbraham was offed by an arrowshot through the back of his head, a comic-exclusive event that’s been reprinted in this very issue.
Giving fans a peek into his creative process in this bonus column,Kirkman flat-out says, “Abraham’s death might be my favorite death of the series,”while also recognizing that “…it’s pretty odd to have a ‘favorite death’ for characters you love as much as I do.” An on-brand admittance for this prolific creator, Kirkman is known for having a hard time killing his heroes, with another example beingthe death of Andrea— a demise that saw Kirkman write a page-long eulogy for the character as he tried to work through his feelings about taking her fictional life.
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Knowing that in order to tell a gripping story full of characters readers care about, Kirkman had to “Kill your darlings and all that,” Abraham’s death was a necessary one to punch up this issue, with the way he met his unexpected and grisly fate midway through sharing his lingering feelings about Rosita likely adding to Kirkman’s love for it. Admitting he had “ZERO plans to kill Abraham prior to writing this issue,” Kirkman favoring Abraham’s death in the comic makes even more sense when knowing thatin AMC’sThe Walking Dead,Abraham was brained by Negan alongside Glenninstead.
Interestingly enough,the idea of dying via arrow to the eye did happen onThe Walking Dead’s television series, with the showswapping Abraham out for the character of Denise Cloydduring a sixth season episode titled “Twice as Far,”technicallygiving fans a live-action version of Kirkman’s favorite kill that ended up being just as unforeseen and gruesome as the original. Abraham’s death by arrow is a comic-exclusive event, so if fans want to see how this moment was always intended to play out, they’ll need to grab this latest fully-colored deluxe issue ofThe Walking Dead!
The Walking Dead Deluxe #98is available from Image Comics.
The Walking Dead
The Walking Deadis a massive multimedia franchise that began with a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The franchise gained widespread popularity with the launch of the television seriesThe Walking Deadin 2010 on AMC, which chronicles the lives of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies, referred to as “walkers.” The success of the original show has led to numerous spin-offs, web series, video games, novels, and other media. The franchise explores themes of survival, human nature, and the breakdown of society in the face of an existential threat, making it one of the most successful and influential horror series of the 21st century.
