There are No Zombies in "The Walking Dead"

I’ll be trustworthy guys. When it involves Golden Age Comics, I’m no professional, But I do know what I like and it appears I’m not alone.I completely LOVE zombies! Ever since I watched the Original George A Romero classics again in my youth.Not many individuals immediately really understand this, however previous to George A Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead,” zombies by no means really ate human flesh. In reality, previous to this, we solely ever actually had reanimated corpses introduced on on account of a magical potion or spell.
(And these “Zombies” had been as a rule depicted as easy slave labour to their Mystical Voodoo Masters.)

But George modified all that, and gave us followers one thing really particular:
Ghoulish, Undead Fiends, who stalked Human Flesh.

“They’re coming to get you Barbara…” – Johnny (“Night of the Living Dead” 1968)

In reality, when you consider it, the Universal Monsters had existed for a few years previous to the start of the Zombie, making them a really current and trendy addition to the monster squad certainly.

Anyway, after speaking to a number of pals of mine who do certainly know extra about this period of comedian amassing than I ever may. I’ve discovered of the three key parts that make these books fascinating…

1. A Damsel in Distress. (Beware #10)2. A Skull or Ghoulish Fiend. (The Haunt of Fear #17)3. Gore / Shocking Imagery. (Black Cat Comics #50)

To this present day, many inside the pastime discover themselves drawn to those books each time they arrive throughout them.

Fast ahead to October 2003, and a small unbiased comedian identify The Walking Dead crept onto the market.

The Walking Dead was/is a Modern Age Comic Book, shifting very a lot in the footsteps of TMNT #1 in the sense that it’s a fascinating e-book with a low print run and took place inside the Modern Era of Comics.

I had initially picked up the Walking Dead Comics as reference materials again after I was working in the Special Effects Industry, After simply a few points, I used to be hooked.

Robert Kirkham (The Writer and Co-Creator of the Walking Dead Comic Book Series) was a Huge fan of Romero‘s work and was actually intending to name his Comic Book Series after the original movie. After all, it was fair game to do so, what with it being in the public domain. But upon reflection, he decided to change it.

One of the main reasons for this change was that he didn’t need his story to be confined to only one night time.
Kirkman needed a narrative that might proceed shifting ahead and “never end” the best way most zombie-based films do.

Publishers had been skeptical of this concept at first and needed a extra definitive plot and story finish. Kirkman lied in regards to the plot of the Walking Dead in order to get it printed, informing traders that Aliens can be concerned by the top of the primary arc. But by the point that each one rolled round, the sequence had discovered its footing and fan base and so nobody appeared to care.

They determined to maintain the e-book in black and white when printing for 2 causes:A. It was cheaper…B. You may get away with extra gore…

And there isn’t any reference to the phrase zombies all through its run, as a substitute selecting to make use of different phrases for his or her undead ghouls, equivalent to Walkers, Roamers, and Biters.

The motive for this can be a easy one.

The characters inside the world of the Walking Dead don’t have any reference to “zombies” or “zombie pop culture”. There are no films, no reveals, and no books. Nothing in any respect depicting zombies as we all know them in our world. This complete expertise that these characters are witnessing, of the undead rising as much as stalk the dwelling, is a very new idea to their world.

But, as all the time, there’s one other real-world motive why The Walking Dead doesn’t use the phrase Zombie. Marvel really owned the rights to the phrase “Zombie” between the years 1975 – 1996 and had it registered and trademarked for his or her e-book titled: Tales of the Zombie.

So there you’ve it. That is why there are no Zombies inside the Walking Dead Universe, each a real-world motive and an in-world continuity one.

(It can be value noting that Robert Kirkman did certainly write some Zombie Titled Fiction for Marvel, titled Marvel Zombies however I feel we’ll save that for an additional time.)