Comic Book Resources recently got a chance to sit down with Walking Dead writer/creator Robert Kirkman to talk about the popularity of the series, Issue #100, and the new AMC TV Show based off one of his comics “Thief of Thieves” among other things.
CBR News: “The Walking Dead” is not only one of the most popular comics around and one of the best sellers in trade paperback, but it has also spawned a TV series, video games, action figures and board games at this point. What do you think makes the property so popular and versatile?
Robert Kirkman: I have no idea. I think zombies are cool, I think the characters are at least somewhat interesting, I don’t know, man. If there was one little thing I could do to pinpoint exactly what was making it a success, I would definitely be replicating it as much as possible and then retiring, but I don’t know. I feel extremely fortunate that people have grown to love the concept as much as they have and it baffles me that it’s grown so big, I really don’t know what it is. I do know zombies are awesome and it’s fun to read things in that world, but I don’t really know.
One of the elements that I think makes it so appealing for readers coming in is that you and Charlie Adlard have been working on this book for 93 issues and it all looks so consistent. How has your working relationship changed, do you guys work with a shorthand now?
Yeah, my scripts have gotten totally crappy, it’s gotten to the point where I can just be like, “Remember that place you drew a thousand times and they’re over there talking and then that guy gets his head blown off, I don’t know whatever.” It’s become a lot easier of a working process. I know Charlie can handle pretty much anything I throw at him. When I think of everything he’s accomplished month in and month out over the course of these 9 years we’ve been working together, it’s absolutely staggering. All I can really say is that the best is yet to come and we’re both really excited about where the book is going and just really having the time of our lives. Even though we’ve been doing it longer than we ever thought possible, I think we both feel like we’re very much at the beginning of this journey.
Speaking of moving forward, and I know you don’t like to give much away about upcoming issues, but can you tell us anything about what happens in “The Walking Dead” #100?
I can say that everybody knows that there’s this group out there called the Saviors that are kind of intimidating everyone on the Hilltop. They’ve kind of gotten on Rick’s radar, we [saw] their first interaction in #97. We’ve basically got another very violent, dangerous group out there that Rick is going to be clashing with head-on and I can say that issue #100 is going to easily be the most gruesome, most violent, disturbing issue of “The Walking Dead” yet. So, be on the lookout. Yet, when I say that, I do remember all of the gruesome, disturbing and violent things that have happened in “The Walking Dead” thus far, so I promise I mean it.
