Study: The Walking Dead is the most-watched graphic novel adaptation

There have been some amazing adaptations from graphic novels to come to TV or movie theaters but a study shows The Walking Dead is the most-watched.

Many of the most popular films or TV shows of all time are adaptations of other source material. Whether they lend from books, comics, previous films, folklore, or something else, bringing compelling stories to life has been a great way to bring in an existing audience while creating a new one. That is exactly what happened when AMC decided to adapt The Walking Dead from Image Comics.

The popular zombie drama series took the world by storm, drawing a massive audience since its debut on Oct. 31, 2010. Its place in pop culture was cemented thanks to a passionate worldwide audience that keeps the show going well into its tenth season on AMC.

A recent study from SuperSummary took that concept a step further, surveying over a thousand people to find out preferences in book-to-screen adaptations. Among the adaptations from graphic novels, The Walking Dead came out on top.

A stunning 49.9% of those polled admitted to watching the hit undead drama, beating out box office juggernauts like 300, The Mask, and V for Vendetta in popularity. Even more interesting is how the study showed 32% of individuals who watch a graphic novel adaptation will go back to check out the printed source material.

The Walking Dead also had one of the narrowest gender gaps of those studied. 52.1% of males acknowledged their viewing while 48.1% of women admitted to watching the zombie series. Of all the graphic novel adaptations in the top 15, AMC’s undead drama had the highest percentage of women respond positively to the show by a margin of 8.8%.

That’s not to say that there are no regrets. 41.7% of those polled felt that the biggest mistake an adaptation can make is changing important characters too much while 21.6% of people thought that a small budget can do a lot of damage to a potentially major project.

What can be taken away from this research? The key thing to note is how The Walking Dead has not only stood the test of time but it stays with those who watch. Not only that, but it is something people of any gender can enjoy and it can compel individuals to return to the graphic novels to enjoy a similar, yet unique story played out in print.

A huge thanks goes out to SuperSummary for allowing Undead Walking to be the first to report on The Walking Dead‘s place in this intriguing study and highly recommend their website for study guides, summaries, and analysis of fiction and non-fiction titles by experienced teachers, professors, and literary scholars.