How did The Walking Dead comic end?

Fans of The Walking Dead comic story saw an abrupt end in issue #193. The announcement of the end of the comic was a shock, and then another shock came with the announcement of the end of The Walking Dead series. With both stories concluded, many fans of the series are curious to learn how the comic ended.

The Walking Dead series has deviated from the comic story in many ways. Many of the characters who were alive at the end of the comics were killed off in the series, some were not in the comics, and some, like Carol (Melissa McBride) and Gabe (Seth Gilliam), have gone on longer than their comic book counterparts.

Fans of the series were pleasantly surprised with the series ending. The upcoming spinoff series announcements also soften the blow of the series ending. There are several spinoffs that will continue the stories of Daryl (Norman Reedus), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Rick (Andrew Lincoln), and Michonne (Danai Gurira).

The Walking Dead comic book ending

Issue #193 of The Walking Dead comic began with a 25-year time jump after Rick Grimes was killed by Sebastian Milton. We see adult Carl and Sophia, now married, and their child Andrea living a quiet life on a farm. A lone walker approaches, and Carl kills it. They are worried that more may be nearby, but then Carl remembers Hershel Greene is in town with his walker carnival show.

As walkers are scarce at this point, Hershel has created a way of earning income by charging people to look at his group of walkers in a carnival sideshow of sorts. So by killing the walker, Carl was protecting his family but has destroyed someone’s personal property.

The new Sheriff Kapoor must enforce the property law dispute and charge Carl for killing Hershel’s property. The President of the Colonies, Maggie Greene, appears at the hearing and, instead of giving Carl a severe punishment, requires him to replace Hersehl’s walker. Instead, he kills all of the walkers in Hershel’s show, fearing the walkers will end up killing people.

The issue shows who has lived, who has moved on, and what their lives are like 25 years later. Readers also learn that Rick Grimes was forever immortalized as a giant statue. Carl delivers supplies to a house, and there is a Lucille grave marker indicating this is where Negan exiles himself. Carl talks with Lydia, and Aaron and Jesus come up in conversation. Eugene and Michonne are also survivors, he is a railroad engineer, and she is a judge.

The comic ends on a happy note as Carl tells the story of Rick Grimes to his daughter. He recounts how the world became safe once again.

Creator Robert Kirkman wrote a lengthy letter to the fans explaining his decision to end the story. He stated that he felt the ending should come as quite a shock, as many of the deaths in the story did.

"This is the end of THE WALKING DEAD. That’s it… it’s over… we’re done.I’m sure you have a million questions… and I’m sure you feel as emotional about this as we do… if not more so. I’m completely willing to bet some of you are angry over this. I get it… I do. I mean… WHY didn’t we announce this so that fans would have some time to prepare?Well… personally… I hate knowing what’s coming. As a fan, I hate it when I realize I’m in the third act of a movie and the story is winding down. I hate that I can count commercial breaks and know I’m nearing the end of a TV show. I hate that you can FEEL when you’re getting to the end of a book, or a graphic novel.Some of the BEST episodes of Game of Thrones are when they’re structured in such a way and paced to perfection so your brain can’t tell if it’s been watching for 15 minutes or 50 minutes… and when the end comes… you’re STUNNED.I love LONG movies for that very reason. You lose track of time because you went in convinced that you’re going to be there for a long time, but the story moves at such an entertaining and engaging pace that by the time the movie’s wrapping up… you can’t believe it’s already over. SURPRISE, it’s over!All I’ve ever done, all a creator can really do… is tailor-make stories to entertain themselves, and hope the audience feels the same way. That’s all I’ve ever been doing… and it seems to work most of the time.THE WALKING DEAD has always been built on surprise. Not knowing what’s going to happen when you turn the page, who’s going to die, how they’re going to die… it’s been ESSENTIAL to the success of this series. It’s been the lifeblood that’s been keeping it going all these years, keeping people engaged.It just felt WRONG and against the very nature of this series not to make the actual end as surprising as all the big deaths… from Shane all the way to Rick.To be honest… it seemed like a really good idea at the time, but now that we’re here and the series is over, I’m having second thoughts. Not so much so that I’m changing course… that would be kind of impossible to do anyway. But… it’s possible, as much as I hate to admit it, that I’m genuinely feeling a sense of regret over this whole crazy plan.I want you to see what went into this though, I want you to understand why, if that’s possible. I feel like you all deserve at least that. So let’s pull the curtain back in a way… well, I usually try not to do. When it comes to the end of this series… here’s how the sausage got made."

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