The Walking Dead comic is a post-apocalyptic story created by Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore, who handled the cover art through Issue 24, after which Charlie Adlard took over, completing the series. Published by Image Comics beginning in 2003, then in a shocking movie, Kirkman ended the series with issue 193. There is one comparison that is often discussed, which Kirkman thought he would never have to address.
Recently, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's third installment of the 28 Days Later film series was released. Titled 28 Years Later, this movie is set almost three decades after the events of the second Rage Virus outbreak. Whenever news regarding the 28 Days film series comes about, the age-old question also rears its head: Is The Walking Dead inspired by this series of movies?
The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later
The first issue of The Walking Dead comic was released in October 2003, and the original 28 Days film was released in the United States in June 2003. Kirkman has stated that by the film's release, they were heavy into the creation of the second comic issue. After seeing the movie, he debated making changes to the first issue. Both the movie and comic feature similar coma openings, but since the remainder of the stories vary greatly, Kirkman made a decision; he made no changes, believing he would never hear anything about it. But he was wrong.
If you conduct a Google search, "Is The Walking Dead inspired by 28 Days Later?" you will find many differing opinions. You will also discover that Doyle's idea wasn't his own, as he used John Wyndham's 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids and George A. Romero's legendary Night of the Living Dead film series as his inspiration.
There is an interesting Reddit thread with many different theories regarding this question. There are also several articles from various publications on the topic, with some not believing Kirkman didn't see the film before beginning work on TWD comic.
Regardless, the franchises stories may begin in a similar fashion, they quickly divert into their own stories and both are excellent takes on what an undead apocalypse could look like.
All eleven seasons of The Walking Dead are streaming on Netflix. You can watch 28 Days Later on Pluto, 28 Weeks later on Hulu, and 28 Years Later is currently in theaters.
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