I've heard Kirkman say in interviews that when he started the series and thought of an ending he was going to go in the opposite direction, show a new society and city get overtaken by zombies. Pretty bleak ending after 10 plus years of suffering
Despite The Walking Dead being one of the most iconic and recognizable IP's in modern media, it's source material feels SO underrated. Such a beautiful story from beginning to end.
At the time of around issue 100 I called it top 10 piece of non fiction I had ever read. Literally every page could change the status quo in an instant. Don’t know if that take holds up 15 years later but the walking dead comic is a masterpiece (and the show is an abomination in comparison)
This can be said of western comics overall. I hate it so much. Japanese Manga and anime (literally just what they call comics and animation respectively) do the exact opposite. An anime elevates recognization of a Manga and it's creator; in America they just fall to the wayside. Stan Lee is popular, but newer writers and the story lines that are popularly adapted don't get much of any recognition. Part of this is just reality as it's harder to jump from an adaption of Marvel or DC or some other comics (though not all) to comics themselves unlike anime to Manga. But still something should be happening to recognize and celebrate the medium and original works that have led to these massively popular adaptions. I went to a Barnes and Noble not that long ago and saw a big in your face Manga display for recent Anime. Comics were stuffed away in the corner. It's frustrating because people aren't even aware of how many comic books inspired popular media or get popular direct adaptions. Someone once argued with me online that Manga is better because the only comic books are superhero comic books (and that went on for way too long). Western media has utterly failed the entire medium.
Endings are not that hard, its the point pf the series, I think we all as writer shoukd always write the finaly first, the rest is just the road to reach it
@@vichobochowas going to say the same. Seems a few writers start stories with the Ending as an after thought or eventual epiphany. Eventually writing themselves off trail.
Or you get people like Abrams who starts a story with all those gimmicky “mystery boxes” but doesn’t have an actual ending in mind or any resolution to his mysteries or really any direction for the plot. Thats how you get messes like Lost or the new star wars sequel trilogy 😂
I would love this, especially since we’d hopefully get to have more Steven Yuen as Glenn again and eventually a significantly less censored version of Negan.
Some of the best advice i ever read as a writer: “Since a story is always a whole, and the organic end is found in the beginning, a great story always ends by signaling to the audience to go back to the beginning and experience it again.” - John Truby
How Kirkman ending his book like Invincible and TWD is why I respect him and rank him as my number 1 favorite comic book writer, man choose to end his story in a high note instead of stretching it out of demand or monetary to over complicated everything and flop at the end, this is something that make me wish that comic book and manga industry learn to follow.
@yougottrolled5799 No. Most. 😂 Theres a reason for that. Unlike marvel or dc with reoccuring fharacters and altering writers that can continue or end a story, manga is one concurrent story by one author, that consistently is subject to editors, strict deadlines and random cancellation. So when one gets popular, they often lose their main charm and become just another naruto clone. And when it ends, its almost never satisfying. Ever. Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, Erased, etc.
I haven’t finished the video yet so I’m sorry if you covered this, but I think Rick’s death is so beautifully ironic and it’s the only way he could ever die. He finally completely let his guard down and felt safe and paid the price. And the scene of all the communities rallied together for his memorial is one of the few comic scenes to ever make me shed a tear. One of the greatest Characters of all times, Rick Grimes.
Yeah, I also think that Rick's death is very fitting for him. Probably because I love a story trope when a great character that has achieved so much tragically dies in such an unceremonious way, similar to major historical figures like Abraham Lincoln or Julius Caesar. It just feels so tragic and realistic at the same time.
When they were building up the last season of the TV show, they announced that Daryl and Maggie would have their own spin-off shows. I thought it was so stupid to announce this before the end of the season. It took away any tension that either of them would die before the end. Also we spent the last 11 years with these people, what more was there to say about them? Then I remembered the fake issues of the book and thought AMC were going to pull a similar stunt. Seeing as Andrea, Carl and Rick were no longer in the show, Maggie would get Andrea's ending and die surrounded by friends and family. Daryl would get killed by Sebastian and then finished off by Judith the next morning. I was so smug watching that last episode as I seemed to be the only one to have figured this out and everyone else was looking forward to these spin-offs. Needless to say, I had the rug pulled from under me. Rosita got Andrea's ending and we never got the Rick ending. Such a missed opportunity.
As a former shop owner, I remember that image was offering unlimited returns on that issue so I preordered more than usual. It came in and I cracked it open and saw that this was it. It was great. No fanfare before hand. No build up. Suddenly everyone was wanting to come in and get it
I could have done with an arc or two following old man Carl being a badass but as far as endings go I think Kirkman nailed it. Shout out to Tony Moore too, I don't think we would have the comic as we know it without his influence.
It is the only fictional story out of the thousands that I have read that made me cry. I was really glad that I was home alone when I read the issue with Andrea's death in it. I boohoo'd uncontrollably like I had literally lost someone very close to me. Such an excellent piece of fiction.
To this day I remember when Rick said those words “Don’t you get it? WE ARE the Walking Dead!” Boy, that hit me hard. It was one of the best dialogues ever in a comic book, and it was so true to the story and characters. Damn. Now, several years later, when I was reading las issues without knowing what was going to happen; When Rick said “We are NOT the Walking Dead!” I almost spit my coffee! This is it, I thought. We are almost to the end of the series! I swear I just knew it was close, but really had NO IDEA Rick would die soon! Oh my, I felt sad, I took a moment to think and digest it. Seeing Rick getting shot and later as a walker, it hit me. I remember my wife asking me “are you alright? What’s wrong?” I could not tell her that I felt like I just got news that an old friend had died. That was The Walking Dead Characters to me. I really came to care about them, and that is why I quit the show when they killed Carl. Now seeing Rick dying, I understood, finally understood that Kirkman was ending the series. This was probably the last issue. Last issue came, and it was what everyone had wanted since the eatly issues. Carl surviving. Making a life for himself. What a great ending.
As a manga reader this is impressive. If you look how hard Mangaka and their assistants works to pull this off. (And even in Manga 150 chapters long stories might be the most famous, they're actually the exception.)
Lets not undersell him, I think he did 187 issues in a row. Even did 2 issues a month for half a year. People underestimate how much dedication a comic artist needs for a single title while writers get to do multiple series at a time.
Dropped everything as soon as I got the notification! Robert Kirkman knows how to tell a complete story. Awesome, awesome episode! As always! Thanks Chris!
I read through the whole thing recently for the second time and I feel like all the great stuff in that last compendium does not get talkes about enough
This is the first video I’ve ever watched on this channel, and the way you explained the walking dead in 22 minutes has impressed me beyond measure.. I’ve liked this video and subscribed! Look forward to enjoying more of your content! Thank you
I absolutely love TWD's comics and hate how the show still goes on. The comic actually had a story with a point and a good conclusion. Robert Kirkman told a really unique story with zombie media. Most zombie stories have a bleak ending or a really cliche happy ending like "the army shows up and wipes out the zombies", but TWD goes on long enough to have Rick push this idea to rebuild society in a better way, compared to making things like they were before the dead started walking. The show doesn't have any of those ideas and just wants to continue shambling along like the zombies in it, creating new spinoffs until eventually AMC can't get another penny out of it. Almost every twist the show did vs the comics' original story was dumber and made things worse.
I wish the comic would’ve went more like the show and that’s coming from someone who read the comics before the show came out. The commonwealth arc of the comics was the most boring thing I ever read and the show made it so much better. It was exciting and killed off Sebastian, which should’ve happened in the comic. Killing Rick off was also the stupidest decision the comic made. At least the tv show avoided doing that. They had so much potential to go on with the comic for many more years or do spin offs and didn’t. That’s part of why I prefer what the show is doing to the comics.
Great video, I love The Walking Dead but I did feel a little dissapointed by how The Kingdom got sidelined after All Out War. Sidenote. YOU ARE FRIENDS WITH ROBERT KIRKMAN???? THATS AWESOME
I know the initial shock of 193 being the finale really rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, myself included. The issue, in a vacuum, was a good send-off. After watching this, i have an appreciation for Kirkman's rug pull.
I'd been going off the series over the last year so was really pleased it ended and didn't drag itself out anymore. Impressed me Kirkman seemed to realise it wasn't so good anymore and he'd done all he could with the series. Was a pleasant surprise.
The Walking Dead is an example of how Independent Comics far surpass their commercial counterparts. There’s (almost) no oversight telling the creators how to tell their story.
the thing i love about the walking dead and invincible is that theres REAL SUBSTANTIAL growth in the story and characters (rick and mark in particular) throughout the story theres a real sense of seeing these characters throughout different stages of there life and its fascinating to see theres a real sense of growth and is something a truly love about kirkman and his books
Great episode! I've been watching a lot of older episodes lately, you should promote your huge library of videos more, because a bunch of people only watches the newer stuff but there's so much great and fun episodes that deserve more views
I'll never forget when the articles dropped that the series ended out of nowhere. I had been reading it over the years at admittedly a too young age and would take yearlong breaks sometimes if i wanted to have a few chapters to read at once. I had just caught up again for the chapter when Rick was killed and i just gotten my first job so planned to start buying the issues monthly. went out a couple weeks later to grab the last issue. The sense of disappointment that I had from knowing the series was over was a gut punch, but the catharsis from reading that last issue will forever hold a place in my mind and heart. Im glad you talked about the fake issues cause i vividly remember looking at the over and over in excitement for what would come next. im also proud to know that in some way my love for this series is memorialized in its own covers as I was lucky enough to get into the readers' questions segments, even if it was cringeworthy middle school me.
Great video hope you do a top 10 of the year usually my favorite video of the year always great to hear your favorite stories to get some great recommendations
thanks for covering this!! I had some issues with my local book shop and they lost my order list around the time the Whisperers were introduced... i never got back into TWD, so it was really nice to see how it all ends. Hell maybe i should get off my ass and reread it from the negan saga and finish the series
Thanks for this video Chris. I hadn't thought about The Walking Dead in a while. You've brought back a lot of nice memories, and your analysis is great
I remember very vividly reading the last issue in the park and it surprisingly made me cry. I did not expect this story, as bleak as it was, to end as hopefully as it did. It's a memory I'll treasure forever.
My interpretation of Carl talking to Sebastian was that Carl being mostly silhouetted and the entire background being blacked out could represent that there’s nothing beyond those bars except Carl now, mirroring what Carl was saying to him
9:54 I'd like to point out the visual effect of the cell bars being the only thing keeping Carl out, that Carl is the monster who will always be waiting for the moment dude isn't protected by them. Carl has become his own personal demon. The guy will spend his life begging to not be released. He knows Carl is waiting for him, all but begging him to ever step foot outside the bars.
It’s such a good ending because the surprise isn’t in the fact that it ends so suddenly, it’s because it ends so satisfyingly and honors the people who cared about the entire fandom
When i finished the last volume of TWD some time ago, i closed the book, put it on the table netx to my reading chair, stood up, went over to my little library and picked up TWD #1 to read the whole story again. Immediately. Such was the greatness of TWD's ending.
This was my first comic book series I ever read. I’ll never forget my experience waiting month after month for the next chapter during the prison arc and Negan arc
I stopped reading the series around issue 100 or so, but I ended up reading the last issue and it was a very satisfying ending. But without the surprise of it all I think the impact would have been lost, as you said. Great video Chris!
I even felt losing Andrea was the final nail with how he felt and Andrea had to tell him basically that he needs to man up while dying from a bite wound. He stayed with her till she turned and even then it was hard for him. Yet He trained his son, and to an extent Negan also gave Carl another view point on what it takes to live in this world, but Carl didnt hesitate to take care of his dad. Maybe Rick wanted more for his son while knowing his own short comings in order to live in this world.
As someone that hasn't read the comics, I find Negan the most fascinating narratively. In storytelling 101, any "evil" character turned "good" that HAS killed people (on-screen or beloved characters) HAS to die in order for their redemption arc to come full circle. TV Negan escaped this rule cause AMC wanted to milk money out of the character. But now that you made me aware that "Negan Lives" is a thing- I can finally put to bed this argument I have with my friend. He doesn't go through a redemption in the comics- he's just alive and still coming to terms with his consequences.
Hello Sir. I love your channel. Will you make a video about White Eye Syndrome, if you haven't already? With the lady from Wicked wanting to play Storm, the subject came to mind. I know I've seen it as far back as Little Orphan Annie, but I would love to learn all about it. Your videos are great. Thank you.
What I love avout Kirkman long series is that he knows how and when to end them. He doesn't overstretch them. Invincible ends with issue 144, also not very "symbolic" number, but the ending is one of the best in comic history.
I have to admit that I loved checking out trade paperbacks of The Walking Dead and just fully immersed myself in this very character-driven world. I didn't even care about the zombies, but the show kinda did. I'm glad to see that the comic did end on a good note, as it was a saga that could easily have gone on for far too long, but it felt lifelike in that regard. I wish it hadn't become the TV franchise, but hopefully, it will bring its viewers back to where it all started.
I was reading TWD in trade paperbacks as they were released, and eventually hit a point where I wasn't really motivated to read any more. In retrospect that was probably around the halfway point in the series (volume 15 or 16, I think?), but at the time it felt like it was just spinning its wheels, so I gave up on it. Don't get me wrong, it was still a well told story with likable characters. But it didn't feel like there was an end in sight; it was not as if we were following our plucky heroes on a quest to find the cure for the zombie outbreak, or some greater end goal along those lines. We were just following the characters from one settlement to the next, things would spiral out of control, people would die, and survivors would move on to the next settlement. Rinse and repeat. I understand that that's simply the nature of following the characters and their survival, but after a while I wanted to see some sort of light at the end of the tunnel for them. I wanted the series to feel less like a catalogue of their day-to-day survival (which felt meandering to me), and more like a story that has a beginning, middle, and ending. Now that the series is complete and I _know_ that there is an actual satisfying ending, I've been buying the colored re-release "Walking Dead Deluxe" issues ever since that started during the pandemic, and rediscovering my fondness for the series.
I watched the series after a co-worker recommended it, but never read the comics as I quit the hobby back in 1989. Horror was #1 to me and recall getting into comics near 1972 with horror which did feature some zombies. Monsters & Dinosaurs were next after horror and then followed by heroes after 1973ish.
I still don't like the last 6 issues, and the ending just kills it for me. Honestly, I felt ashamed I bought nearly 200 issues for it to end so rushed. It kinda ruined comics for me, haven't bought a new book in years.
I still haven't finished the walking dead show, but I started reading the comics last year and finished it this past January. Let me tell you, I love super heroes, i wouldn't be into comics without them but MAN. NO comic has ever hit me the way TWD did. Plus it actually had an ending and it is the best. I'm in the middle of Invincible now and I can't get enough of it either.
Shout out to cliff rathburn who brought so much to this book, and is an awesome illustrator in his own right. Have loved his work for years. Also he grew up in a town called woodbury... have always wondered if the governor arch was a nod to his work...
Probably so. The survivors lived in Alexandria, VA because that’s where I lived when that happened. Robert would use towns and names of friends here and there.
@ComicTropes I went to school with cliff. We used to trade comics in grade school lol. Haven't talked to him in years, but I still enjoy his work. Love your vids!
Do you think you could make an episode on Kazuo Umezu? He was a great influence on horror manga genre, and the creators like Junji Ito (Ito even made a oneshot comic to show how important Umezu's work was to him). He sadly passed away last year and I think it's due he gets his flowers.
I tapped out of the TV show right when Negan swung his bat. Didn't find out who he hit until a couple months ago. I loved the comic, and do intend to finish it, though I'm really early in the run. It was just difficult for a while to get my hands on the floppies.Still at the prison! I'm going to buy it in digital (if available) sometime mid-Feb. I laughed and laughed when I heard how he ended it. A character actually called the Swordman would have been a zombie shark jump.
I was the same as you, I hadn't read the comics, quit watching the show when Negan killed Abraham and Glenn... And then a couple months ago randomly saw an ad for Dead City, and was like "What. That dude killed her baby daddy, and they are teaming up now?" And from there, I decided to start The Walking Dead over, and see it through to the end to understand why. I ended up getting hooked this time, and despite my anger towards Negan, started to like him, and then he became my favorite character after Rick left the show. Finished the series, watched Dead City, Darl Dixon, and The Ones Who Live, and then finally picked up all four compendiums and read through them. They made me even more of a Negan fan, and I picked up The Alien, Heres Negan, and Rick Grimes 2000. Loved them all, and then read Negan Lives. I am obsessed. I hope Kirkman gives us more Negan Lives. We see in it that he finally embarks on the journey to get Lucille's body, and put it into a resting place, and we know from the final issue of The Walking Dead that his little house on the outskirts of the Commonwealth has a real gravestone for her, so we know he completes that journey. I'd love to see that journey told.
I picked up the comics pretty early in and really loved reading them, i then had a bit of a break and picked them up again around the time they wrapped up so i already knew "ok, this is the last TPB" but was still very surprised how it all went down. i never really got into the show, i think it's because i liked the comic so much that i didn't feel the show did it justice, in part i felt like a disservice to kirkman to alter things that made the comics such a joy for me, like taking away carl and even rick in the later seasons.
Man I cried so hard reading this issue. See the life of Carl without his father around. The world finally at peace but without the person who made it possible. The new generation who don't even know how hard was living those times. It was perfect ill definitely re read twd in some years. Rest in peace Rick Grimes you saved humanity
YAY! the resolution and sound are much better!! Though movement still reveals some distortion, there's still reflections in your glasses and a few pillows around the room would help the sound more. Still GREAT WORK, as ever. Followup audio at 9:45 is much cleaner. Also, it should be easy to work in these re-shoots without calling attention to them, if only you can keep the audio consistent. Perhaps do the whole show with the big mic visible, in a decorated recording studio instead of a rec room. Thanks for letting me offer feedback.
It would be really cool to see a fictional world like the end the walking dead with most zombies being killed or just rotted away and gone, and mass civilizations coming to realization with railroads and modern technology slowly returning overtime. The idea of a world that has pretty much healed from the brink of a zombie apocalypse would be so interesting to see, like the end of the Wild West and a new age of more connected cities, states, and countries.
Great synopsis. Liked how you analogized the enemies in the comics to intellectual tropes. Governor is fascist, Negan is bully, Whisperers anarchist, Pamela…feudalist. Could have substituted philosophical tropes. Moralist, nihilist, absurdist, existentialist, post-modernist, fatalist. Fatalism is the belief in determinism: you cannot do other than what is necessary. Moralism: you have choices, which can be restricted by reason or God. Nihilism: our purposes, pursuits, have no divine mandate they are ad hoc; and you can be pessimistic or optimistic about that. Absurdism: try to live authentically even though your own identity is a rug that will be pulled from out under you. Existentialist: no objective right or wrong, we decide, but we are responsible. Post-modernist: no right or wrong, we decide, and we are not responsible - we are unaccountable.
It's one of those things were you're torn between wanting to see your favorite character ride it out or letting them rest. Rick has been through a lot and he doesn't need to hold up the world on his shoulders anymore, we should be okay with that.
The death of Rick in WD #193 was a surprise indeed, but… I think Rick deserves more than some spoiled brat gunning him down in his bed. Rick came a long way and got through the toughest trials of a man could imagine, and still has a quite miserable death. I was shook to the ground by reading #193, but not by the death itself (it has to happen eventually), but by the execution of it. It felt that the Image simply said to R. Kirkman to end the series immediately or something like that. So yeah, from my perspective it would be better to keep Rick alive, show him happy and healthy among other characters in the future. It’s only feels right to me. Just saying…
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
I liked that The Walking Dead in the end was a story about how everything that goes down eventually goes up, things rebuild themselves
I've heard Kirkman say in interviews that when he started the series and thought of an ending he was going to go in the opposite direction, show a new society and city get overtaken by zombies. Pretty bleak ending after 10 plus years of suffering
You wish, 30 years from now there won't be a single human alive in the universe. I have it on good authority
@@deadsiwho let you in on that info
Elon
Things did not rebuild themselves lol. It was hard bloody work
Despite The Walking Dead being one of the most iconic and recognizable IP's in modern media, it's source material feels SO underrated. Such a beautiful story from beginning to end.
At the time of around issue 100 I called it top 10 piece of non fiction I had ever read. Literally every page could change the status quo in an instant.
Don’t know if that take holds up 15 years later but the walking dead comic is a masterpiece (and the show is an abomination in comparison)
This can be said of western comics overall. I hate it so much. Japanese Manga and anime (literally just what they call comics and animation respectively) do the exact opposite. An anime elevates recognization of a Manga and it's creator; in America they just fall to the wayside. Stan Lee is popular, but newer writers and the story lines that are popularly adapted don't get much of any recognition. Part of this is just reality as it's harder to jump from an adaption of Marvel or DC or some other comics (though not all) to comics themselves unlike anime to Manga. But still something should be happening to recognize and celebrate the medium and original works that have led to these massively popular adaptions. I went to a Barnes and Noble not that long ago and saw a big in your face Manga display for recent Anime. Comics were stuffed away in the corner. It's frustrating because people aren't even aware of how many comic books inspired popular media or get popular direct adaptions. Someone once argued with me online that Manga is better because the only comic books are superhero comic books (and that went on for way too long). Western media has utterly failed the entire medium.
It's crazy how much they changed for the show. Like why with any of it. So weird.
Endings are so hard to do, so many writers just don’t do them
Or have their ending hijacked and ending the book could only dilute the brand. ( he should still have ended it. )
Endings are not that hard, its the point pf the series, I think we all as writer shoukd always write the finaly first, the rest is just the road to reach it
@@vichobochowas going to say the same. Seems a few writers start stories with the Ending as an after thought or eventual epiphany. Eventually writing themselves off trail.
Calm down soft manchild
Or you get people like Abrams who starts a story with all those gimmicky “mystery boxes” but doesn’t have an actual ending in mind or any resolution to his mysteries or really any direction for the plot. Thats how you get messes like Lost or the new star wars sequel trilogy 😂
They should make an animated
Walking Dead series that is closer to the comics
Honestly, once invincible is wrapped up, that might be Sky bound’s next show.
🙏
I would love this, especially since we’d hopefully get to have more Steven Yuen as Glenn again and eventually a significantly less censored version of Negan.
I'd watch
Kirkman said that him and AMC had a contract. Kirkman will have the tv show rights back probably until the 2030s when AMC is done with the IP
Some of the best advice i ever read as a writer: “Since a story is always a whole, and the organic end is found in the beginning, a great story always ends by signaling to the audience to go back to the beginning and experience it again.” - John Truby
Reminds me of The Dark Tower saga
How Kirkman ending his book like Invincible and TWD is why I respect him and rank him as my number 1 favorite comic book writer, man choose to end his story in a high note instead of stretching it out of demand or monetary to over complicated everything and flop at the end, this is something that make me wish that comic book and manga industry learn to follow.
he is a terrible writer
Wym manga have endings
@@yougottrolled5799most are rushed badly.
@phantombigboss8429 that's true some are.
@yougottrolled5799 No. Most. 😂 Theres a reason for that. Unlike marvel or dc with reoccuring fharacters and altering writers that can continue or end a story, manga is one concurrent story by one author, that consistently is subject to editors, strict deadlines and random cancellation. So when one gets popular, they often lose their main charm and become just another naruto clone. And when it ends, its almost never satisfying. Ever. Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, Erased, etc.
I haven’t finished the video yet so I’m sorry if you covered this, but I think Rick’s death is so beautifully ironic and it’s the only way he could ever die. He finally completely let his guard down and felt safe and paid the price. And the scene of all the communities rallied together for his memorial is one of the few comic scenes to ever make me shed a tear. One of the greatest Characters of all times, Rick Grimes.
It would've been nice to get an old man carl
Yeah, I also think that Rick's death is very fitting for him. Probably because I love a story trope when a great character that has achieved so much tragically dies in such an unceremonious way, similar to major historical figures like Abraham Lincoln or Julius Caesar.
It just feels so tragic and realistic at the same time.
I love how non toxic your fanbase is. This channel is really refreshing!
Think it helps that the material isn't peddling clickbait grifter culture war nonsense
When they were building up the last season of the TV show, they announced that Daryl and Maggie would have their own spin-off shows. I thought it was so stupid to announce this before the end of the season. It took away any tension that either of them would die before the end. Also we spent the last 11 years with these people, what more was there to say about them? Then I remembered the fake issues of the book and thought AMC were going to pull a similar stunt. Seeing as Andrea, Carl and Rick were no longer in the show, Maggie would get Andrea's ending and die surrounded by friends and family. Daryl would get killed by Sebastian and then finished off by Judith the next morning. I was so smug watching that last episode as I seemed to be the only one to have figured this out and everyone else was looking forward to these spin-offs. Needless to say, I had the rug pulled from under me. Rosita got Andrea's ending and we never got the Rick ending. Such a missed opportunity.
As a former shop owner, I remember that image was offering unlimited returns on that issue so I preordered more than usual. It came in and I cracked it open and saw that this was it. It was great. No fanfare before hand. No build up. Suddenly everyone was wanting to come in and get it
The observation about the jail bars is peak Comic Tropes; so glad you included that! Excellent visual storytelling radar.
I could have done with an arc or two following old man Carl being a badass but as far as endings go I think Kirkman nailed it. Shout out to Tony Moore too, I don't think we would have the comic as we know it without his influence.
That series is, so far, the only time a comic has made me cry.
Incredible book, I love it so much
Highly recommend Magneto (2014), that'll be the second one to do it 😂
@@dracomundo1498I didn’t cry but that is one very overlooked series.
It is the only fictional story out of the thousands that I have read that made me cry. I was really glad that I was home alone when I read the issue with Andrea's death in it. I boohoo'd uncontrollably like I had literally lost someone very close to me. Such an excellent piece of fiction.
Try We3 by Morrison. It’s a short tear jerker
@@mental6679 Morrison's a massive blindspot for me, I still haven't read Miracleman or All-Star Superman. Thanks for the rec!
Love how it just came out of nowhere. Just "there's your dinner, it's done"
To this day I remember when Rick said those words “Don’t you get it? WE ARE the Walking Dead!” Boy, that hit me hard. It was one of the best dialogues ever in a comic book, and it was so true to the story and characters. Damn. Now, several years later, when I was reading las issues without knowing what was going to happen; When Rick said “We are NOT the Walking Dead!” I almost spit my coffee! This is it, I thought. We are almost to the end of the series! I swear I just knew it was close, but really had NO IDEA Rick would die soon! Oh my, I felt sad, I took a moment to think and digest it. Seeing Rick getting shot and later as a walker, it hit me. I remember my wife asking me “are you alright? What’s wrong?” I could not tell her that I felt like I just got news that an old friend had died. That was The Walking Dead Characters to me. I really came to care about them, and that is why I quit the show when they killed Carl. Now seeing Rick dying, I understood, finally understood that Kirkman was ending the series. This was probably the last issue. Last issue came, and it was what everyone had wanted since the eatly issues. Carl surviving. Making a life for himself. What a great ending.
Respect to Charlie Adlard for drawing over 150 issues in a row.
Maybe it’s just me but as a manga reader this doesn’t seem particularly impressive…
As a manga reader this is impressive. If you look how hard Mangaka and their assistants works to pull this off. (And even in Manga 150 chapters long stories might be the most famous, they're actually the exception.)
@@Melkac 150 issues is about 15 years, from 2004 to 2019, he never missed a deadline either in that period.
@@NFLDude56his art was hideous, it's not hard to miss a deadline if your art is subpar, the original artist was waaaay better
Lets not undersell him, I think he did 187 issues in a row. Even did 2 issues a month for half a year. People underestimate how much dedication a comic artist needs for a single title while writers get to do multiple series at a time.
Dropped everything as soon as I got the notification! Robert Kirkman knows how to tell a complete story. Awesome, awesome episode! As always! Thanks Chris!
I read through the whole thing recently for the second time and I feel like all the great stuff in that last compendium does not get talkes about enough
This is the first video I’ve ever watched on this channel, and the way you explained the walking dead in 22 minutes has impressed me beyond measure.. I’ve liked this video and subscribed! Look forward to enjoying more of your content! Thank you
I absolutely love TWD's comics and hate how the show still goes on. The comic actually had a story with a point and a good conclusion. Robert Kirkman told a really unique story with zombie media. Most zombie stories have a bleak ending or a really cliche happy ending like "the army shows up and wipes out the zombies", but TWD goes on long enough to have Rick push this idea to rebuild society in a better way, compared to making things like they were before the dead started walking.
The show doesn't have any of those ideas and just wants to continue shambling along like the zombies in it, creating new spinoffs until eventually AMC can't get another penny out of it. Almost every twist the show did vs the comics' original story was dumber and made things worse.
I wish the comic would’ve went more like the show and that’s coming from someone who read the comics before the show came out. The commonwealth arc of the comics was the most boring thing I ever read and the show made it so much better. It was exciting and killed off Sebastian, which should’ve happened in the comic. Killing Rick off was also the stupidest decision the comic made. At least the tv show avoided doing that. They had so much potential to go on with the comic for many more years or do spin offs and didn’t. That’s part of why I prefer what the show is doing to the comics.
@@BoogSReviews Never seen someone ask for more slop before. Interesting.
wow i have never heard anyone say that @@BoogSReviews
This is the first video of yours that I've come across, and I've just got to say that that intro is absolutely incredible
Great video, I love The Walking Dead but I did feel a little dissapointed by how The Kingdom got sidelined after All Out War.
Sidenote. YOU ARE FRIENDS WITH ROBERT KIRKMAN???? THATS AWESOME
I know the initial shock of 193 being the finale really rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, myself included. The issue, in a vacuum, was a good send-off. After watching this, i have an appreciation for Kirkman's rug pull.
I'd been going off the series over the last year so was really pleased it ended and didn't drag itself out anymore. Impressed me Kirkman seemed to realise it wasn't so good anymore and he'd done all he could with the series. Was a pleasant surprise.
Best comic book youtuber and it aint all that close
Smokey's Videos is better.
The Walking Dead is an example of how Independent Comics far surpass their commercial counterparts. There’s (almost) no oversight telling the creators how to tell their story.
Great video as always. Loved the little shoutout of Ed piskors red room and Jim ruggs mtsryr. Cartoonist kayfabe got me into comics
Amazing the empire that Kirkman has managed to build with this comic.
the thing i love about the walking dead and invincible is that theres REAL SUBSTANTIAL growth in the story and characters (rick and mark in particular) throughout the story theres a real sense of seeing these characters throughout different stages of there life and its fascinating to see theres a real sense of growth and is something a truly love about kirkman and his books
Thanks Chris! Great work as usual. Happy new year.
Great start to the morning!
Comictropes is better than coffee.
Nice Sunday uploads.
Great episode! I've been watching a lot of older episodes lately, you should promote your huge library of videos more, because a bunch of people only watches the newer stuff but there's so much great and fun episodes that deserve more views
I'm not a Walking Dead fan but two of my kids are so I'll wish you a happy new year and keep my support going for you.
I'll never forget when the articles dropped that the series ended out of nowhere. I had been reading it over the years at admittedly a too young age and would take yearlong breaks sometimes if i wanted to have a few chapters to read at once. I had just caught up again for the chapter when Rick was killed and i just gotten my first job so planned to start buying the issues monthly. went out a couple weeks later to grab the last issue. The sense of disappointment that I had from knowing the series was over was a gut punch, but the catharsis from reading that last issue will forever hold a place in my mind and heart. Im glad you talked about the fake issues cause i vividly remember looking at the over and over in excitement for what would come next. im also proud to know that in some way my love for this series is memorialized in its own covers as I was lucky enough to get into the readers' questions segments, even if it was cringeworthy middle school me.
Great stuff as always keep up the excellent work
Great video hope you do a top 10 of the year usually my favorite video of the year always great to hear your favorite stories to get some great recommendations
I’ll do a top 10 on Comic Tropes After Dark tonight.
found your channel in 2019 and have loved your analyses and reviews the entire time! here’s to another year of comic tropes :)
Thanks, Chris. I appreciate you and your channel.
thanks for covering this!! I had some issues with my local book shop and they lost my order list around the time the Whisperers were introduced... i never got back into TWD, so it was really nice to see how it all ends. Hell maybe i should get off my ass and reread it from the negan saga and finish the series
Thanks for this video Chris. I hadn't thought about The Walking Dead in a while. You've brought back a lot of nice memories, and your analysis is great
It took me by surprise. At first I disliked, After Re visiting the four omnibus.... I was YEAH it Makes sense!
Excellent episode Chris!
Wait 193 issues. Wow, long running indeed!
Especially when almost no other books make it past issue 50 before being rebooted. Again.
Originally planned for longer run. Ending came out of nowhere.
The Long Running Dead
The sheriff Grimes always reminds me of the sheriff in The Leftovers
Excellent synopsis. Really enjoyed this, thanks!
Wonderful. Thanks again!
bro i just seen ur channel on my reccomended just gotta say i love ur intro
I haven’t seen this channel in a while. I forgot how good it is.
Chris the video you did with Dave, was fantastically entertaining I hope that you will do it again complete with trivia.
Wonderful video as always Chris! Happy new year
im really glad you made this video
Seeing videos like this makes me happy that creative comic book writers still exist.
I remember very vividly reading the last issue in the park and it surprisingly made me cry. I did not expect this story, as bleak as it was, to end as hopefully as it did. It's a memory I'll treasure forever.
My interpretation of Carl talking to Sebastian was that Carl being mostly silhouetted and the entire background being blacked out could represent that there’s nothing beyond those bars except Carl now, mirroring what Carl was saying to him
Great work tropes 🙏🏻
I love your videos. It was great to see another video about the Walking dead!!!
Good episode. Thanks Chris. 😊
Man, I used to have the dopest Walking Dead t-shirt back in high school... Must have been around 1998ish. I wish I could find it somewhere...
9:54 I'd like to point out the visual effect of the cell bars being the only thing keeping Carl out, that Carl is the monster who will always be waiting for the moment dude isn't protected by them. Carl has become his own personal demon.
The guy will spend his life begging to not be released. He knows Carl is waiting for him, all but begging him to ever step foot outside the bars.
It’s such a good ending because the surprise isn’t in the fact that it ends so suddenly, it’s because it ends so satisfyingly and honors the people who cared about the entire fandom
At first I was pretty mad when I read the final issue because it was ending, but then after I thought about it, it was a good ending. Excellent video.
Looking sharp Chris. Happy New Year
When i finished the last volume of TWD some time ago, i closed the book, put it on the table netx to my reading chair, stood up, went over to my little library and picked up TWD #1 to read the whole story again. Immediately. Such was the greatness of TWD's ending.
It always picks my day up to see u posted
This was my first comic book series I ever read. I’ll never forget my experience waiting month after month for the next chapter during the prison arc and Negan arc
I stopped reading the series around issue 100 or so, but I ended up reading the last issue and it was a very satisfying ending. But without the surprise of it all I think the impact would have been lost, as you said.
Great video Chris!
I even felt losing Andrea was the final nail with how he felt and Andrea had to tell him basically that he needs to man up while dying from a bite wound. He stayed with her till she turned and even then it was hard for him. Yet He trained his son, and to an extent Negan also gave Carl another view point on what it takes to live in this world, but Carl didnt hesitate to take care of his dad. Maybe Rick wanted more for his son while knowing his own short comings in order to live in this world.
Great episode, Happy New Year, Chris!
As someone that hasn't read the comics, I find Negan the most fascinating narratively.
In storytelling 101, any "evil" character turned "good" that HAS killed people (on-screen or beloved characters) HAS to die in order for their redemption arc to come full circle. TV Negan escaped this rule cause AMC wanted to milk money out of the character. But now that you made me aware that "Negan Lives" is a thing- I can finally put to bed this argument I have with my friend. He doesn't go through a redemption in the comics- he's just alive and still coming to terms with his consequences.
He started his redemption but I agree: he hasn’t finished it.
Wonderful episode, thank you very much Chris.
Comic with ending? Very weird phenomenon.
Not in manga
@erikbihari3625@moritakaishida7963 most comics have endings. Marvel and DC (main universe titles)are the exception.
Most indie comics nail the ending
Wow... what an ending. That's kinda nice actually. Glad to see this show is still going strong. Great work!
Hello Sir. I love your channel. Will you make a video about White Eye Syndrome, if you haven't already? With the lady from Wicked wanting to play Storm, the subject came to mind. I know I've seen it as far back as Little Orphan Annie, but I would love to learn all about it. Your videos are great. Thank you.
What I love avout Kirkman long series is that he knows how and when to end them. He doesn't overstretch them. Invincible ends with issue 144, also not very "symbolic" number, but the ending is one of the best in comic history.
The dialogue being functional shows the purposeful world of having to survive.
Great episode Chris. Felt more like comictropes of old.
I have to admit that I loved checking out trade paperbacks of The Walking Dead and just fully immersed myself in this very character-driven world. I didn't even care about the zombies, but the show kinda did. I'm glad to see that the comic did end on a good note, as it was a saga that could easily have gone on for far too long, but it felt lifelike in that regard. I wish it hadn't become the TV franchise, but hopefully, it will bring its viewers back to where it all started.
I was reading TWD in trade paperbacks as they were released, and eventually hit a point where I wasn't really motivated to read any more. In retrospect that was probably around the halfway point in the series (volume 15 or 16, I think?), but at the time it felt like it was just spinning its wheels, so I gave up on it.
Don't get me wrong, it was still a well told story with likable characters. But it didn't feel like there was an end in sight; it was not as if we were following our plucky heroes on a quest to find the cure for the zombie outbreak, or some greater end goal along those lines. We were just following the characters from one settlement to the next, things would spiral out of control, people would die, and survivors would move on to the next settlement. Rinse and repeat. I understand that that's simply the nature of following the characters and their survival, but after a while I wanted to see some sort of light at the end of the tunnel for them. I wanted the series to feel less like a catalogue of their day-to-day survival (which felt meandering to me), and more like a story that has a beginning, middle, and ending.
Now that the series is complete and I _know_ that there is an actual satisfying ending, I've been buying the colored re-release "Walking Dead Deluxe" issues ever since that started during the pandemic, and rediscovering my fondness for the series.
I love The Walking Dead comics. They're probably my favorite comic, and I almost have the whole story.
I hadn't felt this shocked with what happened to Rick since Negan's debut and what he did to Glenn in the comic book.
Robert kirkman, the guy who can give you the darkest histories with the happiest endings
I'm not watching the show and too busy reading manga, thanks for the video 😅
I watched the series after a co-worker recommended it, but never read the comics as I quit the hobby back in 1989. Horror was #1 to me and recall getting into comics near 1972 with horror which did feature some zombies. Monsters & Dinosaurs were next after horror and then followed by heroes after 1973ish.
Another great episode!
I still don't like the last 6 issues, and the ending just kills it for me. Honestly, I felt ashamed I bought nearly 200 issues for it to end so rushed. It kinda ruined comics for me, haven't bought a new book in years.
I still haven't finished the walking dead show, but I started reading the comics last year and finished it this past January. Let me tell you, I love super heroes, i wouldn't be into comics without them but MAN. NO comic has ever hit me the way TWD did. Plus it actually had an ending and it is the best. I'm in the middle of Invincible now and I can't get enough of it either.
Shout out to cliff rathburn who brought so much to this book, and is an awesome illustrator in his own right. Have loved his work for years. Also he grew up in a town called woodbury... have always wondered if the governor arch was a nod to his work...
Probably so. The survivors lived in Alexandria, VA because that’s where I lived when that happened. Robert would use towns and names of friends here and there.
@ComicTropes I went to school with cliff. We used to trade comics in grade school lol.
Haven't talked to him in years, but I still enjoy his work.
Love your vids!
Great video on a great ending of a great series!!
Definitely comic over show for me.
Do you think you could make an episode on Kazuo Umezu? He was a great influence on horror manga genre, and the creators like Junji Ito (Ito even made a oneshot comic to show how important Umezu's work was to him).
He sadly passed away last year and I think it's due he gets his flowers.
I would like to. I feel like I need to read more of his work first.
I tapped out of the TV show right when Negan swung his bat. Didn't find out who he hit until a couple months ago.
I loved the comic, and do intend to finish it, though I'm really early in the run. It was just difficult for a while to get my hands on the floppies.Still at the prison! I'm going to buy it in digital (if available) sometime mid-Feb.
I laughed and laughed when I heard how he ended it. A character actually called the Swordman would have been a zombie shark jump.
I was the same as you, I hadn't read the comics, quit watching the show when Negan killed Abraham and Glenn... And then a couple months ago randomly saw an ad for Dead City, and was like "What. That dude killed her baby daddy, and they are teaming up now?" And from there, I decided to start The Walking Dead over, and see it through to the end to understand why. I ended up getting hooked this time, and despite my anger towards Negan, started to like him, and then he became my favorite character after Rick left the show. Finished the series, watched Dead City, Darl Dixon, and The Ones Who Live, and then finally picked up all four compendiums and read through them. They made me even more of a Negan fan, and I picked up The Alien, Heres Negan, and Rick Grimes 2000. Loved them all, and then read Negan Lives. I am obsessed. I hope Kirkman gives us more Negan Lives. We see in it that he finally embarks on the journey to get Lucille's body, and put it into a resting place, and we know from the final issue of The Walking Dead that his little house on the outskirts of the Commonwealth has a real gravestone for her, so we know he completes that journey. I'd love to see that journey told.
I picked up the comics pretty early in and really loved reading them, i then had a bit of a break and picked them up again around the time they wrapped up so i already knew "ok, this is the last TPB" but was still very surprised how it all went down. i never really got into the show, i think it's because i liked the comic so much that i didn't feel the show did it justice, in part i felt like a disservice to kirkman to alter things that made the comics such a joy for me, like taking away carl and even rick in the later seasons.
Man I cried so hard reading this issue. See the life of Carl without his father around. The world finally at peace but without the person who made it possible. The new generation who don't even know how hard was living those times. It was perfect ill definitely re read twd in some years. Rest in peace Rick Grimes you saved humanity
YAY! the resolution and sound are much better!! Though movement still reveals some distortion, there's still reflections in your glasses and a few pillows around the room would help the sound more. Still
GREAT WORK, as ever. Followup audio at 9:45 is much cleaner. Also, it should be easy to work in these re-shoots without calling attention to them, if only you can keep the audio consistent. Perhaps do the whole show with the big mic visible, in a decorated recording studio instead of a rec room. Thanks for letting me offer feedback.
It would be really cool to see a fictional world like the end the walking dead with most zombies being killed or just rotted away and gone, and mass civilizations coming to realization with railroads and modern technology slowly returning overtime. The idea of a world that has pretty much healed from the brink of a zombie apocalypse would be so interesting to see, like the end of the Wild West and a new age of more connected cities, states, and countries.
Woah beautiful intro!
9:43 nice catch!
Great synopsis. Liked how you analogized the enemies in the comics to intellectual tropes. Governor is fascist, Negan is bully, Whisperers anarchist, Pamela…feudalist.
Could have substituted philosophical tropes. Moralist, nihilist, absurdist, existentialist, post-modernist, fatalist.
Fatalism is the belief in determinism: you cannot do other than what is necessary. Moralism: you have choices, which can be restricted by reason or God. Nihilism: our purposes, pursuits, have no divine mandate they are ad hoc; and you can be pessimistic or optimistic about that. Absurdism: try to live authentically even though your own identity is a rug that will be pulled from out under you. Existentialist: no objective right or wrong, we decide, but we are responsible. Post-modernist: no right or wrong, we decide, and we are not responsible - we are unaccountable.
Such a great ending. It makes for such a satisfying reread
It's one of those things were you're torn between wanting to see your favorite character ride it out or letting them rest. Rick has been through a lot and he doesn't need to hold up the world on his shoulders anymore, we should be okay with that.
@the 17:14 mark, the panel also shows Sebastian not behind the bars…maybe that is showing that he is free of what ever drove him to kill Rick 🤷🏻♂️
The death of Rick in WD #193 was a surprise indeed, but… I think Rick deserves more than some spoiled brat gunning him down in his bed. Rick came a long way and got through the toughest trials of a man could imagine, and still has a quite miserable death. I was shook to the ground by reading #193, but not by the death itself (it has to happen eventually), but by the execution of it. It felt that the Image simply said to R. Kirkman to end the series immediately or something like that. So yeah, from my perspective it would be better to keep Rick alive, show him happy and healthy among other characters in the future. It’s only feels right to me. Just saying…