The Walking Deadhas killed off its fair share of characters over the years, with the brutal death of Glenn at the hands of Negan being one of the most memorable and bloody events in the comic’s almost 200-issue run. Being the one responsible for all the death and dismemberment that takes place on the page,The Walking Dead’s creator, Robert Kirkman, has revealed thatdespite all the harrowing situations he puts his characters through, their deaths affect him almost as much as if they were real people.
Premiering in 2003 and ending 193 issues later in 2019,The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard, reinvigorated the zombie genre, with its AMC-produced television series catapulting Rick Grimes and his fellow survivors into the pop culture stratosphere.
Introducing nearly as many characters as he kills off, series creatorRobert Kirkman, in the “Letter Hacks” section ofThe Walking Dead Deluxe #110, admits that all this death isn’t always easy to deal with, as the killing ofWalking Deadalums — specifically the death of Glenn — has left a lasting impact on the writer in unmistakable ways.
Robert Kirkman Doesn’t Regret Killing Characters, but It Still Affects Him Deeply
Asked by a fan how much of an “emotional hit" Kirkman takes after someone dies and if he can “detach” himself from the event, considering it was all in service toWalking Dead’s overall narrative,Kirkman candidly answers that it’s downright “upsetting” to kill a character who he’s grown attached to. Making sure to clarify that “it’s not like a real person dying” but that it still “sucks,” Kirkman elaborates thatWalking Deaddeaths don’t hit him until he’s writing issues that the deceased characterisn’tin, using the unexpected death of long-timeWalking Deadcharacter, Glenn, as an example.
“It’s upsetting. I mean, it’s not like a real person dying… but it sucks. It doesn’t really hit me until I’m writing issues they’re not in. From time to time I think about something to do with Glenn and I’m like, ‘Well, damn it.'”
Saying,“From time to time I think about something to do with Glenn and I’m like, ‘Well, damn it,’”Kirkman succinctly describes the empty feeling of never being able to revisit a character he’s already killed, losses which still cut him deeply today despite them being works of self-made fiction. Murdered by Negan inThe Walking Dead #100via a barbed wire-wrapped bat named Lucille to the head,Glenn’s death took everyone off-guard, further setting the precedent that no one was safe in this post-apocalyptic world while showing what lengths Kirkman would go to tell a tragically compelling zombie story.
Only a Handful of Them Made It Out Alive by the Comic’s End
Far from being the first or last character to have their life cut short inWalking Dead’s brutal comic book universe,Glenn dying was a perfect storm of violence, surprise, and emotional impact, and acted as a meaningful storytelling development that many other deaths simply don’t affect. Sunsetting dozens of different characters throughout the series — like Shane, Hershel, Tyreese, Lori, Ezekiel, Abraham, Dale, and Father Gabriel, to name a few — Kirkman was never shy when it came to shaking up the status quo,especiallyif it meant killing off people in service of better stories and more engrossing character-defining moments.
To prove how much character deaths affect Kirkman,whenstapleWalking Deadhero Andrea diedin 2017’sThe Walking Dead #167, Kirkman dedicated a full-page letter to her passing, writing a eulogy that began with the words “I’m sorry.” Emphasizing how Andrea’s death felt like he had just “killed a close friend,” Kirkman continues by saying, “deaths in this series are never taken lightly,” and that he didn’t necessarilywantto kill Andrea but knew it was something thatneededto happen for the story to thrive — a testament to what these characters meant to Kirkman even in death.
But perhaps the only other comic character next to Glenn and Andrea who might have messed Kirkman up even more was the shockingdeath ofWalking Dead’s main protagonist, Rick Grimes. Almost lasting until the series finale,the death of Rick was another necessary tragedythat helped pass the torch to Carl and the new world Rick had created. And while each of these deaths hit Robert Kirkman differently,The Walking Deadmakes no apologies for the brutality in which it flourishes, ensuring that every demise is a shocking, emotional, and terrifying moment regardless of who bit the big one.
