10 Essential The Walking Dead Comic Stories That Inspired the Hit TV Show

Without a doubt, the most iconic and successful series ever created by Image Comics is Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead. Running from 2003 to 2009, this horrifying post-apocalyptic series reinvigorated the zombie genre and introduced many beloved characters like Rick Grimes, Michonne, and Negan. And of course, another reason for the comics’ success is its hit TV show adaptation by AMC, which produced 11 seasons and several spin-offs that continue to expand the universe to this day. As one can imagine, the show took heavy inspiration from Kirkman’s original comic in terms of both characters and story arcs. These storylines not only inspired the show but cemented The Walking Dead as one of the best works in the zombie genre.

The Walking Dead follows Sheriff Rick Grimes and a group of other survivors trying to survive in a world overrun with undead and cannibalistic walkers. However, they soon discover that other survivors can be far more dangerous than the walkers. It’s a gripping series all about the best and worst of humanity and society, and these are its defining stories.

10) “The Best Defense”

Set after Rick’s group creates a settlement out of an abandoned prison, they soon find themselves confronting one of the most evil and twisted characters in the entire series. “The Best Defense” begins with the group investigating a helicopter that they saw crash from the sky. Their search leads them to another fortified settlement called Woodbury, run by Brian Blake, aka the Governor. At first, the Governor presents himself as a kind and reasonable man. Unfortunately, that soon turns out to be anything but the truth. Instead, the Governor soon is revealed to be a certifiable sadistic madman who will commit the most heinous of acts to maintain his control over everyone around him. In one of the most iconic moments in the series, the Governor chops off Rick’s right hand. “The Best Defense” introduced readers to the first big bad of The Walking Dead, and the Governor’s crusade against Rick’s group would only get worse as time went on.

9) “Life and Death”

Where some people try to undo the apocalypse, others embrace it. Among the most terrifying groups that Rick’s group encounters are the Whisperers. These violent nomadic survivors wear the skins of walkers to blend in and control massive hordes. Settlements like Alexandria, the Kingdom, Hilltop, and the Saviors find themselves inadvertently encroaching on Whisperer territory, and their wild neighbors aren’t happy. “Life and Death” centers on the different communities trying to continue their lives with this dangerous threat existing nearby. Rick’s son Carl tries to find out more about the Whisperers; Dwight becomes the new leader of the Saviors; and all the communities are planning a festival. But these small bits of attempted normalcy fail. And unfortunately, the story ends on a horrific note as the Whisperer’s leader, Alpha, sneaks into the Safe Zone and kills twelve people and puts their heads on pikes to mark out a border. Fan-favorite characters like Ezekiel and Rosita are lost, and it cements just how dangerous the Whisperers are.

8) “New World Order”

Near the end of The Walking Dead, the series presented something few other zombie stories had done before: it shows a world healing and adapting in the undead apocalypse. In “New World Order,” Rick’s group encounters the Commonwealth. As a network of communities with a total population of over fifty thousand people, the Commonwealth is the biggest and most prosperous society developed since the apocalypse first started. Add in an army with the weapons, armor, and training to effortlessly wipe out countless walkers, and the Commonwealth seems like humanity’s best hope. Michonne was even reunited with her daughter Elodie after being separated for years. However, not everything is perfect, as the Commonwealth has an unfair class system where people must perform the jobs they had before the apocalypse, and several upper-class members are power-hungry. “New World Order” provides a nuanced exploration into themes of society and the persistence of inequality. The story also acts as a fitting beginning of the end for The Walking Dead series.

7) “The Whisperer War”

The Whisperers and their walker horde were one of the biggest threats to Rick, his loved ones, and several settlements. However, it was only a matter of time until their tense ceasefire collapsed into all-out war. After Alpha’s devastating attack on the survivors, the settlements demand vengeance. Surprisingly, the person who killed Alpha for her vicious assault was none other than Negan, the former brutal leader of the Saviors. After escaping his imprisonment, Negan wanted to prove to Rick that he had changed his allegiance by killing Alpha. Of course, her death led to Alpha’s second-in-command, Beta, declaring a revenge war on the settlements. Beta and his Whisperers lead a walker horde unlike anything ever seen against the settlements. This shocking attack caused mass death and the destruction of the Hilltop settlement. “The Whisperer War” is an epic climax to the overarching Whisperer storyline, with great action and tension, and it served as a significant part of Negan’s redemption.

6) “Days Gone Bye”

The story that started it all, “Days Gone Bye” immediately drops Rick and the reader into the deep end of this post-apocalyptic world. After being shot and falling into a coma, Rick wakes up a few months later to find that walkers have taken over the Earth. Rick eventually runs into other survivors who would become important and fan-favorite characters like Glenn, Morgan, and Dale. Even more significantly, Rick reunites with his wife Lori, his son Carl, and his best friend Shane. However, tensions soon rise as Rick discovers that Lori and Shane were having an affair. “Days Gone Bye” is a great introductory story in which Rick and the readers piece together the gravity of the walker outbreak as hope for rescue continues to dwindle and interpersonal conflict puts people’s lives at risk. The ending especially is truly tragic as it shows how murdering the living is much harder than killing the undead.

5) “No Way Out”

For a time, the Alexandria settlement seemed like the safest place for Rick and his group and a haven where they could finally settle down. However, almost immediately after Rick is named the new leader of Alexandria, things go horribly wrong. A walker horde of hundreds manages to break its way through a section of Alexandria’s wall and begin pouring into the settlement. Once again, the survivors are in for the fight of their lives as they desperately try to evade the wave of walkers. And of course, not everyone gets out unscathed. Rick’s new love interest, Jennie, is eaten alive, and Carl gets shot in the eye. “No Way Out” is an intense and horrifying story as the walkers devour numerous people, and the main characters yet again lose what they believed to be their last bastion of safety. It’s also the best story where the threat of the walkers, and not humans, takes center stage.

4) “Fear the Hunters”

Few stories in The Walking Dead explored the sheer depths that some people are willing to go to survive like “Fear the Hunters.” After already beginning with a pair of shocking and disturbing deaths, Rick’s group is stalked by something far worse than walkers. Several of the main characters find themselves kidnapped by the Hunters. This terrifying group is made up of cannibals who kill and eat other people to survive. What makes the Hunters so chilling is that they aren’t over-the-top apex predators, but instead weak and desperate people whom the apocalypse has completely and realistically broken their humanity. Of course, that doesn’t stop Rick and his crew from showing the Hunters absolutely no mercy when they torture and slaughter these cannibals. The Walking Dead taps into the primal fear of how anyone can become a monster after the end of the world and the collapse of law and society. “Fear the Hunters” is among the best examples of this dark theme.

3) “Something to Fear”

In this absolutely chilling and graphic story, Rick’s group comes face to face with The Walking Dead’s most iconic and fearsome villain: Negan. “Something to Fear” starts with Rick and his fellow survivors hired by the settlement Hilltop to deal with a protection racket gang called the Saviors who had been terrorizing them. Having no idea what they’re up against, Rick’s ego gets the better of him, and he agrees to help Hilltop. When Rick’s group thinks that they have effortlessly taken down the Saviors, they realize with horror just how big this group really is. With over 200 heavily armed members, the Saviors are a terrifying force led by the charismatic and ruthless Negan. With his barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat named Lucille, Negan made an example of fan-favorite character Glenn by bashing his brains in. To this day, Glenn’s death remains one of the most sudden and shocking moments in the entire series, and Negan quickly established himself as The Walking Dead’s best villain.

2) “Made to Suffer”

While the Governor isn’t as popular as Negan, his role in the climactic “Made to Suffer” storyline definitely makes him an unforgettably vile villain and among the greatest threats to Rick’s group. After making a terrifying first impression, the Governor’s greed and lust for power lead him to declare war on Rick’s group and seek to conquer their prison settlement. The Governor is a true sociopath. No matter how many of his own people die, the Governor won’t rest until Rick and all of his friends are dead. Naturally, Rick does his best to lead his people against the villain and his army in a brutal conflict. At this point in the series, Rick’s group had never encountered a villain more powerful than the Governor. By the end of the bloody war, many beloved characters are either separated or dead. This was the storyline that cemented the fact that anyone could die in The Walking Dead.

1) “All Out War”

In this epic two-part story, after much planning and forming alliances with the Hilltop and Kingdom settlements, Rick and his group are ready to declare war on Negan and the Saviors. What follows is The Walking Dead’s most epic and brutal event as both sides strike devastating blows to each other. While at first the war goes in Rick’s favor, things soon devolve when the Saviors bomb Alexandria. Yet even as all hope seems lost, Rick’s rage and determination motivate the people of the settlements to fight for their freedom from the Saviors. Additionally, the story delves more into Negan’s personality and motivations, establishing him as a much more three-dimensional villain. “All Out War” is an action-packed and heart-pounding story that tragically sees many beloved characters like Holly, Denise, and Shiva die. Few other The Walking Dead stories have the scope, brutality, and character development of this vicious war for freedom and survival.

What do you think? Leave a Comment below and join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!

10 Spawn Stories That Rival Anything From Marvel and DC