The Walking Dead’s Rick Grimes and Negan return in new covers revealed for Skybound X, a five-issue limited comic book series celebrating the publisher’s tenth anniversary. Each oversized issue of the previously announced anthology event series features a chapter of Rick Grimes 2000, a new serialized Walking Dead story reuniting creator Robert Kirkman and Invincible artist Ryan Ottley. Rick Grimes 2000 is Kirkman’s first Walking Dead story since reuniting with artist Charlie Adlard for the one-shot spin-off issue Negan Lives #1, published in July 2020, which came one year after Kirkman unexpectedly ended his long-running zombie saga after 193 issues in July 2019.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Rick Grimes 2000 continues a story from the pages of the 2010 anniversary issue The Walking Dead #75, which ends with a non-canon bonus story revealing an alien invasion as the cause of the zombie outbreak. In this futuristic setting, where Rick’s missing hand is replaced by a cybernetic prosthetic, a laser sword-wielding Michonne is killed by a cyborg Governor in a seven-page “what if” story that ends with “not to be continued!“
Ten years later, the story continues in Rick Grimes 2000. New covers for Skybound X revealed during Skybound Xpo 2021 on Friday offer a peek at the first comic book to tell a Rick Grimes story since — spoilers — the character’s death in The Walking Dead #192 in 2019.
View this post on Instagram
Skybound X #1, releasing in July, also marks the first comic book appearance of Clementine, the fan-favorite zombie apocalypse survivor from Telltale’s The Walking Dead video game series.
Boasting a roster that includes creators Kirkman, Ottley, Tillie Waldon, Donny Cates, Joshua Williamson, Chip Zdarsky, James Harren, and Daniel Warren Johnson, Skybound X will feature new stories from the worlds of Assassin Nation, Excellence, and Manifest Destiny as creators “contribute stories from the best Skybound series past, present, and future.”
“Did you REALLY think we would let Skybound’s ten-year anniversary pass us by without bringing back some of our favorite characters?” Kirkman, the co-founder of Skybound Entertainment, said when announcing Skybound X in April. “We are forever thankful for our community’s support over the past decade and are honored to share this special series with the larger Skybound family. None of these characters have such monumental journeys without the fans, so SKYBOUND X is for all of you!”
Celebrate a sensational 10 years of Skybound with a cavalcade of your favorite creators and all-new stories of your favorite series past, present, and future! Each issue of this oversized, weekly series will kick off with a new chapter of a serialized THE WALKING DEAD story—RICK GRIMES 2000—by ROBERT KIRKMAN & RYAN OTTLEY! In addition, we’ll be debuting all-new series and characters every issue, starting with the first appearance of the most requested WALKING DEAD character of all-time: Clementine, star of the bestselling Telltale’s The Walking Dead video game series! Did we mention new ULTRAMEGA and MANIFEST DESTINY stories?! If you want to know what to expect in Skybound’s next 10 years, it all starts here!
Skybound X #1 is available at comic book shops and digital platforms starting Wednesday, July 7.
