The Walking Dead Creator Robert Kirkman: "We Learn Rick's Final Fate" Next Issue

During Robert Kirkman's Reddit AMA today, a fan asked a question that they probably thought wouldn't be answered: What happens in the next issue of The Walking Dead? Well, Kirkman answered...and his answer? Kind of menacing. "We learn Rick's final fate," Kirkman said. There's been some question of late as to whether Rick Grimes might not live through the current "All-Out War" storyline. Kirkman has always said that no one is safe in the book, and the solicitations for the issues coming out right after the currently-ongoing major crossover story feature an entirely new group of survivors and "A new beginning." Of course, we noted at the time that while Negan and his invaders from outside the walls had begun coating their weapons with walker guts, they had done so after Dwight infiltrated Rick's group and it was unlikely Dwight had done so himself. That still leaves the matter of shooting an arrow through Rick's kidney in the middle of a battle in a world with not much in the way of decent medical care. In comics, "The final fate of..." often means not that the character has died but that they'll be written out in some way or dramatically altered. This time, though, it certainly takes on a menacing note.