The Walking Dead Artist Shares Christmas Art of Carl’s Family

The Walking Dead ended abruptly earlier this year. Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard published a surprise final issue in the form of #193. The issue jumped ahead in time many years beyond the death of Rick Grimes and showed the fate of those who survived him. Among those character was his son Carl Grimes (a strong deviation from the TV series). Carl and Sophia (another deviation from the TV series) would form a family together and have a daughter by the name of Andrea, in honor of Carl’s adoptive and awesome mother Andrea (yes, you guessed it, another change). Now, The Walking Dead comic artist Adlard has shared art work imagining Christmas with the surviving Grimes family.

In the image from Adlard, Carl stands near a snowman as a grown man holding his daughter Andrea in his arms. Sophia is latched on, dressed similarly to how Andrea dressed prior to her passing during the Whisperer story. It’s a touching little extension to the story which The Walking Dead abruptly concluded, leaving many fans hoping for more from the characters Kirkman had built for more than 15 years.

Fittingly, Adlard shared the photo with “Here’s to new beginnings in 2020,” as his long-running work on The Walking Dead wrapped up this decade.

Check out Adlard’s art and tweet, putting The Walking Dead‘s ending into the Christmas spirit, below.

Kirkman apparently ended the book because he wanted to go out on his own terms, shocking fans by dropping the final issue in July without any prior announcement until they turned to the last page. “It breaks my heart that I had to end it, and we have to move on… but I just love this world too much to stretch things out until it doesn’t live up to what I want it to be,” Kirkman wrote in a goodbye letter ending the long-running comic book’s final issue. “I got to tell my story exactly how I wanted to, for 193 issues, and end it on my terms, with no interference at all along the way… at any point. That’s such a rare thing, and it doesn’t exist without the unyielding support this series got from readers like you.”

What did you think of The Walking Dead‘s ending? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram and Twitter.