Does Negan Die In ‘The Walking Dead’ Comics?

With The Walking Dead‘s All Out War story set to conclude with Sunday’s Season Eight finale, fans of the AMC show are curious about what happens to Negan in Robert Kirkman’s comic book source material.

In the final issue of The Walking Dead‘s 12-issue All Out War arc, Rick and Negan finally come face to face in a battle which will settle their differences once and for all. Their respective armies look on as they duke it out. Rick suffers a broken leg but ends up getting the upper hand and holding a knife to Negan’s throat. Rather than killing him, Rick cuts the villain’s throat just enough to debilitate him.

Rather than killing Negan, Rick makes the Savior leader a prisoner.

In the years after Negan and Rick’s war, the leader of Alexandria has been crippled by his leg injury. Years later, when a new villainous group the Whisperers pose more of a threat to Alexandria’s safety than Negan ever did, Rick has no choice but to take advice from the former villain when he sees no way to get his community behind him.

Eventually, Negan decides he wants to earn Rick’s trust. He escapes his jail cell and kills the leader of the Whisperers in one of the series’ more shocking moments. After handing Alpha’s head to Rick, he is allowed to join Dwight’s group as they take on a batch of Whisperers during the Whisperer War. His precious Lucille is broken during the battle, prompting him to realize how silly it was to carry a baseball bat named after his late wife was, and ultimately opens up to Rick Grimes while the community is overrun by zombies.

In fact, the relationship has grown quite tremendously between Rick and Negan. In an issue which followed the Whisperer War, Negan is killing zombies having recently saved Rick’s life as Rick goes as far as laying down cover fire for him. In Negan’s words… “Holy s—, Rick! Can you believe it? We’re working together!”

Currently, with the New World Order arc being printed, Negan is wandering the world of The Walking Dead, having been banished from the Alexandria community. Despite saving Rick’s life and proving himself loyal to the community, Rick could not allow him to be a part of their community as characters like Maggie could never get past his previous crimes.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. Fear the Walking Dead will debut its fourth season after The Walking Dead concludes its eighth, at 10 pm ET on April 15. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.