The Walking Dead #192 Rushed Back To Print With Memorial Cover

The Walking Dead‘s game-changer issue #192 is headed straight back to the printer with a commemorative cover being offered this time aroud. Image Comics and Skybound Entertainment announced on Wednesday that writer Robert Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard’s book is being “rushed back to print in order to keep up with overwhelming customer demand for this event issue.” The issue followed a shocking cliffhanger from its preceding book which saw Rick Grimes being shot in the chest, presumably about to die.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead issue #192 follow. Major spoilers!

Wednesday’s new issue of The Walking Dead turned out to be the last for Rick Grimes. Sebastian Milton shot him and that was it for the leader of the post-apocalyptic revolutions. “Rick’s death was planned longer than any death in this series,” series writer and creator Robert Kirkman said in the Letter Hacks section of issue #192. “I’ve been working toward this since I started writing… issue #1. It doesn’t make it any easier, but it’s been something I’ve been getting more and more used to as the years got down to months and then weeks… I knew it was coming.”

Now, the commemorative cover dedicated to the death of Rick Grimes comes complete with a spoiler revealing the character’s fate…

The re-release of The Walking Dead issue #192 is slated for the same day is issue #193 which is July 3.

As it turns out, Kirkman claims he knew that this new character would be responsible for Rick’s death for years. “Even before we introduced Sebastian Miltion (in issue #177) I knew he was the one who would kill Rick Grimes. For almost a decade now I knew Rick would choose to preserve the Commonwealth no matter the cost… and it would cost him his life,” the writer says. “I’ve said in interview for many, many years that everyone dies in this story, and that even Rick Grimes won’t survive until the end. While this was always Rick’s story thus far, as written about in the first issue, that doesn’t mean he needs to be alive to be a presence in the series. This is the story of a world profoundly affected by that man, as we’ll see starting next issue… but it isn’t exclusively Rick’s story.”

Preparing for the backlash, Kirkman acknowledged that fans will likely be angered by Rick’s death — and he is embracing it. “I can only imagine how upset some of you are, and that’s fine, really,” Kirkman said. “By all means, be angry with me (or really, direct it all at Charlie [Adlard], or Sean [Mackiewicz] if you like). I’m upset when my favorite characters die in things I enjoy.”

What do you think of Robert Kirkman’s decision to kill Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead comics? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram and Twitter.

The Walking Dead issue #192 is available now in comic book stores. The Walking Dead TV series returns for its tenth season in October. Fear the walking Dead airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC.