Always one of the hottest panels, today’s Walking Dead panel at SDCC featured the most shocking, most surprising, most spoiler-worthy news so far: original series star Rick Grimes will die. Robert Kirkman, ordinarily one of the industry’s most soft-spoken creators took an unusually self-indulgent turn this weekend while promoting an upcoming storyline for the Walking Dead.
“Yeah, Rick’s going to die. Probably pretty soon. You’ve been ready for it.”
It's the end of the line for yet another of Kirkman's cannon fodder.
This news comes amidst a flurry of fan commotion over the recent deaths of Steve, Nina, Barney, Larry, Abraham, tiny Asian, Ianto, Heather, Ferris, Ferris’s sister before she got the nose job, Tom, Dick, Harley, Joey, Ross, Chandler, Bea Arthur, Phoebe, Eloise at the Plaza, Lori and her newborn child, Chris, Chef, Marty, Marvel, Glimmer, Cato, Clove, Foxface, Thresh, Rue, Christian Grey, PAtricia, Abraham again, the lesbian, Tater Salad, Tyreese, the Governor, the Deputy Govenor, Anna, Fanna, Fo-fanna, Tina, Dr. House, Thomas and Martha Wayne, that racist with all the hang-ups, Linda, Sylvester, Jesus, JFK, RFK, Steve Geppi, Dale, Carol, Peter, Voldemort, Rudolph, that guy that looked like Abraham, Jeff, Rick’s twin brother who knocked him out and impersonated him for 6 issues before anyone noticed, Charlie, Linus, Lucy, Dwayne, Steve-O, Theo, Mac, Betty, Aiden, Kaiden, Daiden, Faiden, Jayden, Joshua James, Kal-El, Jana Marie, John David, Jill Michelle, Jessa Lauren, Jinger Nicole, Joseph Garrett, Josiah Matthew, Joy Anna, Jedediah Robert, Jeremiah Robert, Jason Michael, big Asian, James Andrew, Justin Samuel, Richard Caldwell, Jackson Levi, Shane, Johannah Faith, Jennifer Danielle, Donna, Jordyn Grace Makiya, Izzy, Billy, Ben, the other Billy, Billy Elliot, the Burglar, the Hamburglar, and Glen.
“It’s really hit hard because it’s a [expletive deleted] comic [expletive deleted] book and it’s about [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] zombies. The whole [expletive deleted] point of [expletive deleted] mother [expletive deleted] zombies is that the [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] come the [expletive deleted] back to [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] life. That’s like two [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] reasons why these [expletive deleted] characters shouldn’t be dead is dead dead, and yet they are,” said foul-mouthed collector Trevor Franklin.
Artist Tony Moore has petitioned the court for an injunction to prevent the massacre of Rick, a character which he drew a few times back when the book was still just a 28 Days Later spinoff and believes he co-owns. Moore claims that the murder is merely a clever ruse to limit the potential income to which he would be entitled if he is held to be a co-owner of the property in court.
“He’s killed all the other characters from my issues. Once Rick is dead, no more big dollar checks for me, and that means no more mac and cheese feasts at chez Moore,” said Moore. “It’ll be back to Kraft singles over warm spaghetti.”
Others believe the decision to kill Rick is storyline driven, not an attempt to minimize potential lawsuit damages. “I’ve known Kirkie since he was a nobody. He’s just not that smart,” said Image publisher Eric Stephenson.
