Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS for Invincible & The Walking Dead Comic Book Series!When one thinks ofThe Walking DeadorBreaking Bad, their minds will likely jump to the two hit AMC television series. However, long before either show hit the airwaves,The Walking Deadwas a comic book seriescreated by Robert Kirkman - the mastermind behind Invincible as well. The reason that’s significant is that, even in the comic book landscape,The Walking DeadandBreaking Badstill share a connection, though not necessarily a flattering one. Indeed, Kirkman has actually shared his criticism ofBreaking Bad, which directly correlates to how he chose to endThe Walking Dead(andInvincible).
In the letters column ofInvincible#143 (by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Otley), Robert Kirkman answers fan mail where he addresses the fact that character deaths at the end of series (comic book series or otherwise) have less of an impact on fans. That is the case because the series in question is already coming to an end, so, of course, some main characters are going to die. Plus, fans don’t have to experience the series without those characters, so their deaths aren’t really felt in-world as much as they would be if those same characters died much sooner.
In this case, a fan named Adam is referring to the deaths of a fewmain characters fromInvincible, who made it almost all the way to the end of the series before dying just a few issues from the end. Robert Kirkman agreed with Adam that these types of deaths don’t have that great of an impact, and he even used Breaking Bad as an example.
Robert Kirkman: I do agree with you, Adam, that when you know a series is ending… the character deaths have less impact. When watching Breaking Bad’s final season (spoilers), I expected Hank to die… so his death had no impact for me.
InBreaking Bad, Hank Schrader diedin the third-to-last episode of the series, and it happened just as Walter White’s life was crumbling around him. Plus, the situation Walt was put in was a ‘him or me’ scenario with Hank, and since Walt was the main character, Hank’s death should have come as no surprise. And, to Robert Kirkman, it didn’t come as a surprise, which is whyBreaking Badis the perfect example of how a character’s death late in the series has less of an impact on fans. However, Robert Kirkman found a way to avoid that, and actually make late character deaths impactful.
Robert Kirkman Makes Late-Death Characters Matter By Showing a World Without Them
In the final few issues ofInvincible, Nolan, Oliver, and Thragg are killed, which arguably has less of an impact than if they had been killed many issues prior. Kirkman admits that fans aren’t given enough time to mourn those characters, since what they’re really mourning is the ‘death’ of the series as a whole. However, that doesn’t mean these late-death characters aren’t impactful, as Kirkman found a way to make them matter: time-jump.
The final issue ofInvincible(issue #144) takes fans 500 years into the future, showing a world without Nolan, Oliver, or Thragg. By doing this, their absences can really be felt, giving fans both enough time to mourn them, and also wonder what the world would look like if they were there.
Robert Kirkman does the same thing withThe Walking Dead, as the final issue of that series (issue #193) took fans decades into the futurefrom where the series was in the previous issue. InThe Walking Dead#192, Rick Grimes is killed, which wouldn’t have been that impactful if the final issue simply took place the next day (or if the series ended with his death). But, like with Invincible,The Walking Deadallowed fans to take a look at the world without Rick, which makes his late-death actually matter.
Interestingly, theBreaking Baduniverse actually (unwittingly) took a page from Robert Kirkman’s book with the sequel/prequel television seriesBetter Call Saul. While the majority ofBetter Call Saultakes place before the events ofBreaking Bad, the last few episodes of the final season take place exclusively afterward. In those episodes, the impact of Hank’s death can actually be felt, and the fallout of Walter White’s actions seem to encapsulate the entire world. The late deaths inBreaking Badmay not have felt important inBreaking Badsince the series was ending, but they certainly became impactful inBetter Call Saul- right after a time-jump.
If The Walking Dead’s Creator Knew How Big It Would Be, He Would Have “Expanded” a Key Storyline
The Walking Dead’s creator, Robert Kirkman, admitted that if he knew how long the comic series would run for, he’d expand the story of one character.
But, regardless of what theBreaking Badfranchise did or didn’t do to make its late-death characters matter, the real takeaway is what Robert Kirkman did to ensure his late-death characters had an impact on readers - and his criticism ofBreaking Badonly makes the endings ofThe Walking Deadand Invincible make so much more sense.
The Walking Dead
The Walking Deadis a massive multimedia franchise that began with a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The franchise gained widespread popularity with the launch of the television seriesThe Walking Deadin 2010 on AMC, which chronicles the lives of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies, referred to as “walkers.” The success of the original show has led to numerous spin-offs, web series, video games, novels, and other media. The franchise explores themes of survival, human nature, and the breakdown of society in the face of an existential threat, making it one of the most successful and influential horror series of the 21st century.
