Negan is Coming: The Walking Dead Counts the Days

Well, we’ve waited quite a while now, knowing the moment was imminent, and it’s here come Sunday. AMC will welcome Negan into the mix of things, standing, of course, opposite Rick Grimes and the survivors with which he’s now trekked for years. For those who haven’t been reading the graphic novel or monthly comic releases, Negan is the bad guy of bad guys. He’s a savage, making the Governor look like a sissy and pushing Rick to the absolute brink. He’s memorable, to say the least, and although we won’t get one of his trademarks – the ludicrously foul language – thanks to the limitations of cable television, Walking Dead fans are going to remember the man for years to come.

And that’s why we wanted to – in a weird little way – celebrate the villainous chap who is Negan and his highly anticipated arrival. The show is about to take a radical turn. Things will not be the same after this season, you can bet on that. And we’ve got Negan to thank for it. We’re honoring Negan with a breakdown of a couple key issues from the ongoing Image comic, The Walking Dead.

Issue #100

Where the Story Falls Relative to the Live Action Show: This is where we’re at in the show, which is the obvious reason for choosing this particular issue as a launch point. Come Sunday night we’ll more than likely witness the brutal reality in Glenn’s immediate future. We may not know exactly who falls to Negan if the rumors are true (apparently there’s some footage of a POV shot that indicates we won’t know precisely who dies until season seven gets underway; I haven’t looked into those rumors because, well, I’d rather be surprised!), but someone we love is going to die this coming weekend, just as someone we love bit the big one in issue #100.

Key Detail of the Book: Negan and his gang ambush Rick and the group while traveling at night. Negan isn’t happy about losing so many men to Rick and his gang, so he makes an enormous statement by bashing Glenn’s brains in.

Verdict: A shocking issue and a genuinely sad moment for comic history, issue #100 will forever be recognized as one of the most important moments from this popular story.

Any time you take out a long running story’s key characters you flirt with disaster. How will the fans respond to this? Where do we go from here? What do we introduce to the story that will distract viewers long enough to mourn the loss?

It’s dangerous territory, but Robert Kirkman took us there. Murdering Glenn, an established favorite, could have easily backfired on the gang behind this one. But it didn’t happen, because we got the official debut of Negan, who, for the next 20 or so issues would torment our rugged survivors.

We’ll bring you some more TWD talk tomorrow. For now, be well and beware the walkers.