It's hard to imagine The Walking Dead creator, Robert Kirkman, receiving any kind of disapproval of his beloved comic books that started the whole AMC series off, but it seems as though even he isn't immune to criticism, but it probably stings a little more when it comes from a colleague like legendary artist Erik Larsen.
Created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore in 2003, The Walking Dead comic series featured numerous deaths and different fates for characters from the popular television series of the same name. Even so, the main premise was largely the same as it followed Sheriff Rick Grimes, who wakes up from a coma only to find he has been placed smack bang in the middle of a horrifying zombie apocalypse. After finally finding safety in other survivors, like his son Carl, Shane, Daryl, and Carol, he then becomes their leader as he takes them on a dangerous road of survival, which sees a lot of tragic events unfold. It goes without saying that The Walking Dead was one of the most successful zombie comics ever made, which helped revitalize the genre more than ever before, inspiring a host of different successful TV shows in its wake. However, Kirkman remembers one artist who called him out for the specific way he styled his comics.
The Walking Dead Creator Was Called Out by Erik Larsen for His Comic Book Page Turns
As reported by ScreenRant, Robert Kirkman wrote in The Walking Dead Deluxe #110 that artist Erik Larsen criticized him for his most popular comic book feature: his page turns. “Larsen always criticizes my page turns,” Kirkman penned. However, Kirtkman reveals that despite Larsen not really appreciating them, he noted that the reason he styles his strips the way he does is because he enjoys the "set-up and knock-down structure."
Big page-turn moment. Erik Larsen always criticizes my page turns, as I often put something at the end of the page before. A character seeing something the reader doesn’t, like Kal on page 7. I get what he’s saying, and I don’t do it every single time, but I do like a set-up and knock-down structure to my page turns. I feel like it gives the page turn more “oomph,” while Larsen feels like it gives the page turn itself less impact as you’ve told the reader it’s coming. Eh…he’s probably right.
Although Kirkman revealed that Larsen could be correct in his harsh complaint about his page-turning moments, it's what sets The Walking Dead apart from other comics and offers a unique approach for the reader, where they want to find out what happens next or what a character's perspective of a situation could be. In 1992, Larsen launched his superhero series, Savage Dragon, which was one of the longest-running creator-owned superhero comics series, and served for several years as the company's publisher.
Whatever Larsen's thoughts on Kirkman's style might be, it's clear that Kirkman could weave incredible narratives. Recently, fans found out that Kirkman named one of the show's most brutal villains after a boy from his old high school in Kentucky who was a huge bully. This made an early impression on Kirkman, and since then, the comic book writer explained that he would never name a good character, Philip.
As for The Walking Dead's spin-off, The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 will be released on May 4, 2025, with Daryl Dixon season 3 arriving on AMC and AMC+ in Fall 2025.
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