(CBR) The masterminds behind Image Comics‘ hit “The Walking Dead,” Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, discuss the past, present and future of their zombie-riddled world at New York Comic Con 2013. The duo tackle the reason why the television version of “Walking Dead” is perfect for a spinoff while the comic will never see one, the differences between the series two major villains so far and why they haven’t introduced Daryl Dixon to the comic.
Kirkman on the differences between Negan and The Governor: The Governor to me was more of a villain. Negan is more relatable to me. I feel like Negan is a character that, like, to a certain extent you can kind of get behind them, y’know? You’re like, “Oh, that guy has been saying things that make sense, I guess. That guy seems very reasonable.” And then the next thing you know, he’s beating someone to death … he’s a very weird character. I like that in this storyline we’re getting into him a little more, and we’ll learn more about him. He’s not necessarily like this really evil guy, and he’s not driven by ego as much as the governor was. So there’s some really fundamental differences here. And I think he’s vastly more dangerous than the governor, which people will see.
Kirkman on why a “Walking Dead” spinoff makes sense for TV but not comics: I think that television is a medium that really supports spinoffs. I think that you’ve seen many popular shows branch out, and it works. And I feel like comics, it can detract a little bit more. Y’know, you see a lot of comics that get popular, and then spin off into other comics — everything outside of X-Men — y’know, it gets really difficult to maintain the excitement of the original thing, and I don’t really want to diminish the comic books in any way. But that said, I’m working on the spinoff now on the TV side, and I think there’s going to be some really cool stuff coming out of that. I think it’s going to be awesome. I like it in TV, it really doesn’t work for me in comics.
Kirkman on why we haven’t seen Daryl in the comics: I like the idea of each version of “The Walking Dead” offering something unique. I think it’s really cool that the Telltale video games offer you this very all-encompassing “Walking Dead” experience that can stand on its own. And I like that the comic and the show have really cool differences. And I think it’s cool that when you want to find out about Daryl Dixon, and you want to know more about that guy, the TV show is the place to go. It would just be strange for me to shoehorn a new character that was created for the show into the comic. I toyed around with the idea for a while but it never really seemed to fit, and I think that having those differences is kind of cool. It makes “The Walking Dead” this tapestry that’s fun to enjoy in all these difference mediums.