SPOILERS for The Walking Dead Comics, Knowledge of Which May Result in Multiple Spoilers for The Walking Dead TV Series
Issue #169 of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic has arrived, and it largely deals in the aftermath of The Whisperer War, as well as the death of Andrea (in the comics, Andrea is more closely associated with Michonne in the TV series, which suggests Michonne could die on The Walking Dead three to four seasons from now). Rick is grieving; Carl is grieving; and Negan — who is now an adversarial ally to Rick — is finally kicked out of Alexandria. The issue largely sets up another potentially long-running storyline, and perhaps another location far away from Alexandria (potentially in Ohio).
However, there is one particularly noteworthy development in Issue #169: Jesus finally lands a boyfriend. It’s a familiar character to fans of The Walking Dead TV series, too.
As comic readers know, Eric is killed by a Savior in the All Out War, which will take place on the TV series in the upcoming season. That leaves Eric’s boyfriend, Aaron, single. After a time jump and an appropriate amount of grieving, an attraction builds between Jesus and Aaron until finally, the two couple up. The revelation comes as something of a surprise to Rick, who asks Aaron to journey to Ohio to meet another group of people.
Not only have Jesus and Aaron hooked up, but they’re totally planning to start an entire life together. That’s fantastic.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that this will happen on the television series. Characters are combined and rewritten all the time (in fact, there were rumors a few seasons ago that Jesus’ role would be absorbed by Aaron’s character), but this relationship feels right. It’s also great news for Ross Marquand, who plays Aaron. He’s a regular on The Walking Dead, but his role on the television series has been severely limited in recent seasons, so much so that he often doesn’t appear on the show for long stretches of time. Should this storyline be adapted into the TV series, it will at least mean that Marquand will have a steady gig on the AMC series for another few seasons. This occurs in Issue #169, and the television series is coming up on issue #115. If the series maintains its current pace (around 15-16 issues per season), this wouldn’t happen until the 11th or 12th season of The Walking Dead.
A lot can happen on the show between now and 2021, but I am guessing that the series will still be running strong, ratings-wise, well into the next decade. Indeed, The Walking Dead may run forever. In the meantime, while Ross Marquand is waiting around for this development to occur on the series, he can continue working on his brilliant micro-impressions.
(Via Image Comics)
