The only group of fans more traumatised than people who watch The Walking Dead, are people who read The Walking Dead. Whilst the AMC series about a group of survivors making their way across a zombie-infested United States has become a ratings sensation in its so far five seasons (with a sixth and a spin-off to come), it might have an even bigger following in its original form. The Walking Dead comic written and created by TV show consultant Robert Kirkman and drawn by Charlie Adlard is a fair ways ahead of the story on TV, clocking in at over a hundred issues at this point. Bear in mind this is a monthly book, too, so whilst the series has been on screens for five years at this point? The comics have that beat by a good seven years on top of that. For the most part the adaptation has followed the source material fairly closely, and looking at where the comics have gone since give a good idea of what's to come next. But it may be less reliable than you think, since the TV show has made some significant changes to the original text over the years. Mostly it's in the form of people having even more violent and horrifying deaths which, considering some that appeared in this past season, is mighty impressive and plot twists even more shocking than you saw on screen. Those and some unconventional relationships figure into The Walking Dead's ten big differences between the comics and the show.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
