The Walking Dead: 7 Scenes That Were Too Extreme For TV
3. Thomas Richards Rampage (Vol. #3: Safety Behind Bars)
Ready to return to the world of all things awful?
In Safety Behind Bars, the inaccurately titled third story arc, the reader is introduced to West Georgia Correctional Facilitys last four remaining residents: Dexter, Andrew, Axel, and Thomas Richards.
Rick and his merry band of post-apocalyptic survivors approach the four former inmates with increasing suspicion, though both groups reach an agreement to split the prison and its supplies.
Of the four inmates, Thomas Richards is the only person who had been imprisoned for non-violent crimes, or so it was believed. His calm, passive demeanor allowed him to stalk the prison relatively unnoticed. With a few kind words, Thomas ingratiated himself with the survivors and separated himself from the other inmates very quickly.
Thomas was so good at playing the role of a meek white-collar criminal that he was able to effortlessly abduct and murder the Greene twins. His bloodlust continued with an attempt on Andrea's life, though she was able to get away with superficial wounds to the cheek and ear.
Thomas spree ended when Rick Grimes caught him in mid-pursuit of Andrea. Rick bloodied and battered Thomas, severely breaking his right hand in the process. The other survivors marveled at this showing of unrestrained brutality by one of their own, the first real incident of its kind.
Though Thomas was only around for about seven issues, the ramifications of his rampage were felt far into the eighth story arc, Made to Suffer. When it was time to decide what should be done with Thomas, the group split on the issue of punishment. Ultimately, it was Rick that declared the prison a dictatorship with only one rule: you kill, you die.
The survivors had seen their fair share of violence and horror before, but theyd never been hit in a safe place like that, and theyd never experienced the kind of evil that only a human can inflict. Thomas rampage portended the future of the franchise; the real horror isnt zombies, its other people.