Written by The Horror Czar

Robert Kirkman, the creator of the AMC series The Walking Dead, is an innovator. Not only did Kirkman create the hit show but the comic book series that spawned it has almost 100 issues with no sign of slowing down. Kirkman is now expanding the story with the first in a series of novels, ‘The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor’ that will take a close look at the villain Wizard Magazine voted ‘best villain of the year’. Kirkman made time to sit down with Best-Horror-Movies.com to talk about TWD, the new book and smashing the heads of the inflicted.

The Horror Czar, BHM
So Robert, everybody asks why zombies are so popular, and I imagine you are asked all the time. What do you love about the whole “zombie concept” and why is it taking off the way it is?

Kirkman
Well I mean, I think it’s important to note that with something like vampires and werewolves, they have a personality and they are characters in and of themselves, and so a lot of times the stories that deal with those kinds of monsters are actually, well, those monsters are the main characters and the story is pretty much completely about them. The thing that appeals to me about zombies is that you can’t ever really make the story just about them. Zombie stories are always about the human characters and how they survive the zombies and how they react to the things that the zombies are doing, and how they survive in a world overrun by zombies, so it kinda forces you to tell a story about humanity and survival and human characters and human drama, and that’s the reason that it appeals to me.

BHM
Yeah, and that was going to be the follow up to that question too – zombies have been done by lots of folks ever since George Romero brought the general concept of zombies that we all know and love today to fruition. But you have really taken it to the next level in terms of popularity and really injecting zombies into pop culture to a level that really hasn’t happened before. Why do you think that is… what ‘s different here?

Kirkman
Well, I don’t know… we’re really paying tribute to Romero in our own way, and everything definitely does come from him and those first three movies. Those movies definitely focused on the human characters, but I think taking a more long term approach to it is really the main difference. The idea behind The Walking Dead is that we are going to see these characters grow and evolve over time. You know, Rick… if you’re reading the comic book series Rick starts out as the guy as he is in the television show now, but as that series progresses we’re dealing with a very different Rick Grimes currently in the Walking Dead series because this world has affected him and changed his outlook on things, and changed the way he behaves, and radically altered him as a character. I think that’s the appeal of the walking dead is knowing that after 90 minutes the credits aren’t going to roll and you’ll never see these characters again. We’re going to be with these characters for years and years. The show seems to be doing well, we’re hoping to get a season three pick-up and you’re going to see these characters evolve. Even just getting 13 episodes of the second season, there has never been a zombie movie that has dealt with the characters for that long amount of time. I think it’s really cool.

BHM
I think the popularity illustrates that a lot of us think it’s really cool.

Kirkman
haha!

BHM
That brings up a good question – I think the series is the series, and a lot more people are aware of the walking dead and the characters and the saga since AMC picked it up, but the walking dead preceeds the series and the real question is will it continue on beyond the series?

Kirkman
Well, the future of the TV show right now is that season 2 is about to start and we know that Season 1 was successful and we have high hopes that season 2 will be just as successful, and if that’s the case we’ll move into season 3 and hopefully have a good long run. My main goal in life is to make sure that the walking dead television show lasts at least 20 seasons. I don’t think I’m asking too much there.

BHM
No! I think that’s perfect!

Kirkman
Beyond that, I want the comic book series to still be going after that 20th season and to keep on for years and years after that. I have no plans on ever quitting the comic book series until I feel that the story has been told. I have so many years and years of story planned for the comic series alone. It’s a big story – the idea is to follow a group of characters surviving in this world on a long term basis, and you can’t do a long term basis unless it goes on for years and years. I could see the thing going on for next couple decades. I know that sounds ambitious, but I am almost to issue 100 and I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I want to do with these characters, so I think it could go on for a while.

BHM
In that same vein you are branching out with the novel The Rise of the Governor, the Governor being voted the best villain of the decade or the year or something.

Kirkman
Let’s just say the centrury. That’s safe.

BHM
Ha ha! – So what are you trying to do with the novel?

Kirkman
I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing Walking Dead novels for a while, but I like the idea that the story is pretty much self contained in the comic book series and I never want to be that guy that’s like “oh, there’s an important piece of the story in this novel that you absolutely have to buy or you’re going to be lost in the comic book”. That just doesn’t seem like fair play to me. But there are a lot of back-story and important things in the past that I’ve just kind of glossed over in the comic book series that aren’t necessarily 100% integral to understanding the overall comic book story but are really cool and really important, and would be really cool for people to see. I’m very against doing large flash-backs in the comic book series because I’m all about moving forward in telling the story and see where these characters go. But with The Governor in particular, you don’t really know a lot about that guy and he’s a really important character for a really long time in the comic book series. You don’t really know where he came from or how he got to be the way he was. I thought the novel would be a great way of really diving into that and explaining that story.

BHM
Are there other characters that you have in mind for novels?

Kirkman
There are definitely a lot of things here and there that I would like to pick up in a novel, and there will definitely be more novels based on different things in The Walking Dead Universe. I wouldn’t want to give away just what yet, that’d be revealing too much.

BHM
But I have to ask, right?

Kirkman
Yeah, good try man. Good effort.

BHM
One thing we did at Best-horror-movies.com is reach out to our readership and let them know that we were going to talk to you today to see what kinds of questions they might have for you. We got hundreds of questions, but there are a couple of them I’d like to share with you and see what you think.

Kirkman
Yeah man, go for it.

BHM
Okay – Jennifer in the U.S. asked “Have you ever based characters in The Walking Dead off of real people in your life, and if so did you let your feelings about the real person affect the plot line?” Kind of ‘revenge’ in the comic.

Kirkman
That is very tempting. No, I’ve never really done that. There are different personality traits and, uh… I don’t want to get too specific… but there are definitely different aspects of different characters, different people that I’ve know who have made it into the Walking Dead series. Well, look, the Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso is a big fan of The Walking Dead comic book series, and when I just happened to coincidentially have a character in the books named "Axel", Axel Alonso has this personality tic where he says “you follow me” a lot. He’ll be like “oh we’re gonna do this new book, it’s gonna be about Spider Man, he’s gonna be doing this, ‘you follow me?’ So what we’re gonna be doing is that and then this things gonna happen, ‘you follow me?’” I always thought that was a really endearing thing that’s kind of funny, so I put that into the Axel character in The Walking Dead. That’s why he’s always ending a lot of the things he says with ‘ya follow me’ for pretty much no reason at all. So, things like that, from time to time, but there’s never been a direct ‘this guy is a person in my life and now I can torture him’, but that is a good idea.

BHM
Yeah, make me mad you’re gonna die. You’re dinner.

Kirkman
Haha!

BHM
One other question – this one came in several times in varying forms but the basis is – With the story in The Walking Dead being ongoing, how do you keep the storyline and the characters fresh?

Kirkman
It’s really just a matter of planning. I’m always trying to come up with the next.. well, the whole book is a series of arcs. So there’s the main arc which is ‘these characters surviving for years and years’. That’s the all encompassing story arc that runs over the series. And then there’s things like ‘Living near Atlanta’, that’s an arc that runs for a while. And living in the prison, that’s an arc that lasts for a while. There’s being on the road, getting to the community, living in Alexandria in that walled-in community, these are all rough story outlines that I have planned out. I have 6 or 7 of those already planned out, so I know they’re going to do this for a while and they’re going to do that for a while, and inside of that there has to be more smaller stories to keep things interesting. It’s always really about moving forward and making sure that the characters are always working toward something and doing things that are interesting. So, as far as keeping things going for years and years it’s really just a matter of planning really far ahead so you always know where you’re going and you’re never really ever meandering story-wise wondering ‘okay, what are they going to do next’ because that’s when stories really start to fall apart.

BHM
Absolutely. Robert, one final question, kind of a bonus question. A lot of people are interested in what’s going on with The Walking Dead, but a lot of the questions revolved around zombies specifically, and one of them was funny. If you’re loved ones all became zombies, would you be able to smash their heads in yourself, or would you succumb to the horror and join the zombie army?

Kirkman
Haha! – well, sometimes I want to smash my family’s heads in even when they’re not zombies. No, that’s a horrible answer. I don’t know, I’m a sissy. I hate it when people try to act cool and think about how they would survive in this world and what they’d do, like “oh I’m gonna go get a chainsaw” and stuff like that. I’m completely the opposite. I would be huddled in a corner bawling my eyes out every minute of every day if I were to exist in this world, so I really don’t think I could smash my family’s heads in in the became zombies and I’d probably just be eaten.

BHM
Well, I’m sure your family is happy to hear that. Robert, thank you so much. If we could have had 5 hours to talk we would not have run out of things that we’d love to hear from you. Thank you for doing what you do. You’re right in the thick of putting out some really great stuff, and keep it up. We hope you keep going and going because we’re on the edge of our seats waiting for what you’re going to put out next.

Kirkman
Well thanks man, it was a lot of fun!

Robert Kirkman Interview Podcast:

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