Notһіng Sрeсіаl About It: How а Lіttle Lіe Helрed Tһe Wаlkіng Deаd Beсome аn Instаnt Clаssіс

One of the biggest names in zombie media is The Walking Dead, but that almost wasn't the case. There was a time when zombies were massively played out, so studios and publishers weren't interested in taking the risk on them. That's why, to get his story off the ground, The Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman decided to tell a little white lie to get Image Comics to give his comic book idea a chance to shine.

Kirkman sat down with IGN and gave an interview about how exactly he got Image to pick up his zombie comic at a time when everyone was tired of zombies as a trope and a genre. The short and simple answer is that he lied to his publishers to get his idea off the ground.

The Image higher-ups wanted Kirkman to include a beat about aliens to keep readers interested in the zombie story, and Kirkman agreed - a "fib" he told only to get his green light. Thankfully, the team at Image immediately understood, after reading the first issue, that aliens would have ruined the story. As Kirkman recalls:

And then when it came out, Eric Stephenson was reading the first issue, and he said, "So I read the issue, and it was really cool, but I didn't see any hints to what the alien invasion stuff is. Did you hint anything about that? Was there something I didn't notice? What's going on?" And I said, "Oh well, I gotta be honest with you…that stuff's not going to happen. I was kind of fibbing a little bit, and I really just want to do a straight zombie book." And at this point, the book was being pretty well received and there was a lot of buzz about it. So Eric wrote back something like, "Well that's good, because I was kind of reading the book thinking, hey he might ruin this by putting aliens in it."

Robert Kirkman Originally Lied About What The Walking Dead Was About

He Promised Aliens - That Were Never Going to Show Up

As Kirkman explains, when he tried to pitch the idea to the heads of Image Comics at the time, they didn't think his idea had enough meat to it. The idea of a years-long comic about a group of people living in a world overrun with zombies isn't exactly new. That's pretty much the basic element of any standard zombie story. It makes sense that Image didn't see any initial value in this story, but Kirkman knew that The Walking Dead would be different and that he had the talent to make a basic premise into something extraordinary.

When the heads of Image expressed concern over the premise not being enough to engage readers, Kirkman simply lied and stated that the zombies weren't the real draw. Kirkman quickly spun a bald-faced lie about how the zombies were part of an infection used by aliens to weaken humanity enough for them to invade. Kirkman claimed that, eventually, the aliens would be revealed as the true antagonists and the remaining survivors would have to put aside their differences and fight together to bring down the extraterrestrial menace. This idea won over Image Comics, and the publisher immediately green-lit the comic.

There Were Never Going To Be Any Aliens in The Walking Dead

And Image Comics Agreed That Was the Right Move

Most people would be pretty annoyed when they discover that they've been lied to, but not the publishers at Image Comics. After the comic went into production and was released to the public, The Walking Dead was pretty well received, with people stating that its focus on the human characters and their stories over the visceral gore of the setting was a breath of fresh air. In a conversation with Eric Stephenson, one of the Image heads - as Kirkman recalled - Stephenson noted the absence of any hint of the alien menace.

That's when Kirkman knew it was time to come clean, and thankfully, Stephenson agreed that his lie was for the best. Kirkman admitted that he never intended to introduce aliens into The Walking Dead and just wanted to tell a straight zombie story. Stephenson actually agreed, saying that after he read the first issue, he was actually worried that Kirkman was going to screw up the entire story and ruin a good thing by introducing aliens. But this little white lie wouldn't die there, as Kirkman did re-visit the alien idea a few years later, much to the confusion of his fans.

While the comic marched on for years without so much of a hint about alien involvement, that all changed in The Walking Dead #75 by Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn, and Rus Wooton. This issue ends with the Governor, a former villain who was thought dead, returning with full cybernetic upgrades. He then brutally murders Michonne and demands that Rick surrender to the alien overlords who were responsible for unleashing the zombies. This ending was meant to be an April Fools' joke, but many fans took it seriously and absolutely could not believe what they were seeing.

Rick Grimes Eventually Did Go Up Against Kirkman's Aliens

Rick Grimes 2000 By Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Dave McCaig, and Rus Wooton

For whatever bizarre reason, Kirkman decided to explore this April Fools' joke further, transforming it into a full non-canon spin-off known as Rick Grimes 2000. This series follows the shocking alien reveal from The Walking Dead #75. It turns out that the aliens didn't want to conquer the Earth, but that they used water as a currency, making Earth incredibly valuable. The aliens simply had to get rid of all the humans to harvest the water freely, leading to Rick joining the resistance and battling against Negan, who can apparently control zombies now using Lucille.

In this off-the-wall story, Alpha and Beta can transform into a giant colossal zombie by kissing and fusing with the surrounding zombies. It's a bizarre series, but one shouldn't expect anything less from a comic where Rick Grimes uses a lightsaber to battle a cybernetic Governor. It was a truly wild twist and shows that Kirkman was really just having fun with the absurdity of the premise - which is why it's so amusing that the Image Comics publisher originally thought they were signing on for this particular kind of alien premise.

The Walking Dead Was Almost a Wild Sci-Fi Adventure

Thankfully, Kirkman Was Just Telling a Clever Lie

Getting a new creative idea off the ground is tricky, and sometimes rules need to be broken. While it's not exactly the best thing that Kirkman lied to Image Comics to get his comic approved, it certainly doesn't seem like anyone is mad about it. Sometimes rules have to be broken to get something truly good off the ground. The Terminator by James Cameron, for example, is regarded as one of the greatest science fiction movies ever made, and some of it is shot at night because it was filmed illegally, as Cameron didn't have filming permits.

Kirkman has been one of Image Comics' greatest creators, providing the publisher with massive hits such as Invincible and The Walking Dead. If Kirkman had to tell a little lie to get one of the biggest indie comics off the ground, no one was truly going to blame him. The very people he lied to even admitted that it was the right move, as the aliens could have ruined the fantastic story he was telling. That's why, while it's usually not a good idea to lie to one's boss, it was certainly the right move in the case of The Walking Dead.