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Summary
Robert Kirkman , Maker ofThe Walking Dead , acknowledged that the hard decision Rick Grimes was forced to make – as he sought to keep himself and his loved ones alive following the zombie outbreak – made him a more difficult character to " steady down for " as the story progressed . However , Kirkman stressed that it was important to label his supporter in the proper linguistic context of a sulfurous combat for survival of the fittest .
In the letters Thomas Nelson Page toThe walk Dead#87 – reprint as part ofTheWalking Dead Deluxefull - gloss reissueof the comic – Kirkman defend Rick against a buff ’s splanchnic chemical reaction to the events of an earlier yield .
Though he include Rick ’s actions were brute , he disputed that they were unforgivable . The serial publication ' Divine noted thatwhy Rick did the things he did had to be shoot into chronicle when being critical of his actions , say : " you really have to consider what he ’s been through , from day one , and that ’s tough . "
Robert Kirkman ’s determination to keep Negan active , and give him some manner of repurchase arc , is one of the most polar in the walk Dead serial publication .
The emotional gutpunch of [ Jessie and Ron ’s death inThe Walking Dead#83 ] – and the moral tortuousness of the moment for Rick Grimes – was exactly what Robert Kirkman wanted when he wrote the scene … and the fan letter inWalking Dead#87 try how effective it was .
Robert Kirkman’s “Favorite Thing” About The Walking Dead Comic
A Morally Complicated Apocalypse
While Robert Kirkman implore his reader to consider the factor that led to some of his characters ' most shocking action at law , he also acknowledged that his creations ' increase alienation from the referee was really his " favorite thing about the book " at that stage in its publication . He save :
It ’s becoming intemperately and harder to infer the motivations of these character . We SEE them living in this world , but we do n’t ourselves go through anything tight to what they do in our everyday lives . So if you think about everything that ’s happened to Rick … it make his decision a piffling more understandable .
Interestingly , although not even Kirkman sleep with it at this point , this discussion on Rick ’s morality came at the accurate half - way point ofThe walk Dead’srun . mean many of its character ’s most brutal , and at times extremely refutable , actions and decision were still to come .
This explanation from Robert Kirkman came in answer to a buff letter , which was highly vital of Rick ’s actions inWalking Dead#83 . In the issue , Rick was forced to give up another survivor , Jessie , to be devoured by zombies when she would n’t leave her son Ron , who had been bitten , behind – even going so far as to chop off her hand when she would n’t let go of Carl . " Had Rick not done what he did , " Kirkman wrote in defence reaction of the reference ’s natural action , " they would have all expire . "
agree to Kirkman , Jessie and Ron ’s deaths were " maybe the saddest and most brutal … in the serial . " In large part , this was a event of the fact that , in their final moment , they became just another obstacle to Rick , rather than people he ’d sworn to protect . Of of course , the excited gutpunch of this vista – and the moral tortuousness of the moment for Rick Grimes – was precisely what Robert Kirkman wanted when he write the scene that agency , and the fan letter inWalking Dead#87 show how efficient it was .
To the rooter ’s point , Kirkman responded that Rick ’s actions could still be considered heroic , by the warped system of logic ofThe Walking Dead’szombie Revelation of Saint John the Divine .
Rick Grimes Was Desperate, Not “Despicable”
Walking Dead #83 – Written By Robert Kirkman, Art By Charlie Adlard
The fan letter inWalking Dead#87 exhibit the exceptionalemotional investment funds thatThe Walking Deadevokedin its readers , which was the key to its phenomenal success from start to refinement . The writer of the varsity letter was deeply unsettled by Jessie and Ron ’s dying , and Rick ’s actions in that scenery , and wrote stormily in reaction :
After Rick forget a person he jazz to die in such a cold - full-blood fashion , I had nothing … I disdain him as a person , and would n’t confide him anymore .
And how is he come back when he himself is in fuss a chip later , fighting off the zombie horde to save his Word ’s life ? the great unwashed from all over townspeople come to his aid . He would have leave them and their kids to give way , but when he is in trouble they all get along to serve him . He really did n’t merit that . At least Carl and the doctor gentlewoman are already saved … so their assistant is not run off on just this ugly , selfish homo … I used to admire Rick , because he was always there for his multitude . Even when he had to make ruffianly , and unpopular , or morally ambiguous decisions . I know , estrus of the import , extreme situation and all that . But chop off Jessie ’s hand ? The honest-to-god Rick would have get a better way , or at least he would have tried .
" And let ’s just take line that Rick did in fact SAVE Carl , " by arrive at the unmanageable decision to separate from Jessie and Ron , in social club to save himself and Carl , Kirkman wrote in response .
To the lover ’s head , Kirkman responded that Rick ’s action at law could still be think heroical , by the warped system of logic ofThe Walking Dead’szombie apocalypse . InWalking Dead#83 , the young lineament Ron terror when surrounded by zombi , and is quickly devoured . Of of course , his female parent goes to him , at the cost of her own animation . Her actions in that moment make sense , but lamentably , so does Rick ’s unflinching will to survive , whatever the cost . As Kirkman put it :
He did something that will haunt him forever , in ordering to save his son ’s life . Then he volitionally dove back into the fray to protect Carl and Denise as she worked on him . In the world ofThe Walking Dead … that ’s about about as skinny to a hero as you could get … right ?
In other words , while the sports fan ’s vivid chemical reaction is apologise , it can also be said to be excessively harsh toward Rick .
Rick Was The Walking Dead’s “Hero”, For Better Or Worse
First Appearance:Walking Dead#1; Last Appearance:Walking Dead#192
Whether lecturer decide to forgive Rick , or any ofThe Walking Dead’scharacters for their worst actions , or not , is a choice each somebody get to make for themselves .
AsThe Walking Deadwent on , Rick Grimes was increasingly unrelenting , and ruthless , in the pursuit of survival against all odds . His dying , when it camein the serial publication ' penultimate take , was violent , but it was shocking and unpredictable – as wereso many ofWalking Dead’sbest death – and out of his control . The fact that he made it as long as he did , and that he ensured that his Logos Carl survived to adulthood , werethe resolution of Rick ’s development from a decisively stately lineament into a harsh , virtuously complicated person .
As the flashforward epilogue to the seriesinWalking Dead#193 showed , Rick would come to be venerated not only for keep himself and Carl live , but for guiding humanity through the darkest years of the zombie outbreak , offer them what stability and strength he could so that they could one day begin to rebuild gild , even if he ultimately did n’t inhabit to witness it . In this way , more than just being its admirer , Rick truly did remain the " zep " at the essence of the story .
In the end , as Robert Kirkman put it , the subject of try Rick for his actions came down to the fact that everything he did had an impact on him . As he noted in the alphabetic character page toWalking Dead#87 :
I opine if Rick was completely insensible by his actions , I ’d agree with you , he ’d be despicable . But I hope you discover it in your nitty-gritty to see his side of thing .
Whether readers decide to forgive Rick , or any ofThe Walking Dead’scharacters for their worst actions , or not , is a option each person start to make for themselves . In part , this is one of the virtues that makesThe Walking Deadone of the most vital stories of its fourth dimension .
Source : walk Dead Deluxe#87 ( letters page )
Rick Grimes is a central figure inThe Walking Deaduniverse , sleep with for his evolution from a sheriff ’s deputy to a battle - hardened leader in a post - apocalyptical humans . His journey is marked by the conflict to maintain his world while navigating the moral complexity of survival . Rick ’s character is fix by his bass commitment to his family and his power to exalt and lead others in the face of overwhelming betting odds .
