'The Walking Dead' Creator Acknowledges The Real Reason There Are So Few Animals

The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman has revealed the real reason why so few animals are seen in the popular comic series.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead Deluxe By Image Comics

^ While The Walking Dead comic books are filled with humans and zombies, series creator Robert Kirkman admits to the real reason animals are rarely seen throughout the stories. In The Walking Dead Deluxe, Kirkman gives a very effective explanation for the absence of dogs, cats, and other popular creatures and critters in the comics that perfectly explains their absence: to help his artists.

In The Walking Dead Deluxe #53 by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adelaide, Dave McCaig, and Ross Wootton of Image and Skybound Comics, Kirkman is specifically asked to why there are no more dogs in the world, and whether he ever considered taking on the main animal companion series villain. The TWD author revealed why he didn't include many animals in the zombie-infested Desolace, writing that he knows "artists hate drawing animals" and that he prides himself on "never asking my artists to draw animals".

Robert Kirkman opted not to add unnecessary animals to the pages of The Walking Dead, which allowed the artists to focus on the zombie imagery and the main moments of the comic without worrying about wasting time on details where it is not needed. However, given the cross-country adventures of the series' main antagonists, Kirkman did include animals such as horses, most notably Tiger Shiva - the faithful pet of survivor Ezekiel. But Kirkman never felt the need to hamstring the artist while trying to make the world look more realistic in the context of the art, since most readers probably didn't even notice its absence.

The Walking Dead Did Include Animals, But Not Many

The Walking Dead Deluxe is a treasure trove of learning more about the series and Kirkman's ideas for the comics. In the letter pages of the recently released color reprint, Kirkman shares insights, including The Walking Dead's tagline was always a lie, and how the original Survivor almost became TWD's main villain. Ultimately, his reasoning about the lack of animals reveals another important rule the creator follows when crafting the iconic zombie story, one that makes his fellow artists' jobs easier.

For anyone rereading The Walking Dead, it might be interesting to see how many animals actually appeared in the series' 193 issues. The answer is probably very little, because Kirkman doesn't want to frustrate his artists, and Waste their time on finer drawings that aren't entirely necessary throughout the comic book. The Walking Dead Deluxe Edition #53 is available now.

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