'The Walking Dead' Comic Book Has Just Been Canceled

The Walking Dead has been put to death. Not AMC's hit TV show—that's still shambling along. The original Walking Dead comic book ends this week with issue #193, according to Image Comics.

The issue description on the Image website gives no indication it's the final issue:
"THE FARMHOUSE" Out in the countryside, trouble is brewing for a certain someone."

The issue will still be $3.99, but it will be square-bound and 71 pages long.

The Walking Dead is a rarity in the comics world: A black-and-white comic from an independent publisher with the same writer from the beginning. For more than 15 years, fans have followed the trials of deputy Rick Grimes and his band of not-so-merry post-apocalyptic survivors. The book has garnered international acclaim and twice won the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series.

"I'm upset, too," TWD creator and writer Robert Kirkman wrote about the comic's demise, reports Bleeding Cool. "I'm going to miss it as much as you will, if not more so. It breaks my heart that I had to end it, and we have to move on... but I just love this world too much to stretch things out until it doesn't live up to what I want it to be.

Asking for understanding, Kirkman praised readers for letting him tell the story he wanted. "And end it on my terms, with no interference at all along the way at any point. That's such a rare thing, and it doesn't exist without the unyielding support this series got from readers like you. Thank you so much."

There was, however, a teensy hint the end was nigh: Last issue, Rick died and returned as a reanimated corpse himself. (Where do you go after that?) Still, comics shops say they were fairly caught off-guard by the cancelation—especially as solicitations for upcoming August and September issues were sent as a feint.

"We didn't know it was coming," Justin Bacolo, a manager at Forbidden Planet in New York City, told Newsweek. "Fortunately, we were able to up our order at the last minute, so we'll have more copies."

To prevent speculators from buying up the entire stock, Forbidden Planet is establishing a limit per customer—likely one or two copies, says Bacolo.

Even with that, Bacalo is sure the finale will fly off the shelves: "If it lasts until Wednesday night, I'll be surprised."

This is end of one chapter for Kirkman's undead universe, but there are many others: A Walking Dead TV series premiered on AMC in 2010, followed by Fear the Walking Dead in 2015. There have also been video games, web series, novels, a popular after-show and even plans for feature films.

In April AMC confirmed it was developing a third Walking Dead TV show, for a planned 2020 debut. The new series would focus on the first generation of children that have grown up during the zombie apocalypse.