In anticipation of "The Walking Dead" #100, Image Comics has provided CBR with an exclusive first look at Bryan Hitch's variant cover for the milestone issue, depicting a lone Rick Grimes armed with a baseball bat against the insatiable hunger of the zombie hordes. The shambling crowd is truly the star of Hitch's cover as their hands reach out in union toward Rick, making his stand atop a red pickup truck.

Hitch's variant is one of many initiatives celebrating the release of the issue, which hits during July's Comic-Con International in San Diego. In addition to covers by some of Image's heaviest hitters including Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Ryan Ottley, fans will have the opportunity to experience a massive "The Walking Dead" inspired survival obstacle course called "The Walking Dead Escape" during CCI 2012 at Petco Park.

Robert Kirkman spoke with CBR in May, teasing the events of the centennial issue, which he described as "the most gruesome, most violent, disturbing issue of 'The Walking Dead' yet."

"I can say that everybody knows that there's this group out there called the Saviors that are kind of intimidating everyone on the Hilltop," Kirkman told CBR. "They've kind of gotten on Rick's radar, we [saw] their first interaction in #97. We've basically got another very violent, dangerous group out there that Rick is going to be clashing with head-on and I can say that issue #100 is going to easily be the most gruesome, most violent, disturbing issue of 'The Walking Dead' yet. So, be on the lookout. Yet, when I say that, I do remember all of the gruesome, disturbing and violent things that have happened in 'The Walking Dead' thus far, so I promise I mean it."

Charlie Adlard spoke about his lengthy run on "The Walking Dead" and hitting the landmark issue #100.

"All of a sudden, you wake up one morning and you're up to issue #100," Adlard told CBR. "For me, it's actually, believe it or not, quite easy to do a book a month. It's never felt -- or 95% of the time it's never felt -- like a chore actually getting the issues out. One of my gripes before I started "The Walking Dead," when I was doing various DC and Marvel projects, was the fact that, because I'm so fast, I'd be doing a miniseries of four, five, six issues and I'd just be getting into the meat of the characters and the thing was over. This way, I can really get into the characters and understand them, the ones that last a bit longer, the ones we don't kill. It's great to have that freedom."

Check out the rest of the variants revealed so far on Robot 6 and stay tuned to CBR News for more on "The Walking Dead" #100.