Robert Kirkman shocked fans and comic book retailers alike this week with the surprise release of a comic book that is, effectively, as if it was released from an alternate reality. Solid Blood #17 was released to comic book stores this week without being solicited. It was drawn by the former Invincible art team of Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn and Rus Wooton, despite Ottley curently being under exclusive contract to Marvel Comics.
Kirkman released a YouTube video promoting the comic book's release by pretending as though he was just as shocked as everyone else as to where this comic book came from. He noted that these were ideas that he and Ottley had had in the past, but had never acted on, and yet somehow here was a full comic book that had been "discovered" in a warehouse. And it features an alternate universe version of Michonne, one of the most famous characters from The Walking Dead.
In the backmatter of Solid Blood #17, Kirkman went into greater detail about the concept behind this very unusual comic book.
The idea is simply, "What if The Walking Dead had not been a hit?" Obviously, The Walking Dead changed Kirkman's career, but it also changed Image Comics period, as Kirkman became a partner in the company and currently has his own company, Skybound Entertainment, which has an imprint at Image. Well, in the Solid Blood #17 universe, The Walking Dead never made it past its first year, and so Kirkman never became a partner at Image or formed his own entertainment company. In the Image Comics credit in the issue, Rob Liefeld is instead still an Image Comics partner and, in a bit totally out of left field, superstar comic book writer Donny Cates (who is currently writing Crossover for Image) is working in Image's PR department in the Solid Blood #17 universe.
Michonne had actually been developed by Kirkman years ago for a separate comic book project, but when The Walking Dead became a hit, Kirkman just worked her into The Walking Dead instead. In this universe, though, where The Walking Dead never made it to year two (Michonne debuted in The Walking Dead #19), Michonne eventually showed up as part of Solid Blood. Amusingly enough, though, in a bit of a parody of his propensity to kill off notable characters in his comics, Michonne (Swordmaster in the Solid Blood world) is killed in this issue.
Kirkman's old Superpatriot and Invincible partner, Cory Walker, also has his own alternate universe title, Kickfight, advertised in a house ad in Solid Blood #17.
Retailers were provided free copies of Solid Blood #17 based on their orders of another current Kirkman Image Comics series, Firepower, with artist Chris Samnee. Due to its limited nature, the comic book is already selling for over $20 on eBay. Time will tell if we get any more Solid Blood comic books in the future.