Up until about Season 7, The Walking Dead almost completely went the route the comic book took, and fans of the TV show could anticipate what was coming next since the story was derived from existing material. However, we’ve now gone very different paths in between both mediums, and the show is very hard to predict.
We’re glad, for the most part, for the changes the series brought, as it bettered a lot of the shortcomings to the original story. Still, there are some changes we didn’t like as much as the comic book version of it, and you’ll find all these in this list below.
10 Hated: Carl's Death
In the ending of The Walking Dead comic series, Carl was revealed to have been the one telling the story of Rick Grimes all along—a Carl who was in his 40s by this point. He was central to the story in the Whisperers angle, but the series chose to kill him off before the Saviors plot was even finished.
The show gave us a poor replacement in Henry, who came across as more of a dolt than a worthy version of Carl, and the latter’s death didn’t make much sense either considering Rick Grimes exited the show just a solitary season later. The show missed a huge chance of making Carl the main character, something the comic book writers were wise enough to keep.
9 Liked: Rick's Exit
In the penultimate issue of The Walking Dead’s comics, Rick was killed off in both a tragic and graceless way, as he was shot to death while he slept. A year earlier, the TV series had brought his exit by making us think he might die, only to pull off a swerve and have him ride off in a mysterious helicopter.
This was a much better course than simply killing him, as Rick is the heart of the show, and fans didn't want him dying without it at least coming across as an honorable death. Now, we’ve got a trilogy of solo Rick movies to look forward to, and a story that is sure to further our curiosities.
8 Liked: Carol's Survival
Carol died in a very weak manner in the comics, where she caused her own death at the hands of a zombie because she couldn’t cope with the world, leaving her daughter Sophia to be adopted by Maggie.
The show did it so much better by making a storyline out of Carol’s weakness and developed her into a fierce woman who struck fear in the hearts of enemies. While she can be very twisted, Carol is the best example of character development done right, as her survival has actual meaning. She is seen as a symbol of empowerment for people who have undergone domestic abuse, and that’s something the comics didn’t capitalize on.
7 Liked: The Creation Of Daryl Dixon
For those who don’t follow the comics, you’ll be surprised to know that the current main character of The Walking Dead isn’t even an actual character in the comics. Daryl was brought in as a bit supporting role in Season 1 before he became enormously popular to the point where the actor now receives top billing.
The comics dearly suffered from not having a secondary top protagonist, as it concluded right after Rick’s death due to there being no other character strong enough to take the lead role. Daryl has easily filled these shoes, and we’re glad whoever thought the character up was so inspired that day.
6 Hated: Deaths In The Pike Scene
The execution of the pike scene was done amazingly well, with the fans all left shocked and with no words to express surprise. However, the characters who bit the dust here weren’t the right ones.
It’s a shame we had to say goodbye to someone like Tara, who seemed to be on her way to a story where she learned to be a leader rather than the show going the comics’ route and killing off Rosita who has nothing more to offer. Most of the characters who “got piked” didn’t have that impact as the comics did, where we saw the deaths of major characters like Ezekiel and Rosita.
5 Liked: Dwight Moving Away
It’s intriguing to see how the show will fill the gap of Dwight, seeing as the comics had him featured in a major way in future storylines with the Saviors and the Commonwealth. Regardless, we’re glad he headed off to Fear the Walking Dead, as this means Dwight will have fresh plots whose results we don’t know.
This made fans particularly interested in what they'll see the character do moving on, and his time on The Walking Dead was clearly overd ue to him having too much bad blood with the likes of Daryl and company. The storyline of him pursuing Sherry has our interests captured, so fingers are crossed we’ll be kept invested moving forward.
4 Liked: Judith's Survival
In a bizarre development, the character of Baby Judith was crushed to death by the body of Lori in the comics, and we’re sure glad the TV series didn’t follow through with depicting this. What’s more, we now have 10-year-old Judith positioned as the successor to Rick Grimes, and the daughter-like figure for Negan.
Introducing Judith was immaterial in the comics, as she was never mentioned again after her death either; the series has done a marvelous job by making her the reason why Negan will undergo his change from antagonist to protagonist.
3 Liked: Abraham's Different Death Scene
Those who thought Denise’s death was funny—where she kept talking even though she’d gotten shot through the eye by an arrow—will be surprised to find out that this death was derived from Abraham’s in the comics. It was meant to shock the reader, and, while it did do that, it was a weak way to send off a character who had made an impact with the fans.
Instead of dying that way, Abraham went out like a boss against Negan in the show, where we saw him look straight in the eyes of the antagonist and never cower, even when he got struck in the head with Lucille. Of all the deaths in The Walking Dead, Abraham’s was the one that struck closest to his character.
2 Liked: Morgan's Characterization
Morgan died way too early in the comics, and he was an afterthought once he passed away. His association with Rick came across as a missed opportunity, so we were all glad to see this touched upon in the show.
Here, Morgan is now the star of Fear the Walking Dead, which has usurped the main show in quality in many ways. What we love about this version of Morgan is witnessing the extremities he’s gone to—he was once insane and wanted to kill anyone he saw—before becoming a man of peace who abhorred violence, only to go off the deep end once more. Now, we’re loving how Morgan is attempting to find the balance in his psyche on Fear rather than being deceased too soon as was in the comics.
1 Hated: Cliffhanger Over Negan's Kill
Negan’s first appearance was awesome in the comics, but awful on the show. The whole point of his grand reveal was to show him bashing the brains of a poor victim, in order for us to consider him the real deal. However, this was only shown in the issue he debuted in, not the episode he first arrived.
The comic left us with the image of Glenn’s mangled corpse, and readers were left feeling the effects of this till the next month. The TV show instead chose to show only the point of view of Negan’s victim, a cliffhanger that lasted all of six months! This totally backfired, since fans felt cheated, and the next episode was perceived more as an elaborate excuse to leave us hanging rather than a necessary story direction.