WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead #175 by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Stefano Gaudiano, Cliff Rathburn and Rus Wooton, on sale now.


The events that occurred before Rick wakes up from his coma in the first issue of Image Comics' The Walking Dead have been explored rather sparsely considering the massive cast of characters who populate the world of the series. One such exploration came in the form of a 2016 digital one-shot from writer Brian K. Vaughan (Saga, Paper Girls) and artist Marcos Martin (The Private Eye, Barrier), titled The Walking Dead: The Alien.

RELATED: The Walking Dead’s New World Order Reveals [SPOILER] Is Still Alive

The Alien told the tale of Rick Grimes’ younger brother Jeff as he tries to escape Barcelona, Spain while the world spirals into chaos around him. The ending of the comic is ambiguous to a certain a degree (it was written by Vaughan, after all). Jeff meets a woman named Claudia, who plans to escape the city by boat. The duo make it to the vessel, but are ambushed. While Jeff saves Claudia from their undead attacker, he's bitten in the process. The final pages show Jeff sitting on the edge of the boat, blood trailing behind it, as he asks Claudia to find his older brother, Rick. It is strongly implied that Claudia has also been charged to brain Jeff with a mace once he turns.

One could interpret the ending as finite -- but is it? We’ve seen characters in both the comic series and television show survive bites. If Claudia can find something in that boat to amputate Jeff’s leg and cauterize the wound, she might be able to save his life. Sure, it’s a long shot, but this notion isn’t totally predicated upon conjecture and wishful thinking.

In a recent edition of Walking Dead's letter column, “Letter Hacks,” Skybound’s Editor-in-Chief Sean Mackiewicz responded to a reader’s question regarding Rick getting a new “bro” that may hint at Jeff’s survival. Now, the replies by Robert Kirkman and his crew in The Walking Dead's letters section have always been cryptic and obtuse, because, say what you will about comic, it is never lacking twists that seem to come out of left field, and the creative team likes to keep it that way, but this time, there appears to be a genuine indication that the Grimes family may actually be growing rather than shrinking.

Page 2:



In the latest issue of The Walking Dead, #175 , a group of survivors are welcomed to The Commonwealth, a bustling base of survivors in Ohio. Within the gates of The Commonwealth, Michonne learns that there’s a possibility that her long-presumed dead daughter, Elodie, is still alive. This is a game-changing revelation in the series, and one that lends some credence to the notion that Jeff might also be alive. With such a large population within The Commonwealth community (literally tens of thousands), who’s to say who might be there?

Even if Jeff did die on that boat in Spain, there are other survivors who may show up instead. One of the more obvious choices would be Claudia. Perhaps she made it to The States and honors Jeff’s final wish by finding Rick. This might give the elder Grimes some sense of catharsis, which is something in short supply for many of the characters in the comic.

RELATED: Robert Kirkman Defends Carl’s Death on The Walking Dead

But the potential for new/returning characters doesn’t stop with Jeff and Claudia. Lilly, from the Woodbury camps, hasn’t been in the comic book since Issue #48, when she shot and killed Lori, Judith and The Governor. While Lilly is the main protagonist of the Woodbury series of novels that take place before and after the events of “The Battle of Woodbury,” she has yet to resurface in the comics; if anyone from the main series might show their face again, it would be her.

lilly-caul-walking-dead
Lilly Caul takes out the Governor

It is also entirely possible that other minor characters might appear in The Commonwealth. The standalone graphic novel Here’s Negan dives into the history of everyone’s favorite baseball bat-wielding psychopath before the apocalypse. In this brief book, we meet Negan’s unnamed mistress, who is quickly discarded. If there is one thing about Negan that defines his character, it is that he is a man who has escaped his own comeuppance to the nth degree. No one gets away with the acts he’s committed without a drop of retribution. Perhaps running into a scorned lover would be a nice way for Negan to pay some penance.

Or perhaps we meet new people who have been affected by The Walking Dead’s core cast, but have not yet shown their faces. The Whisperers are still out there, and have been long-affected by the actions of Rick and company. Could some of them have defected from that band of crazies to join The Commonwealth? Who knows? As The Walking Dead proves time and time again, anything is possible.

At the end of the day, though, Rick could really use a win. He’s lost his home, his lover, and any sense of security. Bringing Jeff back into the world of The Walking Dead would not just be a heart-warming surprise for readers, it would be a great moment of character development for Rick and Jeff’s nephew Carl. As bleak as the series can get (and man, does it keep one foot in darkness all the time), it’s these glimmers of hope that make The Walking Dead transcend past your average horror comic. TWD is a story about people and, more importantly, the moments that bind those people together, for better or worse.