The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman opens up about his decision to end his long-running comic book without warning, comparing the zombie saga’s final issue to a “surprise death.” In July 2019, readers who purchased the extra-sized, 72-page issue The Walking Dead #193 were surprised to learn the book jumped 25 years into the future after — spoilers — the murder of Rick Grimes an issue earlier. Even more surprising: the issue’s final page declared this was “the end,” confirmed by Kirkman in a lengthy goodbye letter where the creator wrote it “felt wrong and against the very nature of this series not to make the actual end as surprising as the big deaths.”