Why The Walking Dead Comics Were in Black & White, Not Color Explained – Screen Rant

The Walking Dead comic was famously published in black and white, and there are two major reasons its creators chose to work without color.

Unlike many other Image Comics titles, writer Robert Kirkman (Marvel Zombies, Invincible) and artists Tony Moore (Fear Agent, Battle Pope)and Charlie Adlard (Savage, Judge Dredd)'s The Walking Dead served the distinction of being publishedin black and white from its first issue in 2003 to its final issue #193 in 2019. But despite becoming a phenomenon, beloved by comics fans and with a hugely popular TV adaptation, the series never made the jump to publishing in color - not because it couldn't, but because the black and white style was a conscious decision by its creators.

A zombie fan from a young age, Robert Kirkman brought his love of the undead genre to comic books, honoring not just traditional gore and narrative themes, but even the creative aesthetic of past greats. But despite being more ambitious than other, schlockier zombie comics on the stands,another uniqueelement was needed to help the book stand out from its contemporaries. WithOctober 2003's The Walking Dead #1, Kirkman and the series' initial artist Tony Moore introduced fans tothe world of The Walking Deadin all its black and white glory.

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Kirkman's plans for theThe Walking Dead, other than being "the zombiemovie that never ends,"ended up being even more ambitious than originally intended. During theearly development stages of the series,The Walking Deadwasset to be a continuation of the late horror legend George A. Romero's 1968classic filmNight of the Living Dead. Filmed in black and white,Night of the Living Deadwas responsible for introducing mainstream audiences to the modern zombie genre and set the tone for everything which came after - an unprecedented feat that The Walking Dead would accomplish for the comic book market decades later.But while ashared continuity withNight of the Living Deadwouldnot ultimately get past the rough stages, it was enough to birth the series' black and white aesthetic.

Save forthe series' cover art, everything from characters, locations, clothing, and zombie guts were rendered colorless. But the decision to envision The Walking Dead in pure black and white did not only come from an homage toNight of the Living Dead, but from the freedom it provided in terms of depicting injury and violence. Due to the lack of color, the titlewas virtuallyallowedfree rein for intense scenesthat would have attracted more concern if depicted in vivid reds. Kirkman's series has gradually developed into a comic book known for its extremes of gore and violence, and yet working without color has helped avoid a sense of sensationalism or needless excess.

The Walking Dead's black and white art came to mean many things for the series, giving it more creative freedom and tying it into the legacy that birthed it. By using the covers to establish color details about which fans might have been curious - such as hair color andzombie decomposition- the comic remained free to take the more atmospheric, more ambitious route, and found success anyway. For fans who are curious to see the world in color, there's also the option of colorized reprintspublished after the series' conclusion, but The Walking Dead's lack of color was never a weakness to be overcome, but rather one of the smartest decisions its creatorsever made.

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Hello world, enter Bryce Morris. Bryce is currently a college sophomore attending Rowan University with experience in writing for an online blog as well as an advertising agency. One day in the not too distant future, Bryce aspires to become a comic book writer. Bryce has always had his sights set on writing and in his down time can be found either watching a Marvel movie, reading a Marvel comic, or writing for Screen Rant... either or is acceptable.

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Why The Walking Dead Comics Were in Black & White, Not Color Explained - Screen Rant