I'll be honest guys. When it comes to Golden Age Comics, I'm no pro, But I do know what I like and it seems I'm not alone.
(And these "Zombies" were more often than not depicted as simple slave labour to their Mystical Voodoo Masters.)
Ghoulish, Undead Fiends, who stalked Human Flesh.
But George changed all that, and gave us fans something truly special:"They're coming to get you Barbara..." - Johnny ("Night of the Living Dead" 1968)
In fact, when you think about it, the Universal Monsters had existed for many years prior to the birth of the Zombie, making them a very recent and modern addition to the monster squad indeed.Beware #10) 2. A Skull or Ghoulish Fiend. (The Haunt of Fear #17) 3. Gore / Shocking Imagery. (Black Cat Comics #50)
Anyway, after talking to several friends of mine who do indeed know more about this era of comic collecting than I ever could. I have learned of the three key elements that make these books desirable... 1. A Damsel in Distress. (
To this day, many within the hobby find themselves drawn to these books whenever they come across them.
Fast forward to October 2003, and a small independent comic name The Walking Dead crept onto the market.
The Walking Dead was/is a Modern Age Comic Book, moving very much in the footsteps of TMNT #1 in the sense that it is a desirable book with a low print run and came about within the Modern Era of Comics.
I had originally picked up the Walking Dead Comics as reference material back when I was working in the Special Effects Industry, After just a couple of issues, I was hooked.
Robert Kirkham (The Writer and Co-Creator of the Walking Dead Comic Book Series) was a Huge fan of Romero's work and was actually intending to name his Comic Book Series after the original movie. After all, it was fair game to do so, what with it being in the public domain. But upon reflection, he decided to change it.
Kirkman wanted a story that would continue moving forward and "never end" the way most zombie-based movies do.
Publishers were skeptical of this idea at first and wanted a more definitive plot and story end. Kirkman lied about the plot of the Walking Dead in order to get it published, informing investors that Aliens would be involved by the end of the first arc. But by the time that all rolled around, the series had found its footing and fan base and so no one seemed to care. They decided to keep the book in black and white when printing for two reasons: A. It was cheaper... B. You could get away with more gore... And there is no reference to the word zombies throughout its run, instead choosing to use other words for their undead ghouls, such as Walkers, Roamers, and Biters.
The reason for this is a simple one.
The characters within the world of the Walking Dead have no reference to "zombies" or "zombie pop culture". There are no movies, no shows, and no books. Nothing at all depicting zombies as we know them in our world. This whole experience that these characters are witnessing, of the undead rising up to stalk the living, is a completely new concept to their world.
But, as always, there is another real-world reason why The Walking Dead does not use the word Zombie. Marvel actually owned the rights to the word "Zombie" between the years 1975 - 1996 and had it registered and trademarked for their book titled: Tales of the Zombie.
So there you have it. That is why there are no Zombies within the Walking Dead Universe, both a real-world reason and an in-world continuity one.
(It is also worth noting that Robert Kirkman did indeed write some Zombie Titled Fiction for Marvel, titled Marvel Zombies but I think we'll save that for another time.)
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*Any perceived investment advice is that of the freelance blogger and does not represent advice on behalf of GoCollect.