I’m Robert Kirkman. My new show Outcast starts next month. Ask me anything!

Issue 100 of the Walking Dead was one of my favorite bits of writing I have ever had the please of experiencing.

Everything about it was perfect.

The build up of "Negan" and how everyone just figured this was some weird pushover cult - especially after Rick just wastes his crew in their initial encounter. The Survivors think they are on top of the world and suddenly the rug is pulled out from under them. You keep expecting some sort of Dues Ex to save them as they are all lined up. You get Negans epic speech. You get to watch as a character who's been around since Issue 2 get their fucking skull bashed in full glory. Everyone is emotionally gutted, including the audience. Where does our group go from here?

I had to set the comic down because it felt so shitty, but it was sooooooooo goddamn good.

*My question is this: what the fuck was the Season 6 dumpster-fire-abortion of a finale?* You had a perfect script already in place but instead we get a cheap ratings grab with no emotion payoff at all. This could have been TWD's "Red Wedding" TV moment, but its all ruined. There will be no emotional impact when we find out who died come Season 7. The whole point of the scene is to witness uncensored, undivided brutality, and it serves as an eye-opening experience to the characters and the audience. Why did they throw it all away?

Not only that, but when the fans (comic and show alike) are outraged afterword about the terrible writing - all build up and zero delivery - the shows producers were calling us immature children and "It's a gift to the fans! Something 'fun' for us all to talk about for the next seven months!" That is beyond insulting to a loyal fanbase that cares about the quality and story of the show. I actually feel like a fucking idiot for hyping people up for Negan and getting people so excited for that finale before hand.

*Second question: Who's idea was the shitty Goldeneye 64 blood running down the screen after beating the cameraman to death? *

I just want to point out that a lot of what you seem to hate about the finale are your assumptions of how season 7 will start. The death will have no impact now, etc. I assure you it will. You're welcome to be unhappy with the episode that aired. Was it a misstep? Maybe. Only time will tell.

Also, there's a lot of assumptions about why we did what we did, "ratings grab" which also isn't true.

That said, I love you for watching 6 seasons of the show and reading the comic. I appreciate the support up to this point and I'm sorry your unhappy. Standing by our decision doesn't mean I think you're immature in any way or wrong to feel the way you do. I just know how much the fanbase is treasured and respected behind the scenes so it bums me out when people make a lot of assumtions.

Scott Gimple is a great guy who EVERY FAN would love if they could get to know him. And he LOSES SLEEP trying to make the fan base happy. It may not seem that way, but it is. He loves the comic as much as the die hard fans of the comics do, he was a die hard fan of the comic before the show existed.

Hopefully you'll like season 7 better. If not... may I recommend OUTCAST... or Game of Thrones... or The Americans... or Better Call Saul. There really is a LOT of amazing television to choose from these days. I really liked Bloodlines on Netflix. And if you like animation, RICK & MORTY is the BEST THING BEING MADE THESE DAYS.

Secondly, Scott Gimple is a huge Goldeneye fan and is angry that you called the game "shitty."

Thanks for answering. Most AMAs people skip the hard questions

WHIMPS.

do rick die?

He do eventually.

Did you expect the massive amount of questions related to the cliffhanger for this AMA?

Of course.

Hey Robert. Long time fan. Do you know when George R.R Martin will be done with the Winds of Winter? Just curious.

When he's damn good and ready. Let him write!

Do you have an end for TWD already planned out in your head?

YES, but y'know... it's not happening for a long, LOOOOOONG time.

I once asked you to sign my Walking Dead #100 comic at a convention in Arizona and you told me to "fuck off Nerd".

My question is, why were you so mean?

I promise this never happened.

Now fuck off, Nerd.

Since Carl is wearing a science dog shirt when he is introduced can we assume you exist in the walking dead universe?

For a little while I did... but I died very quickly.

Hey Mr.Kirkman. You seem to have some delusion that a large portion of the fanbase loved the Season 6 finale. Possibly because people around you are biased or don't want to hurt your feelings. You are wrong. Most of us hated it. It's not just "some" of us that dislike it. Stop trying to justify it. Yeah, we're talking about it. Similar to how we talk about Hitler. The overwhelming response is negative. Regardless of your "intent," people are not excited.

My question is: What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

I think you're mistaking an explanation for an excuse or a justification. I personally liked it. Scott Gimple and I spent many months going over exactly how to stage it and how to adapt that scene. Many options were discussed. I do strongly believe that when you watch the season 7 premiere (if you do) you will see the two halves of the story and it will all make sense why we did what we did. But a whole heck of a lot of you folks are unhappy. I'm not kidding myself about that. Season 7 is very strong, we know what's coming. If you stick around... you'll like where we're taking things.

Embarrassed that I totally missed your joke! My favorite flavor of ice cream is Negan killed Carl.

Hey Robert, huge fan of The Walking Dead. Just wanted to know, who is your favorite character from the show?

I don't play favorites. They all die eventually.

...

Carl.

What does Andrew Lincoln smell like? Please answer, this is very important.

He smells like everything you want out of life... which for me is pumkin pie. He's a human being that smells like pumkin pie. He's not safe around me.

Why'd you fuck us Kirkman?

I did no such thing! Don't besmirch my reputation! I am a classy dude!

Rick will be totally broken by the end of S701, right?

I'd say that's a fair assumption. The premiere episode of season 7 is going to be hard on everyone... Rick especially.

Hi Robert! As a writer, how do you avoid stagnation? I'm a fan of both the Walking Dead (not entirely caught up) and Invincible-- one thing I noticed is that challenges in TWD feel a lot more organic than those that arise in Invincible. Therefore, TWD usually feels pretty fresh while my enthusiasm for Invincible has drained just a little bit. Do you think this is because of a fundamental difference in genre? What is the process for creating new and interesting problems for your characters?

Have a great day!

Yikes, I don't really know how to answer this one... why did I pick this question? I don't have to answer all of these... I've already skipped a bunch about the TWD cliffhanger... damn it. Uh... I try to keep an eye on the story as a whole... if that makes sense. I'm the only person that knows where we were and where we're going, so I can do my best to make sure that each new storyline is an evolution and/or an escalation of what came before. Sometimes things are similar to play off what came before and subvert expecations and sometimes I'm trying so so hard to do something new and different and well, you can't win them all. But I am trying, that's really the best you can do. I'm going to say your enthusiasm for Invincible is drained because your awesome meter is overloaded... get that thing cleaned out, then you can better handle all the awesome contained in Invincible.

Hey Robert, long time fan of both TWD comic and show. I was just wondering, do you enjoy writing for Negan or the Governor more? Can't wait for Outcast. Thanks.

Negan for sure. I loved the Governor but y'know... so fun.

Hey Kirkman, I'm wondering, will we ever learn Reverend Anderson's full name?

YES! Yes we will. I don't like giving people last names on Walking Dead. For Outcast I'm trying not to give anyone FIRST names! Fingers crossed!

3 Random Questions:

1. Favorite vacation spot?
2. Favorite video game?
3. Favorite board game?

1. My house... I'm very boring.
2. Destiny right now. Historically, Mario Galaxy. Soon: Uncharted 4.
3. My 10 year old son slaughters my whole family at monopoly all the time. It's ridiculous. He knows all the rents of all the properties by heart and knows which space you're on before you count it out. It's annoying. I hate Monopoly. What was the question.

how scary is Outcast going to be?

VERY scary. It's weird when you write something... you kind of know how the sausage is made. So I watch it and I'm thinking "that turned out well" or "I like how they staged that" or "That actor is really kicking ass." But other people who have seen it say it's terrifying. So I'll take their word for it. It's scary.

Hi Robert, huge fan of the show and comic, are you excited to be working with Adult Swim to create a Walking Dead special?

I'd be more excited if I got to watch Rick and Morty season 3 earlier because of it.

Are you excited for Outcast to be on Cinemax versus basic information cable? You can push the limits a lot further. Huge fan of yours, as a writer you are an inspiration. Thanks dude!

YES! Absolutely. It's going to be a much different show than Walking Dead for a lot of reason but having the restrictions of basic cable lifted off us is a big one. Outcast is a BRUTAL show. At times... I even worry that we went too far... but that just makes me want to go further. Chris Black and the full team on the show are doing all kinds of boundary pushing insane stuff. Cinemax! It's like HBOs cooler older brother.

I'm pretty sure about 20 mins into this AMA, you just said fuck it and threw your hands in the air in an appropriate manner. Is that true?

DEFINITELY NOT! I'm having a blast!

Bring it on!

Before my questionsI just wanted to say thank you so much for The Walking Dead comics and show. I absolutely love both of them and can not get enough.

Here are my questions.

Will your new show 'Outcast' be a carbon copy of the comic ?

How long will episodes be ? Will they be around 42 minutes like most shows or longer?

What is your favorite TV show that is currently airing that you have no involvement in ?

No, the Outcast show will not be a carbon copy. Like TWD there will be scenes here and there that are adapted almost exactly but there is a LOT of new material in the series.

I'd wager that there's actually more new materal because we don't have 100+ comics to draw from. So because of that, reading the comic and watching the show will be a much more complete experience with a little less chance of one spoiling the other.

Hey Robert! What was the hardest death for you to write in TWD comics? Have you regretted any deaths?

I don't regret any deaths but I do miss Tyreese... and Axel... and Ezekiel... and... y'know... a lot of them. I wish I'd done ANYTHING with Carol as cool as what we've done in the show.

hello Mr. Kirkman, I would like to know what is your favourite book format to collect a series ? such as, comic, tab, hardcover, compendium, those oversized edition, etc.. My other question is when will you finally come to canada ?? Montreal is such a nice place and have a comic con that would be awesome if you attended Thank you, Devon Marcus

TPB for reading.

HC for rereading.

Compendiums if I have a table in front of me.

Comics for reading on the plane.

A format for every situation!

What time do you usually wake up in the morning?

5am... most days. 7 or so on the weekends. I mean... you gotta relax sometimes.

Are you dissapointed with the lack of Outcast questions?

Not at all. There have been plenty! TWD has been around far longer, I understand people wanting to ask questions about that series and that awesome cliffhanger.

Aside from Here's Negan, do you plan on doing any other side TWD comics or a new set of novels showing more expanded universe stuff such as Hilltop's origins or Magna's group before they got to Alexandria?

Not right now. Here's Negan will be the only side TWD comic thing for now.

What do you think about comic books vs. graphic novels? Do you enjoy to read a small monthly issue or a few hundred pages all at once?

They are the same thing. I think the term graphic novel is more or less a term for people who feel silly saying comic books. Don't feel silly, comic books are awesome.

Can you please post a massive spoiler akin to the one you let loose on At Midnight, in this AMA? Not because I want it, but because I want all the cliffhanger complainers to have something new to cry about.

Great work on the shows. Fear The Walking Dead is turning into something amazing.

What spoiler are you talking about? I don't know what spoiler you're mentioning here. I really don't like to spoil things at random on things like that. Negan killed Carl?

Quick Outcast comment.. I LOVE IT!! It's my favorite series right now and I'm real upset that we have to wait until June. My question is will we get a glimpse into other "Outcasts" soon or is that something that's being kept close to your chest? Also im from the Huntington WV area so I love seeing the references to charelston and other local things. Thanks for the awesome writing!

Close to the vest. If you want some hints you could read the comic series. Even if you don't want hints, read the comics anyway. Read the comics. Read any comics. Read all the comics. Reddit asked me to make my answers longer so I feel like I'm just saying random stuff at the end of some of these questions... I hope nobody notices.

Hey Robert,

Love your work!

Do you read any manga? If so what are your faves? Do you draw any inspiration from them?

I read and enjoyed Death Note recently. I read Battle Royale. It was cool. I've got One Punch Man but haven't started it.

Hey Robert, how many trades will season one of Outcast cover? Thanks

I can't spoil things by revealing that. And for the record, revealing that would spoil things. So that's a secret. You'll find out this summer when the show airs.

Will Outcast follow the comic or branch out like the other TWD stories? Also will there be mid season breaks? I have watched every episode of both your shows including there Talking dead shows (big fan). Thank you for the amazing stories!:)

It will follow the comic (I answered this is more detail somewhere else) but there won't be any midseason breaks. We'll be running the seasons all the way through.

Hi RK, love everything you do.

Is Outcast truly a religious experience or is that just a point of view? We know Kyle is an atheist so does that mean we have some kind of phenomenon going on that is NOT religious based? I'm half expecting a major twist coming that changes the whole story.

The story has religious characters and non religions characters. I think its an accruate portrayal of people from that region and it's not overly religion based, but a lot of the characters are religious and the main plot deals with a lot of things from religion.

As for any twist... stay tuned!

you are the devil?

You guys really need to try harder than that. If I were the devil... how do YOU think I'd answer that question.

Do you feel a sense of pressure when releasing each comic? There's got to be some pressure to have some "juicy" content in each issue since there are month long gaps in between each one, and people may lose interest because nothing happened.

Yeah, it's a lot of pressure and it's always there, but I've been doing this for almost 17 years so it's something I've gotten used to. Sometimes I find myself thinking of a time in the far future where I don't have multiple monthly comics "breathing down my neck" at all times... and I can't comprehend what that must feel like.

Could you please give an update to the Thief of Thieves TV Show?

Still working on it. Frustrating that I can't say more, I know. It's a long process but it's still in process.

Just want to say thank you for making comics. I have two questions... Was it hard killing Battle Beast? And are you going to bring him back?

It was, but I think Thragg's cape is awesome and made the death worth it... kind of, in a weird way. And no, he's never coming back.