The Toy Box: The Walking Dead

After obtaining my signatures from Rick Leonardi, the next person I was hoping to get things signed from still wasn't there. As such, I made my way across the convention hall to the "celebrity" guest side.

The person my girl was there for, and who she hit first before wandering around the place to get photos, was Chandler Riggs, Carl of The Walking Dead. Though she has a signed Funko Pop from him, she wanted to get her other three signed by him.

Well, let me rephrase. She took all three with her, said she was probably only going to get one, but then got all three. Seems I'm rubbing off on her.

I guess that's what he calls a signature...

She keeps a well curated, and specific collection.

As for me, my next stop was the table of Lou Ferrigno, TV's The Incredible Hulk. I was really surprised that I literally just walked right up to his table. There was no line at all. Sandy told me later that was just by chance, as his line was at least a hundred people deep when the show first opened.

I got him to sign my complete DVD set of the show...

...and decided to grab a few prints while there.

I'm honestly baffled by why he signed his name over Stan Lee.

Did I need three prints from Lou? Nah. I didn't. However, I'm a firm believer in taking full advantage of what could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. I mean, is Mr. Ferrigno honestly going to come around year after year? I don't know.

Though I wanted to get Billy West's autograph next, he hadn't arrived just yet. As such, I went back across the convention hall, did a bit more shopping, got my other signatures, and came back later.

My main goal was to get my complete Ren And Stimpy Show series signed, which I did...

...But I also knew I wasn't leaving that table without getting some signed prints...Which I did.

Billy not only personalized each one with catch phrases from the show, but also entertained everyone in line with the voices of the characters. It was a fantastic experience.

With all my signatures acquired, I went back to wandering the floor, buying several more books, and returning back to one table to get a few more signatures a result of said purchases.

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The Walking Dead
Image Comics
2003 - 2019

In 2010, you couldn't go anywhere without running into or overhearing someone talking about The Walking Dead on AMC. Not being one for watching TV all that much, I didn't even have cable at the time, I didn't pay it much attention. When the first season came to Netflix, I tried watching it. I think I made it through one and a half episodes before determining it wasn't for me.

As the years ticked by, and The Walking Dead exploded into a pop culture phenomenon, I decided I'd give it another try. It was still readily available on Netflix, but this time with an additional three or four seasons - I don't recall how far behind I was at this point.

I have to admit, it took determination on my part to rewatch the first and second episode of season one again. I remembered the majority of it, and it still didn't really keep me all that interested. However, I was set on making it further into the season before making a final decision. By the end of season one, I was hooked.

Like I had been bitten by a bug, or zombie, The Walking Dead became a sickness to me. Worst of all, my girlfriend had come down with the same thing. We wanted to know everything about the series. We started collecting autographs of the actors, first on photographs, and then on Funko Pops. We couldn't wait for the next season to air. We even bought a cable package so we could watch it in real time.

To help scratch the itch between the show's cliffhanger and premiere, I turned to the comics. That's when I found myself all the more invested. The comic was so different from the show, but honestly, in a much better way. As I read through the series, I found myself intrigued by the subtle consistencies on the pages as they got translated onto the screen. I saw different characters doing familiar things, and characters which weren't in the books become some of the most popular.

The comics soon became far more intriguing to me than the show. To the point where I stopped watching it all together. To me, I was far more interested and invested in what was happening on the pages of the books.

I don't know if I was as taken aback as others when the announcement, which seemed to have come out of nowhere, informed us all that Robert Kirkman was ending the series in July of 2019. Kirkman had long been known for quoting that the series could go on for a thousand books. While I didn't personally see me sticking around that long, I was certainly expecting it to at least go on for another five to ten years.

Still, the series wrapped up nicely, and while the adventures of certain characters won't continue should it ever be revived, because they're dead, there is still hope that a spin-off could be born down the road picking up in the future of Carl Grimes. It's possible. People do, after all, love their nostalgia. Give it ten years or so and someone will be wanting to revive the story.

Until then, let's have a fond look back at all the covers that encompassed the fifteen plus years of The Walking Dead comic book series.