Contains discussion of sexual violence.
Image Comics' Rick ultimately reaches a moment where he's indistinguishable form the zombie horde.
In issue #57 - running low on food and supplies - Rick prepares to venture back to his old hometown of Cynthiana, Kentucky with his son Carl and heralded the arrival of the Rick who believed survival was everything. Indeed, Kirkman describes this as the moment Rick becomes "a living zombie."
Rick Sacrifices His Humanity to Save Carl
Rick may have only reached the rank of human zombie in issue #57, but the catalyst which would spur such a transformation had been planned for years prior to Grimes' encounter with the trio of merciless roadside bandits. Kirkman notes in the letters pages for the Walking Dead Deluxe #57, with full-color art from Adlard and colorist Dave McCaig, that it was always his intention to have Rick bite another survivor in this manner, saying:
Rick essentially becomes a living zombie in order to save [Carl]. I'd had the "Rick bites a guy like a zombie" scene planned for a while. ... I just thought it would be cool to push things to the point where Rick had to behave like a zombie in order to survive. From there, it was just a matter of coming up with a situation dire enough to drive Rick to do that.
Even Rick Can Become a Monster
Rick would eventually reclaim his humanity, decisively declaring to his fellow survivors "We are not the walking dead," but this moment showed that when it came to his family, Rick was prepared to set aside his personhood in service of a basic, primal need to protect. While his motivations are far more altruistic than the living dead which surround him, the moment sees Rick lose all semblance of human restraint, using every tool at his disposal to savage and kill his son's attackers. It was the most intense window into who Rick (or any of the survivors) could become if they didn't hold fast to their sense of humanity and identity. Ultimately, the moment shows that the zombies are humans with their higher cognition removed, but nothing added - anyone is capable of becoming a monster when their moral instincts are set aside.
Though the comic book series follows a survival horror template, The Walking Dead is even more a psychological drama focused on the effects on its human survivors. Tracking Rick's evolution from a clean-cut Kentucky sheriff to a spiritual zombie capable of ripping apart a man's throat with his teeth is essentially the moral center of the series. Rick may reclaim his morality as the series progresses, but this gory moment confirms that every character within The Walking Dead is prepared to do monstrous things to survive and protect the ones they hold dear - what sets hero apart from villain is who embraces this truth as a way of life, and who fights to embody something more.
Image Comics' The Walking Dead Deluxe #57 is available now.
