The monster success of The walking lifeless feels so inevitable now. The convey, which has damaged one ratings and social media file (the season 5 greatest earned 17 million complete viewers and 1,320,056 tweets) after another, is the cultural phenomenon we’d like and deserve as a society reckoning with our personal all of sudden looming mortality. It may not be walkers on the horizon, but we are living with the collective feeling that something is going to overrun our idyllic farm sooner slightly than later.

yet, issues can have been so different had Robert Kirkman not long gone to Wizard World in Chicago in 2000 and sat throughout from a a hit, however depressing, comedian creator. Kirkman, now well-known for developing The strolling lifeless comics and show went to the comics conference to peddle his first self-revealed comic struggle Pope, a couple of put up-rapture, sure, pontiff, and his sidekick, Jesus. His booth was throughout from the creator (who shall stay unnamed) of a well-known comedian that had been made into a famous film. He had the whole lot that Kirkman needed, but he appeared desperately unhappy. “observing that,” says Kirkman, “I used to be like, that thing he did is more widespread than I might ever dream fight Pope could be however he’s only obtained the one thing. I left that conference and that i utterly modified my career plan.”

as the October optimal of TWD season six, and the August 23 debut of spinoff collection concern the walking dead lurch ever nearer, watch Kirkman speak about battle Pope, and a comic book creator to whom he owes a thank you for spurring him to create a groaning, shuffling leisure colossus.