Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Walking Dead Deluxe #83! Using zombie guts as camouflage is something that’s happened in both the live-action and comic book versions of The Walking Dead, and – for the most part – it works pretty well. In fact, in both iterations, there’s an entire villain group called the Whisperers who wear Walker skin practically all the time. However, as prevalent as this particular survival tactic is in The Walking Dead, it sadly makes no sense – something The Walking Dead itself called out.
The Walking Dead Deluxe #83 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard is a fully-colored re-release of the original The Walking Dead #83, complete with Jessie and Ron’s heart-wrenching deaths and – of course – Carl getting his eye shot out of his head. However, the Deluxe issue also included a bit more than just color, but also a two-page gag comic poking fun at the logic of the survivors wearing Walker guts and skin as camouflage.
“Small Bites” by Derek Hunter repeats the heavily dramatic scene from The Walking Dead #83 that depicted the survivors coming up with a plan to escape the building that was surrounded by Walkers. In the comic, Rick makes ‘Walker ponchos’ for everyone to wear, and while the plan does fail, everyone is safe wearing the ‘ponchos’. As in, the ‘ponchos’ themselves didn’t put anyone in danger, when – as called out in “Small Bites” – they absolutely would have.
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Wearing Zombie Guts as Camouflage Puts The Walking Dead Survivors at Risk of Infection
The two-page gag comic rightly points out that if any of them accidentally got a piece of zombie guts in their mouths, eyes, or any other orifice, they’d become infected the same way they’d be infected if a Walker bit them. Even the tiniest little bit of Walker guts in their systems would kill them instantly, and they’d join the ever-growing ranks of the undead.
Of course, The Walking Dead doesn’t address this, as wearing zombie guts as camouflage is used seamlessly throughout the series, so it being presented as a problem during one scene and not another would create unnecessary plot holes. This is a story about the dead rising to consume the flesh of the living, after all, so the idea that humans can wear zombie guts without fear of infection isn’t that big of a stretch in terms of suspending one’s disbelief.
The Walking Dead Isn’t the First Zombie Series to Address the ‘Zombie Guts’ Problem
28 Days Later (2002)
In 2002’s 28 Days Later, Brendan Gleeson’s character, Frank, becomes infected with this universe’s version of the ‘zombie virus’ after a drop of infected blood accidentally falls into his eye. Frank wasn’t bitten or scratched, he was turned into a rage-filled ‘zombie’ from a single drop of blood that entered his system. While Frank wasn’t wearing the skin and guts of an infected person like a poncho, the end result would have been the same if he were.
28 Days Later confirms how dangerous even the remains of zombies truly are, not just in The Walking Dead, but across the entire ‘zombie’ subgenre. However, it wasn’t until “Small Bites” that The Walking Dead itself finally admits that survivors using zombie guts as camouflage makes no sense.
The Walking Dead Deluxe #83 from Image Comics is available now.
