In the new deluxe editions of Image Comics’ The Walking Dead series, fans can revisit the harrowing journey of Rick Grimes and his ragtag band of survivors in full color as they navigate a world ravaged by a zombie apocalypse. And now the latest variant cover for an upcoming issue has made one of Rick’s most brutal kills tragically beautiful in a way that fans never expected.
Seen on the cover for the upcoming variant of The Walking Dead Deluxe #36, written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Charlie Adlard, artist J. Totino Tedesco presents a scene from this issue that’s as disturbing as it is integral to the Walking Dead story being told. And while fans will have to wait a little longer to add this cover to their physical (or digital) collections, the image has already been released by Tedesco on his Twitter feed for all to see.
Depicting a moment after Rick tracks down a fleeing Martinez as he tries to make it to the Governor and his people in Woodbury, Rick is seeing red as he believes that Martinez will unleash hell upon his group at the nearby prison should he be allowed to reach his destination. Catching up to Martinez in a rundown RV, Rick Grimes barrels straight into the poor guy, breaking his body in a way that Martinez cannot readily recover from. And as Rick stands over Martinez, Rick screams in his face, calling out a man that in Rick’s mind has threatened his very livelihood, immediately giving cover artist J. Totino Tedesco a brutal moment to illustrate spectacularly.
Showing Rick as he chokes out Martinez with his good hand, Tedesco’s cover is drawn in a way that brings the bloody realism of Rick’s kill to life, while expertly mixing the beauty of the overgrown landscape around them. Pinning Martinez down as he ends his life, Rick Grimes’ face is depicted in a twisted state of emotional rage, and despite the dark reason behind this murder (because that’s what it is, murder), juxtaposing the vivid brilliance of the red flowers around their struggling bodies adds a tragic and beautiful element to a scene that ends up affecting Rick more than he lets on.
Acting as one of the early defining moments in the series for Rick as he struggles with what needs to be done to keep his friends and family safe, killing Martinez was undoubtedly a hard decision to make, but one that Rick knew he had to go through with nonetheless. Coming across as the bad guy in this instance as he ruthlessly strangles Martinez to death, this kill eventually pushes Rick to re-examine how he acts as the figurehead of his group, even leading him to later tell his wife, Lori, that he’s turning into an animal, this kill further acting as a pivotal moment in his long personal journey of becoming one of the most important and popular heroes of The Walking Dead universe.
So while Rick and his fellow zombie apocalypse survivors are forced to accept death and violence as a means to an end in a world that’s now full of it, this specific kill is one that changed Rick more than most. Rick Grimes committed some heroically violent acts to keep his community together throughout The Walking Dead’s near two hundred issues, and with this latest variant cover, his darkest kill becomes one worth remembering.
