Rick Grimes 2000

In issue #75 of “The Walking Dead,” Robert Kirkman made good on a promise to a letter-writer he answered in issue #2 of the series.  That’s when he promised… ALIENS!  Which is why issue #75 featured an out-of-continuity backup story illustrated by “Invincible” artist Ryan Ottley where Rick Grimes woke up in a sci-fi version of the world he knew where the dead had been brought back by aliens.  Oh, and they had also brought back his wife Lori and the Governor – now with a gigantic robotic claw hand too!

It was the right amount of ridiculousness for a 7-page backup story and it remains the only issue of “The Walking Dead” that I actually own.  That’s because there were no plans to reprint this story, until now.  The story was reprinted (with a new introductory page) in the first issue of the “Skybound X” anthology series that was published to mark the 10th anniversary of Skybound, Kirkman’s publishing imprint at Image.  It was then followed by four more installments in subsequent issues of the anthology which only built on the insanity of the original short.

So if you’re curious to see what the over-the-top sci-fi versions of Michonne, Negan, Alpha and Beta look like, then “Rick Grimes 2000” has you covered.  It also has you covered if you’re looking for a parodic version of “The Walking Dead” that channels direct-to-video schlock of the 90’s and the toyetic extremism of Saturday Morning Cartoons.  Kirkman and Ottley are very much in on the joke here and they play it to the hilt.  Ottley in particular looks like he’s having a blast with all of the crazy that he’s being asked to draw here.  Though the $20 price point for a 64-page hardcover means that this is likely only going to appeal to the most rabid fans of “The Walking Dead,” Kirkman, and Ottley, but I have no doubt that they’ll be satisfied by what they find here.