‘Walking Dead’ Character Negan To Finally Be Explained In Spinoff Origin Story By Robert Kirkman

There’s never been a more exciting, and frustrating, time to be a fan of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” now that comic book character Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has swung his way onto the show. Luckily for fans, Negan is about to get a whole lot less mysterious, thanks to a comic book origin story.

It has been announced that the New York Times bestselling team of Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard will work together to create a 48-page story set in the universe of “The Walking Dead.” That story will explain where Negan came from and how he survived the zombie apocalypse long enough to cross Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and lead his group of Saviors. Four-page installments of “Here’s Negan” will come out monthly in the first 12 issues of Images+ magazine. They’ll then be available to purchase as part of Diamond Comic Distributors’ monthly Previews Catalog and as standalone issues of their own for $1.99 each.

As if getting an insight into what makes the psychopath who caused such a stir in the Season 6 cliffhanger ending wasn’t enticing enough, the Hollywood Reporter revealed the first page of the coming comic spinoff. In it, a younger-looking Negan can be seen sitting alone at a campfire crafting his infamous barbed-wire baseball bat, Lucille.

It’s worth noting that the origin story will cover the comic book version of Negan, not the TV version. But Negan’s appeared only briefly on the AMC series so far, so there’s not a lot of difference between the two characters right now. As a result, the one person who will likely benefit from the comic series the most is Morgan himself. Part of what's made Negan such a menacing force is that no one knows much about him.

“He’s not a bad guy for me. That’s how I’ve always approached him. I’ve played a couple bad guys in my life, and I have a lot of fun with it, but I never approach it like he’s the bad guy. I approach it like he’s a guy. I mean, the zombie apocalypse has taken over the world,” Morgan told Entertainment Weekly. "I think the backstory of Negan is that he used to be a used car salesman. That’s what I know, and there’s not a whole lot beyond that.”

The first issue of Image+ drops on April 27. Will you be picking up a copy to learn more about Negan ahead of his Season 7 return? Comment below or tweet your thoughts to @TylerMcCarthy.