The Walking Dead Creator Robert Kirkman Often Lied To Fans For A Very Good Reason

Creator and writer of the "The Walking Dead" comics Robert Kirkman was not opposed to the occasional fib. Not only did he lie to the comics' publishers at the start of their run, but at the end of most "Walking Dead" comic issues, there'd be a "Letter Hacks" section where Kirkman could lie to the readers. 

"I also intentionally mislead in the letters column from time to time to steer eagle-eyed readers away from the upcoming plot threads," as Kirkman once revealed (via ComicBook.com). "That's fun. At some point, someone should take it upon themselves to read all the Letter Hacks over the years and see if they can figure out when I knew of an upcoming storyline and was clearly misleading people, and when I just changed my mind or came up with a new idea."

Perhaps the most egregious lie of Kirkman's concerned the villain Negan, who was eventually imprisoned by the franchise's heroes but soon escaped from his jail cell. In issue #151, Kirkman responded to a reader question, stating, "Negan is NEVER getting out of that cell. EVER. Sorry." Then, in the very next issue, Negan got out.

I find the sheer brazenness of this lie very funny, but not every fan was amused. In the Letter Hacks section of issue #152, Kirkman responded to a reader question (well, more of a reader comment) calling him a "goddamn dirty liar." Kirkman defended himself by writing back: 

"I like to enhance the experience for [devoted readers] as best I can. Sometimes it's by lying about a thing I know is coming VERY soon, other times it's by seemingly spoiling big things which sometimes come to pass ... and sometimes don't. It makes things more fun! So read Letter Hacks, people! You never know what's going to happen!"

Some may resent Kirkman's dishonest ways, but there were points in the "Walking Dead" TV series where maybe the showrunner should've taken a cue from his approach. The most obvious example came early in season 6 when the fan-favorite character Glenn (Steven Yeun) seemingly died on-screen in the third episode. Some fans noted that his death was filmed oddly; we see walkers ripping apart his guts, yes, but the awkward camera angle left open the possibility that it was another character's guts who the walkers were really tearing through.

Some fans were instantly suspicious that the show was pulling a fake-out, while other fans didn't suspect anything until they later watched "The Talking Dead," a live show that would do an "In Memoriam" segment for every character (and walker) who died each week. The episode notably did not include an "In Memoriam" for Glenn, and showrunner Scott Gimple gave a statement in the episode where he promised viewers, "We will see Glenn, some version of Glenn or parts of Glenn again, either in flashback or in the current story to help complete the story."

This vague, non-committal answer made it clear Glenn was still alive (at least for the moment). This was a pretty controversial storyline for the show and was criticized for being a manipulative attempt to boost ratings, but I think it could've gone down a lot smoother if Gimple had taken Kirkman's screw-the-audience approach and just straight-up lied. He should've allowed "The Talking Dead" to give Glenn a fake Memoriam segment and then told viewers that Glenn was "NEVER" coming back, "EVER." In its own weird way, this approach would've been the more faithful one to the comics. A lie this bold might've made Kirkman proud.