The Walking Dead comic has been over for a year now, and it seems that it's most vile villain Negan's story has come to an end as well.
Originally introduced in The Walking Dead #100 and armed with his trusty baseball bat, Lucille (named after Negan's deceased wife), Negan would show little mercy, and expected all under his thumb to follow his rules. Despite his brutal ways, Negan quickly won fans over with his charm and colorful language. Though Negan almost met his end at the hands of Maggie, Glenn's widow, she decided that leaving Negan alone and miserable was a more fitting punishment for the former leader. Though that seemed to be the end of the story, aside from a brief appearance in the final issue of The Walking Dead, fans were treated to another Negan story far more recently.
Released on July 1st, 2020, Negan Lives was a one-shot written by series creator Robert Kirkman and drawn by Charlie Adlard, that gave fans more insight into Negan's life after his release from prison. Negan refused to take his own life, but was beginning to grow more and more weary of his current situation. However, Negan encountered a fellow survivor named Lucy who, despite having broken into Negan's living quarters, got along well with the former villain. Negan sensed that Lucy's friendly nature was a facade, and fell victim to bandits who wanted to kill Negan and take refuge in his home. Despite Negan refusing to resist, the bandits quickly threatened Lucy's life if Negan did not comply with their orders. A well timed zombie attack ended up saving Negan and Lucy's life, as it provided a necessary distraction for Negan to overwhelm the bandits. Realizing that his wife was never properly buried, Negan decides to go on a journey of his own. It seemed that Negan was about to embark on a brand new journey that fans could be privy to. However, series creator Robert Kirkman has recently confirmed that this is not the case.
At the "Comic-Con @ Home" 2020 event, Robert Kirkman confirmed that the story introduced in the Negan Lives one-shot will not continue at this time. Kirkman explained that, even though the issue "very much ends in a way that pretty much tells you that it is not a one-shot," that the issue is indeed a one-shot with no plans for a continuation. Kirkman went on to explain that Negan Lives was meant to set up the journey that Negan would go on to find his wife's body, and that such a journey might be "a very exciting journey that has a lot of twists and turns along the way." However Kirkman also points out that, in The Walking Dead #193, Negan, when placing flowers over his wife's grave is not placing them over the same headstone found in Negan Lives, but rather a different headstone. This indicates that, in the future, Negan will be successful in finding his wife's remains and laying her to rest. To Kirkman. given that Negan's journey has a definitive ending, it begs the question as to whether or not this journey needs to be told.
While the news may be disappointing to some fans, it does make sense to not follow up on Negan's journey right away. Part of the fun of The Walking Dead is the suspense of not knowing who will live and die from issue to issue, and knowing that Negan will live throughout the story removes some of the suspense. While it might be fun to see Negan beating on zombies and bandits while using that colorful language we know and love him for, would it really add to his character arc overall?
Still, Robert Kirkman has not entirely ruled out the possibility of revisiting Negan in the future. Kirkman noted that revisiting Negan on this journey "might be fun," to see, and that maybe someday Negan's journey will be explored. Ultimately that there are "no plans whatsoever at this point" to revisit Negan in the world of The Walking Dead. However, despite this, there are plenty of Walking Dead stories to follow in the near future, as the original Walking Dead series is going to be reprinted in color in October, casting a whole new light on the original stories. Furthermore, AMC's Walking Dead season 10 finale will air on October 4th 2020, with additional episodes being planed for 2021. Still, it would be nice to revisit Negan in the world of The Walking Dead in the future, perhaps with a brand new baseball bat by his side?