The Walking Dead comic book’s final issue is now on the shelves and the story that started with an injured police officer waking up in a hospital bed has come to an end. On the off chance that you don’t have a chance to get down to your local comic book shop before it sells out, we have a brief wrap-up of what happens for you as well as the final fates of your favorite characters.

If you don’t want to know, this is your last chance to turn back. If you are a fan of the TV series, there might be some clues about where the show is heading, but as many of the characters in the book are now dead on the TV show, there is going to be a lot of differences.

First, let’s do a quick recap of the episode:
The big surprise in the issue is that we got treated to a pretty substantial time jump. They don’t tell you exactly how long it has been, but you can guess its been at least 10-15 years. The biggest clue to this is that Carl and Sophia are married and living in Hershel’s farm with Andrea, their six-year-old daughter.

Kirkman gave up his dismal initial ending in favor of one where the world is getting back to some semblance of normality. The Walkers are no longer a problem and are treated similarly to how they were at the end of Shaun of The Dead. In fact, they are now used for some as sideshow entertainment. One such person doing this is Hershel Green II, the son of Maggie and Glenn.

When one of Hershel’s walkers wanders onto Carl and Sophia’s property, Carl kills it and is then fined by the police for the destruction of Hershel’s property. This ends up sending Carl to Court where he must argue his case to the judge of the high court, Judge Hawthorne, who you may know as former lawyer and badass, Michonne.

In the end, it’s decided that Walkers should not be used as entertainment, Carl is vindicated and he goes home and reads a story to his daughter about her Grandfather Rick. The End.

So, what does this mean for the main characters of the show?
Rick Grimes: Dead
Carl Grimes: Married to Sophia, They have a kid. Life is pretty OK.
Sophia Grimes: Married to Carl. They have a kid. Life is pretty OK.
Maggie: Lives in the Commonwealth. She’s now The President of the USA.
Hershel II: He’s making money by using Walkers for entertainment. He’s a disappointment to his mom, dad, and grandpa.
Michonne: Goes by Judge Hawthorne. She’s now the lead judge of the high court.
Negan: He’s still around. He’s old. He’s Sad. He’s mourning his wife’s passing.
Sebastian Milton: The boy who killed Rick Grimes is rotting in prison.
Eugene: Eugene is still being Eugene. He’s currently trying to re-establish a trans-continental railway.
Jesus and Aaron: The comic book gave them the happy ending that the TV show denied them. –