The Walking Dead #10
The Walking Dead #10 is the gateway issue to the series' most structurally important early setting, introducing the entire Greene family — Hershel, Maggie, and six siblings — along with the Greene family farm, a location so narratively rich that it anchored the comic's second story arc and served as the direct template for the whole of Season 2 of the AMC television adaptation. The issue also plants the seeds for Glenn and Maggie's relationship, which would become the longest-running romance in the comic's run, stretching all the way to issue #100. Beyond its character debuts, this issue delivers one of the comic's most chilling closing beats: Hershel's revelation that the barn is where they keep 'all their dead ones,' a line that reframes the apparent safety of the farm as something far more precarious and morally complicated. It is the issue where Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard first demonstrate the series' signature ability to disguise dread as domesticity.
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Issue #10 was published on July 15, 2004, as the fourth installment of the 'Miles Behind Us' story arc (Volume 2), written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Charlie Adlard, who had taken over interior penciling duties from co-creator Tony Moore starting with issue #7 after Moore had difficulties meeting deadlines. Tony Moore, however, continued providing cover art through issue #24, meaning the cover for #10 bears Moore's distinctive style even as Adlard's grittier interior line work had already become the series' visual identity. Cliff Rathburn provided gray-tone shading on the interiors, and Kirkman himself served as both writer and editor. A notable piece of creative trivia documented in the issue's own 'Cutting Room Floor' commentary (later reprinted in the Deluxe edition) is that Kirkman originally intended Glenn to begin a romantic relationship with Lacey Greene rather than Maggie — a last-minute change that would have drastically altered the trajectory of both characters for the entire 193-issue run.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Hershel Greene, the veterinarian-farmer who becomes one of the series' most significant supporting characters and a moral cornerstone of both the comic and the AMC television series (where he was portrayed by Scott Wilson).
- First appearance of Maggie Greene, who goes on to become one of the most important characters in the entire Walking Dead saga, with her romance with Glenn beginning in this very issue.
- First appearance of the Greene family farm (Hershel's Farm), the central location for the 'Miles Behind Us' arc (issues #10–14) and the direct source material for the AMC show's entire second season.
- First appearances of Billy Greene, Arnold Greene, Lacey Greene, Rachel Greene, Susie Greene, and Patricia — completing the full Greene household roster in a single issue.
- Interior art by Charlie Adlard (his fourth issue on the series), with a cover by Tony Moore; gray tones by Cliff Rathburn — a creative split that defined the visual identity of the early run.
- This issue marks the beginning of the Glenn–Maggie relationship, which the Walking Dead Wiki identifies as the longest-running romance in the comics, running from issue #10 through issue #100.
- A key piece of foreshadowing closes the issue: Hershel tells Rick the barn is off-limits because that is where the group keeps 'all their dead ones,' the first indication that the farm conceals a dangerous secret.
- The issue was reprinted as The Walking Dead: Deluxe #10 (released March 3, 2021) in full color by Dave McCaig, with additional 'Cutting Room Floor' creator commentary by Kirkman — including the revelation that Glenn was originally scripted to pursue Lacey rather than Maggie.
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Reprints
Reprinted in The Walking Dead #2 (2004), The Walking Dead #1 (2006), The Walking Dead Compendium #1 (2009), The Walking Dead en Español #2 (2013), The Walking Dead Deluxe #10 (2021), The Walking Dead Deluxe #10 (2021)
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