The biggest change from The Walking Dead to the comic book was never the creation of Daryl

The Walking Dead TV shows made many changes to the comic books, but the biggest was much more subtle, though no less influential. Comic changes in The Walking Dead Shows are not unusual, with some of the most influential characters of the latter, who are not even in the former. Daryl Dixon, for example, is widely regarded as one of The Walking Dead‘s best ranked characters, despite not being part of the source material.

Daryl is responsible for some of The Walking Deads best episodes and character arcs, proving how the show isn’t afraid to make positive changes where necessary. Many of the changes have resulted in the adaptation becoming entirely its own thing, with The Walking DeadMany spin-offs make it its own franchise that is much differentiated from the comics. However, the more overt, obvious differences are not the biggest THe’s going dead Made to the source material, with the most influential change actually much more subtle.

The set of The Walking Dead was radically different from the comics

The Walking Dead TV show was much slower paced than the source material

The big change in question was The Walking Deads pacing. That said, the change is not as visible as the invented characters like Daryl, or Rick’s relationship with Michonne, rather than Andrea as in the comics. Instead, the pacing of The Walking Dead is more subtle, although those familiar with the original comic books will notice how radically different it is. In the comic books, events happened much faster than they were presented in the show.

One prime example of the different pacing in the show is Rick’s group finding the prison and the conflict they have with the general. The Walking Dead TV show does not introduce the prison or the governor until the third season. In the comic books, the prison is found at the end of the second volume and the governor is introduced in volume 5. As shown, The Walking DeadThe show’s timeline is much slower, deliberately so, than the source material, in order to better flesh out characters, storylines and arcs.

Similarly, the storyline after The General involving Rick’s group searching for safety and encountering cannibals happens much faster. The Cannibals and The Quest for Washington all take place in one volume of The Walking Deads comics, specifically volume 11, with Alexandria found in volume 12. In The Walking Dead show, the storyline involving the cannibals takes up the last half of season 4 and the first few episodes of season 5, with Alexandria not being found until the back half of season 5, typically. The Walking Dead TV show slower pacing.

Shane’s death in The Walking Dead illustrates how different the show was to the comics

A major storyline in two seasons of The Walking Dead was resolved much more quickly in the comics

Perhaps the most obvious example of The Walking Dead The speed of television shows is the death of beauty. In the TV show, Shane lives for the entire first two seasons and is killed on Herschel Greene’s farm by Rick in the penultimate episode of season 2. However, Shane never makes it to the green farm in the comics and is killed by Carl at the end of The Walking DeadS first volumeSix issues in the story. Of course, the comic books have a much quicker pacing than the show’s chronology, with major events in the latter.

Shane’s death is one of the most important early storylines in The Walking Dead TV show. The adoption left a beautiful character, which he survived long enough to find Herschel’s farm. At the time of his death, it felt like a major turning point for Rick’s character as well as the overall vibe of the group of survivors. Although it was depicted as such in the comics as well, the more drawn-out timeline of the show translated this better.

The Walking Dead diverged more and more from the comics as it went on

The show eventually crafted its own identity

As explored, the first five or six seasons of The Walking Dead Followed the comics relatively closely. While some changes were made and many storylines were slowed down to be more fleshed out, the overarching plot points of the comics were shown in The Walking Dead TV show. That said, as the show grew, it began to diverge from the comics more drastically. The Walking Deads popularity allowed the show to explore its own identity and become a franchise separate from the comics.

This is exemplified by the many walking dead Spin-offs. The Walking Dead: Daryl DixonFor example, takes place in a completely different country and centers on a character that did not exist in the comics. Other spin-offs viz The Walking Dead: Dead City Follow storylines set years after the original show based on Maggie and Negan, while Those who live Resurrect Rick who died in the original comic books. Above the many other changes, the spin-offs prove that The Walking Dead became its own thing, arguably spiraling from the slower, more deliberate pacing of the early seasons.