KEY POINTS

  • "Negan Lives" will hit bookstores on Wednesday (July 1)
  • This one-off special will focus on the life of Negan, who last appeared in "The Walking Dead" comics in issue #174
  • The "Walking Dead" creator wanted to kill off Negan

"The Walking Dead" co-creator Robert Kirkman took to social media on Monday (June 29) to give fans a preview of "Negan Lives," the one-off special that focuses on the life of Negan, a villain in the comics.

Kirkman wrapped up "The Walking Dead" last year with issue #193, and the final volume did not delve into Negan's life. He was last featured in "The Walking Dead" comic book issue #174, living a quiet life in a deserted town.

Kirkman told The Hollywood Reporter that he and artist Charlie Adlard have decided that they will be giving comic bookshops 100% of the "Negan Lives" proceeds. He explained that this move is intended to show their support for the store owners who contributed to the success of "The Walking Dead."

“While Charlie Adlard and I had laid the series to rest, this felt like something special we could do for the store owners who made our series a success to begin with,” he said.

“The retailer community does backbreaking work to get comics into the hands of our loving fans, we should all be doing more in these trying times to show them how appreciated they are,” Kirkman continued.

The 36-page issue will answer all the questions fans have concerning Negan. It will also look at what the character, who is played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan in AMC's "The Walking Dead" series, has been up to since his last appearance in "The Walking Dead" issue #174.

However, the official synopsis does not provide much insight into what readers can expect. "Spurned by a slowly rebuilding society, Negan lives a life of desperate isolation… or does he?" it reads.

The author had revealed earlier that although Negan was his favorite character, he has tried to kill the character at least three times. But he couldn’t go through with the plan.

"There was even one issue where I wrote Negan's death, and I sent it to Charlie [artist] Adler and he was like, 'Wow, we're killing Negan,'" Kirkman recalled during an interaction at last year’s Comic-Con. "I was like, 'Right, we shouldn't do it!' and I rewrote the script."

The new "Negan Lives" special will hit comic stores on Wednesday.

"The Walking Dead" Season 10 will return to AMC later this year. The Season 10 finale is expected to feature the death of a key character.

Robert Kirkman
"The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman, pictured here at "What's Trending Live" at SXSW in Austin, Texas, on March 14, 2015, recently revealed that he's no longer attached to the "Transformers" writers room. Getty Images