‘The Walking Dead’ Season 3 Comic-to-TV Comparison: “Walk With Me”

AMC: A chopper carrying military personnel breaks down in mid-air, and goes careening into the tree-line. Andrea and Michonne observer the plume of smoke from a distance, and move to investigate, but Michonne’s observations are quickly cut short when The Governor arrives with his men. The chopper is later revealed to be that of an evacuated military regiment, scouting ahead for their convoy when the vehicle crashed.

THE COMICS: Rick and Glenn first saw the chopper overhead at the prison, before realizing it was in the process of crashing. Michonne accompanied the pair to the crash site, only to find that the occupants were already gone, before the trio eventually tracked their movement to Woodbury. The Governor himself later explains that its occupants were that of a news team previously holed up at their TV station, whose helicopter crashed because of a sabotaged engine.

AMC: You didn’t think we were going to ignore this guy, did we? AMC’s presentation of the Governor seems exceptionally charming, and a strong leader that even Merle bows in deference too. The Governor arrives on the scene and puts the undead soldiers out of their misery, advising his other men not to waste their bullets on incoming walkers.

THE COMICS: With distinctively longer hair and a horseshoe mustache, the Comic Governor was first introduced within Woodbury itself, and only took minutes to show the range of his sadistic cruelty to Rick, Michonne and Glenn. For the most part, the town still deferred to him.

AMC: We’re introduced to several in the Governor’s entourage apart from Merle, including (from what we could tell) Rawlin and Shupert. One man brandished a baseball bat in his zombie kills, while Shupert seemed to utilize a bow and arrow. Ten bucks he gets pitted against Daryl.

THE COMICS: The Governor’s closest confidants were observed to be Bruce and Gabe, though we haven’t heard many of the AMC Woodbury soldier’s first names. At least Eugene, arena fighter of the books was observed to a baseball bat as his primary weapon.

AMC: Chained to a nearby tree, the activity of the Governor’s men seems to rile up Michonne’s walkers, drawing unwanted attention. Michonne deftly slices their heads off, but later becomes very withdrawn to speak about them or their individual identities.

THE COMICS: Michonne traveled with her walkers in tow as far as the prison, wherein saving Otis’ life granted her a place to sleep upon their arrival. Rick refused to allow the walkers in however, and Michonne swiftly decapitated them without a second thought. The pair were revealed in life to be Michonne’s boyfriend Mike, and his friend Terry, though comic Michonne wasn’t shy about this fact.

Granted, Merle has no comic counterpart, and never did, we still thought it worth mentioning. Surprisingly Merle seems relatively friendly toward Andrea and Michonne after retrieving them from the wilderness, sympathizing over the loss of her sister Amy. His temper flares in a later argument with Milton, but time will see how well Merle keeps it together.

AMC: Though we’re mostly limited by Andrea’s lack of consciousness, Merle, the Governor and the others escort Andrea and Michonne into town, keeping them mostly under guard during treatment before welcoming them as guests.

THE COMICS: Rick, Glenn and Michonne first fount Woodbury in their search for the missing helicopter crew, and despite being forced to surrender their weapons, were largely welcomed into the town....for about five minutes. IT was then that the Governor revealed that the three were to be held captive until they revealed where they came from, while “Biter Fights” raged in the arena nearby.

AMC: We’re reminded that AMC’s Andrea and Michonne weren’t around for Rick’s big speech, and therefore aren’t yet aware that people reanimate as walkers regardless of their cause of death. The Governor is first to explain this to them, clearing up confusion over why he stabbed the dead soldiers.

THE COMICS: While Michonne was not yet introduced, Andrea originally learned the basics of reanimation as with the others at the prison, when Tyreese’s daughter July reanimated after being shot in the chest. Michonne seems to have either already known, or found out off-page.

AMC: While initially the streets are emptied due to the Governor’s curfew, we learn over the course of the hour that the residents of Woodbury are largely content, and operate school and jobs even for the children. The town seems largely secure in its borders, with very few deaths or complaints.

THE COMICS: While still mostly secure, the comic Woodbury was observed to be somewhat less idyllic, as its residents regularly observed the “Biter Fights” as entertainment. It was noted that Walkers did occasionally breach the borders, and not all were so reverent toward its Governor.

AMC: At Andrea’s prompting The Governor laughs off his title as more of a nickname, though she subtly implies that the name seems presumptuous. Later, Andrea asks for his real name, to which he replies that he never gives it.

THE COMICS: Similarly, the comic Governor laughed off his title as less presumptuous than “President,” but wasn’t shy about revealing his given name of Philip. Of course, readers of the novel “Rise of the Governor” well know that “Philip” was not always his name.

AMC: An unnamed middle-age woman initially treats Andrea, and later helps the Governor patch up helicopter pilot Wells. Later, she is identified off-screen as Doctor Stevens.

THE COMICS: The on-paper version of Dr. Stevens was seen to be an older man, often aided by his young assistant Alice. Stevens has a firm dislike of The Governor’s barbaric ways, and attempted to escape with the others, only to be felled by a walker in the process.

AMC: While we’ve heard a variety of different names over the course of the first few seasons, Andrea and Michonne’s tour guide refers to the undead as “biters,” a term also later utilized by The Governor. The Governor also refers to some varieties as “lurkers,” a term from the books utilized by Rick’s group.

THE COMICS: Much as in the AMC version, the town of Woodbury were the first to refer to zombies as “biters,” whereas Rick and the others had made distinctions between “roamers” and “lurkers.” Alice later dismissed there idea, seeing no point to making classifications.

AMC: We’re introduced to Milton as the Governor’s scientific counsel, who learns from the remains of MIchonne’s walkers precisely how cutting off their arms and jaws made them docile.

THE COMICS: Milton has no comic counterpart, though he does somewhat resemble Dr. Stevens. The Governor himself never seemed to carry out any experiments of the sort, and Michonne’s walkers keeping her safe from harm wasn’t given much exploration, either.

AMC: As we learn from their little breakfast soiree, Michonne has extreme difficulty trusting either Milton or The Governor, and clams up at the thought of explaining the identity of her walkers, even to Andrea.

THE COMICS: Michonne never had any trouble explaining her walkers to others, but did remain rather stoic and guarded about the imaginary conversation she held, which Andrea once walked in on.

AMC: The Governor explains to Andrea that he has much grander designs than keeping the town of Woodbury safe, and eventually plans to expand into the outside world and reclaim the Earth for humanity. One lingering mystery of the hour comes from Milton’s mysterious tea, and why he seemed so insistent that Andrea, Michonne, as well as the Governor would drink it.

THE COMICS: Still every bit as sadistic and manipulative, the comic Governor never seemed to have any intent of expanding Woodbury, or saving humanity. This mysterious tea certainly wasn’t a factor, either.

AMC: After learning of their whereabouts from the downed pilot, The Governor finds Wells’ National Guard convoy, and ambushes all of the men in order to take their supplies.

THE COMICS: Any kind of active military presence has yet to be seen from the books, but it was worth noting that The Governor and his men largely armed themselves from a nearby National Guard station adjacent to Woodbury, which Rick’s group eventually destroyed.

AMC: After returning from the slaughter, the Governor addresses the town, and charismatically manipulates the citizens into believing that the troops were already dead, but they should honor their sacrifice by being grateful for their secure town.

THE COMICS: The printed Governor was a bit less revered by the town, but were often manipulated, and rallied into believing Rick’s group to be savage when the Governor’s men recovered the body of Caesar Martinez.

AMC: Good grief, that girl has a thing for psychopaths. Several times over the course of the hour we see Andrea and the Governor sharing rather flirtatious exchanges, likely to be explored in a future episode. So too do we see that the Governor is far from celibate, bedding one of the town women.

THE COMICS: Granted, the comic Governor showed his villainous side to the survivors rather early, he still never showed any romantic interest with anyone. He did rape Michonne repeatedly and tongue-kiss his zombified niece, but nothing weird, or anything.

AMC: Looking over a photo of his absent wife and daughter, the Governor retreats into a private, locked room in his apartment, and reclines in a chair to stare at the many tanks full of zombie heads he collects!

THE COMICS: Those familiar with the comic origins of the Governor know that he has no wife or children of his own to speak of, but certainly kept the same disturbing room full of zombie heads. It’s also worth noting that he wasn’t so private about it either, nor with his zombified niece Penny.