‘The Walking Dead’ Season 4 Comic-to-TV Comparison: “Live Bait”

AMC: Fed up with the Governor’s worsening mental state, Martinez and Shumpert finally decide to abandon the one-eyed villain, leaving him behind at their campsite by the next morning. Martinez reappears by the end of the hour, though whether Shumpert managed to survive the intervening time remains to be seen.

THE COMICS: Much as we saw Martinez bonding with Daryl last season, the Martinez of the books helped Rick, Michonne and Glenn escape from their initial captivity in Woodbury, returning with them to the prison. Martinez quickly thereafter fled, hoping to bring the whole of Woodbury to the more secure prison, though leaving the Governor behind. However, his attempts were cut short, as Rick realized the betrayal and caught up with him.

AMC: During his months-long time alone on the road, the Governor decides to forgo grooming, letting his hair grow longer and raising an impressive beard. Rather than shape it into a bitchin’ stache, however, the Governor returns to his old clean-cut look after time spent with his new family.

THE COMICS: The Governor we met had both long hair and a mustache from the start, though his villainy was apparent, and therefore unhidden by a clean-cut demeanor.

AMC: Along the road, the Governor stops to observe a memorial wall dedicated to those lost, among the names “Brian Heriot.” Later, the Governor gives the name as his own to Tara and Lilly, and continues living under the alias for some time.

THE COMICS: While the comic books identified the Governor’s real name as Philip, we later learned from prequel novel ‘Rise of the Governor’ that the real Philip Blake had been killed sometime after his arrival in Woodbury, leading his brother Brian to adopt the name. Brian, using his brother’s name, would eventually become the Governor we met within the books.

AMC: After being abandoned by his men, the Governor eventually takes shelter with an unnamed family in an apartment complex, consisting of their terminally ill patriarch, his younger and tough daughter Tara, older daughter and former nurse Lilly, and Lilly’s young daughter Megan. The father eventually succumbs to his illness, for which the Governor violently puts him down afterward, before the four set out on the road for a new home. Along the way, the Governor forms a surrogate family with the group, getting romantically involved with Lilly.

THE COMICS: In the prequel novel ‘Rise of the Governor,’ we learn that Philip Blake, his brother Brian (the actual future Governor), Philip’s daughter Penny and their friend Nick came to stay with the Chalmers family in an Atlanta apartment complex, consisting of similarly ailing patriarch David and his daughters, April and Tara. David died under similar circumstances, forcing Philip to put him down before he could attack Tara, for which both sisters eventually forgave him. Their relatively peaceful accord came to an end when Philip raped April, and Tara forced Philip’s group out at gunpoint, never to be heard from again.

Also worth noting is that the Tara of the book was described as significantly overweight, while the names “Megan” and “Lilly” could have been borrowed from two characters that figured into sequel novel ‘The Road to Woodbury.’ There, the two were high school friends, rather than mother and daughter.