Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead zombie comics, hams it up on the floor at Comic-Con International.
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

SAN DIEGO — All in all, Robert Kirkman has had a pretty good year. When Wired.com talked to the comic book creator at Comic-Con International in 2010, he was asking people to “give zombies a chance.” Now The Walking Dead are everywhere.

Now that the second season is in the works, with Kirkman on board as a writer and executive producer, Wired.com caught up with the scribe at Comic-Con to get his thoughts on adapting comics for TV, Walking Dead’s next season and the zombie revolution.

Wired.com: Last year when we spoke to you, you said that vampires were great and all but that people should give zombies a chance. Looks like you got your wish.

Robert Kirkman: I think it’s amazing. It’s definitely time. They’ve been a niche part of horror for far too long. I think they’re just a great storytelling vehicle. Zombies as a threat drive you to write about your characters in ways that other horror things don’t. Vampire stories are about vampires kissing or it’s about a guy finding the garlic or using the cross to fight a dude. With werewolves it’s all about don’t go out when the moon is full or this guy’s turning into a big monster. But a zombie story is about protecting your children and keeping your family safe or dealing with the loss of a loved one. These are universal themes that apply to everyday life in a way that other horror stories really just don’t.

Wired.com: What did you think about how the first season of The Walking Dead turned out?

Kirkman: The response has been overwhelming. When you go into something like that, it’s an adaptation, and being a comic book writer you hear horror stories about being cut out of the process or things being done that you don’t like. So I was very selective going into it because I knew the most power I had was before I said “yes.”

Deciding to go with [executive producers] Frank Darabont and Gale Anne Hurd and AMC definitely seemed like the right move at the time, but there’s all those different stages. Like before the pilot script comes in [you're thinking], “How is this going to go?” Or when you’re on set wondering, “What’s this going to look like?” And every step of the way I got more and more reassured that we were doing something really cool. I was absolutely blown away. But at the end of the day good shows fail all the time. I knew it was a good show and was hoping other people liked it.

Wired.com: Season 1 followed the books pretty closely. Will Season 2 do the same?

Kirkman: It’s definitely “most.” Most of the season is going to follow the books pretty closely. There’s going to be events that eagle-eyed comic book fans are going to watch in the trailer that was released (below) and go, “Oh I know what’s going to happen there. I know what’s going to happen after that.” There’s always going to be twists and turns that are going to surprise even the comic fans and I think that’s very important.

One of the best aspects of the comic book series is that you never know what you’re going to expect when you sit down to read an issue. You don’t know who’s going to live and who is going to die and I want to maintain that level of surprise for the television show.

Wired.com: With adaptations, do you think it’s sometimes better to change it up, so that fans don’t just get a TV retelling of a story they already know?

Kirkman: Absolutely. Watchmen is the best example of this. It’s an amazingly shot film, it looks great, it’s a good movie, it’s really cool. I’ve read that comic book 13, maybe 20 times, and I’m in the theater thinking, “Yeah, I wish there was something new for me here.” It’s basically like watching a bunch of people act out a comic book for me in very expensive clothes. And there are some things that work well in comics that don’t work when things are moving and there’s sound. There’s also a tremendous amount of things I can’t do in the comic books because I don’t have motion or sound.

Wired.com: What can you tell us about Season 2?

Kirkman: Nothing.

‘There’s always going to be twists and turns that are going to surprise even the comic fans.’

Wired.com: Oh.

Kirkman: [Smiles] In Season 2 there’s a lot going on. We got a big change of scenery. Season 1 was very metropolitan, it’s all about empty Atlanta. It’s all about desolate streets. The city in shambles. We’ve moved out into a more rural area in Georgia. It’s a much more desperate situation for our characters; they’re not safe in camp, they can’t duck into a building or car when they get attacked. They’re out on the road, they have no supplies, they have no food, no shelter. There’s danger lurking around every tree.

Wired.com: So what’s next?

Kirkman: I’m going to continue working on the show — I’m very happy with how things are going there. I like being in the writers’ room. The comic book series is going strong. My new imprint, Skybound with Image Comics, we’re going to be doing a couple new books through that. We’ve got a new book called The Infinite that’ll be debuting in August. I just debuted Super Dinosaur — my first all-ages comic. My superhero series Invincible will be hitting its 100th issue next year. I like to keep busy.

The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Oct. 16.