The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman has been accused of using his post-apocalyptic zombie comic series to harm a religious commentator’s career in a bizarre new lawsuit.
Thomas Richards — whose work includes controversial commentaries on the Catholic Church, including a video titled “The Pope is the Antichrist” and “Nazi Germany – A Creation of the Vatican and Jesuits” — suggested that Kirkman, a self-proclaimed atheist, “harbored animus” toward him due to his “strong stance on scriptural truth.” He further alleged that Kirkman intentionally named a disturbing character after him, and now, when people Google his moniker, they will find articles on a violent, misogynistic murderer from The Walking Dead, rather than his own content, per The Independent.
“I noticed I wasn’t getting Google alerts for my work, ever, but I was getting Google alerts for this horrible fictional Thomas Richards all the time. Here I’m thinking, maybe, finally, it’ll be my work or something. But no, it’s just an awful character this man created.”
According to Richards, his name being a part of the Walking Dead Universe, which has grown to include an 11-season flagship show, video games, webisodes, and several spinoffs, combined with its “graphic depiction of dismemberment, torture, cannibalism, and sexual violence,” has additionally negatively affected his reputation.
“Even individuals who rationally understand the fictional nature of the character experience this involuntary association when they see or hear Mr. Richards’ name.”
Aside from a public apology, he’s asking that Kirkman either fix the character’s reputation by publishing “storylines within three months showing the Thomas Richards character’s complete moral transformation, redemption and evolution into a heroic figure who actively works to protect others and demonstrates genuine remorse for past actions,” which would be impossible without a complete rewrite of the comic issues, as the character is no longer alive — or that he rename him.
Thomas Richards’ Grisly Story Wasn’t Included in ‘The Walking Dead’ Show
The fictional character of Thomas Richards made his debut in Issue 13 of The Walking Dead comics more than 20 years ago, when Rick Grimes and his group discovered what they believed to be an abandoned prison after leaving the Greene family farm. While attempting to clear out Walkers, they stumble upon four former inmates, Axel, Andrew, Thomas, and Dexter, who had been living there since their incarceration. Polite and unassuming, Thomas initially flies under the radar as a minimal threat to the group, especially since he claims that he was doing time for tax evasion prior to the outbreak. However, the true extent of his darkness was yet to be revealed.
After Maggie Greene’s teenage twin sisters, Rachel and Susie, are discovered violently murdered, suspicion gradually begins to fall on Thomas. It was later confirmed that not only was he the killer, but he was also in prison for brutally stabbing his wife to death. Forced to make a difficult decision for the safety of the other members of their group, Rick decides that they will execute Thomas by hanging him. However, after another fellow survivor sets him free in hopes that he could still be rehabilitated from his violent tendencies, Maggie shoots him, resulting in his death.
While Thomas had a shocking and memorable arc in the early days of the comic book series, neither his original character nor his story was included in the television adaptation. Instead, Thomas’ existence seemed to be only loosely referenced by a different prisoner named Tomas (Nick Gomez), who had been behind bars for an unspecified crime. Additionally, Rachel and Susie aren’t featured in the show, and they were instead replaced by the character Beth Greene (Emily Kinney).
The Walking Dead
- Release Date
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2010 – 2022
- Network
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AMC
- Directors
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David Boyd, Ernest R. Dickerson, Billy Gierhart, Guy Ferland, Laura Belsey, Jeffrey F. January, Michael Cudlitz, Sharat Raju, Alrick Riley, Michael Slovis, Michelle MacLaren, Rosemary Rodriguez, Seith Mann, Tricia Brock, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Daniel Sackheim, Fred Toye, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Jon Amiel, Kari Skogland, Kevin Dowling, Tawnia McKiernan, Larry Teng, Julius Ramsay
- Writers
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Channing Powell, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Glen Mazzara, Jim Barnes, Vivian Tse, Robert Kirkman, Erik Mountain, Evan Reilly, Kevin Deiboldt, Julia Ruchman, Nicole Mirante-Matthews, Nichole Beattie, Eddie Guzelian, Geraldine Inoa, Magali Lozano, Curtis Gwinn, LaToya Morgan, Eli Jorne, Adam Fierro, Frank Renzulli, Ryan Coleman, Jack LoGiudice, Charles H. Eglee
