Plot Summary[]
Sheriff Rick Grimes is sent to the hospital after he is shot while on duty. When he wakes up days later, he finds an empty hospital and a world ravaged by a deadly plague that causes the dead to rise again. Rick leaves the hospital and attempts to find someone alive. He finds the body of a struggling female zombie with half her body cut off, but decides to leave it alone. When he mistakes a zombie for a human, a boy named Duane knocks him out with a shovel while his father, Morgan, shoots the zombie. When Rick wakes up again, he finds himself in Morgan's home. Morgan explains had happened while he was asleep in the hospital.
Rick also learns about Duane's mother, who had turned into what they call a walker after a fever. The next morning, Rick heads to his home to see if his wife and son are still there. He finds that the photo albums have been taken and assumes that they have left. He and Morgan then arm themselves at the police station. Afterward, they go their separate way. Morgan heads back home and attempts to shoot his undead wife. However, he is unable to do the deed. Rick finds the zombie that was cut in half and kills her. then he goes on the road for Atlanta. When he reaches Atlanta, he is swarmed by a horde of walkers and is forced to take refuge in a tank. A voice then calls towards him from the walkie talkie.
Trivia & Quotes[]
Differences from the Source Material[]
- In the TV series, there is a room in the hospital with a message inscribed "Dead inside, Don't open." In the comics, that message does not appear on the doors.
- Rick's first encounter with a walker is not with the bicycle girl in the field. Instead, his first meeting with the walkers comes when he opens the door that was marked "Dead Inside, Don't Open."
- Rick does not shoot the walker outside the police station because Morgan tells him to save a bullet.
- Morgan's wife does not appear in the first issue.
- Rick is not seen talking to Shane about his troubled relationship with Lori before he is shot.
- Rick is not trapped inside the tank before he meets Glenn.