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The Walking Dead: Most-Watched Graphic Novel Adaptation of All-Time

The Walking Dead holds a lot of records for television and cable and now it can add on more to it’s list of achievements.  AMC’s The Walking Dead is officially the most-watched graphic novel adaptation of all-time.

According to a study by From Fiction to Film, Robert Kirkman’s graphic novel, The Walking Dead, surpasses other graphic novel adaptations such as 300, The Mask, V for Vendetta, and Watchmen. The study revealed that “around 52% of men and 48% of women reported watching the adaptation.”

The most popular adaptation, for men, was 300.  However, that was only by 5% over The Walking Dead.  For women, The Walking Dead surpassed the next closes graphic novel by nearly 9% and the next by nearly 13%.

The study also revealed that the biggest mistake most graphic novels make is changing key characters.  In terms of The Walking Dead, now in its tenth season most of the major characters have come and gone, the most significant ones being Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Carl Griems (Chandler Riggs).

The impact of their departure may be the reason for the significant decline in viewership.  However, season ten of the show is the highest rated of all seasons, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

The Walking Dead: Most-Watched Graphic Novel Adaptation of All-Time

According to the site, Season 10 currently has a 93% approval rating through its first 7 episodes with the mid-season finale set to air this Sunday.  The first season of The Walking Dead had an 88% approval rating, with the lowest season rating coming in Season 8, which received just a 64% approval rating.  You’ll remember this season’s theme was, “All Out War”, but really will be remembered as a bunch of aimless episodes.

Many critics and fans attribute the show’s improvement to two things.  First, there is Angela Kang who is now in her second season as show-runner of The Walking Dead. Kang’s approach to storytelling and the ability to tell multiple stories without losing interest has been the new blood this show needed.  Second, what many consider to be Robert Kirkman’s best comic book arc, The Whisperers, has brought Alpha, Beta, and the impending Whisperer War to the screen, which has fans excited.

The show also has improved because it tells different character stories together, cohesively, versus previous seasons where episodes would focus on one or two characters and then move onto the next set in the next episode, only to have several episodes go by before we’d return to them again.

What do you think is making The Walking Dead great again in Seasons 9 and 10 and what are you looking forward to the mid-season return of Season 10?

Let us know in the comments below!

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