A Spin-off of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead, Rick Grimes 2000 continues the story of a non-canon ending to Issue 75 of the main comic, itself a joke Robert made to get the comic green-lit. It ran for five issues, or chapters, released at the beginning of "Skybound X".
Essentially, the plot is this: After a heated argument with Alexandria Safe Zone resident Peter Davidson, Rick is subdued by Michonne. Before the fighting can continue, Rick spontaneously disappears. Waking up in a high-tech infirmary, Rick finds his missing hand replaced by a robotic one. Confused, he wander the ship, only to be dropped down into an ongoing war zone, with aliens and zombies everywhere. Luckily, he finds Michonne, who brings him up to speed.
After Rick disappeared, an alien invasion occurred, brought on by the same species who caused the Zombie Apocalypse in the first place. Their goal was to turn the remaining humans into a slave race to collect Earth's water, which is a form of currency for them. Some of the survivors revolted, including Rick's group. Now on top of the already existing threat of zombies, Rick and Company have to combat the alien horde to take back their planet.
Oh, and the aliens have the capability to bring back the dead, including some faces that Rick may not want to see...
"Rick Grimes 2000" contains examples of:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Andrea pulls her gun on him, Phillip tries to bargain with her, telling her he knows things about the Aliens that could help them win. Unfortunately for him, Andrea wasn't listening.
- After the End: Already pertains to the main comic, but this series has the added bonus of an alien invasion on top of it.
- And the Adventure Continues: Although they managed to repel the Aliens and take back their planet, Rick still believes there are more out there, and sets up a Strike Force to counter any potential threats. 30 years have passed since they won without incident, but he'll always be prepared.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Alpha and Beta combine with a zombie horde to create a massive Walker in Issue 4. Luckily for the heroes, killing them kills the walkers.
- A World Half Full: By the end of the story Earth fares even better than in the mainline comic, complete with alien technology being used to rebuild the human civilization.
- Back for the Dead: Lori is killed off (again) by Issue 2, and The Governor is easily dispatched by Andrea at the beginning of Issue 3
- Back from the Dead: Lori, The Governor, Axel, Tyreese, and Caesar Martinez are revived by the aliens to be used as Super Soldiers. The last three escaped and joined the resistance, but Lori and The Governor joined the aliens. Later in the series, Michonne is revived after being killed by The Governor.
- Breakingthe Fourth Wall: After Alpha and Beta create a colossal zombie, Negan turns to the audience amazed and asks "You seeing this crazy awesome shit?"
- Death by Irony: Negan is killed by Maggie, who punches him so hard his eye pops out of his socket...the same way he killed her husband Glenn in the main series (albeit with a bat instead of his bare hands).
- Death by Adaptation: This version of Negan does not make it to the end, nor does he ever make a Heel–Face Turn.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: The Aliens are defeated, and their planet is safe. 30 years later, a retired from fighting Carl relates the story to a journalist.
- Face–Heel Turn: Lori joins the alien army, even pulling a gun on her former husband Rick.
- Fusion Dance: Negan demonstrates the ability to merge his two weapons, Lu and Cile, into one larger, stronger bat. Guess what he calls it?
- Alpha and Beta perform one in Issue 4 with a zombie horde to create one giant zombie.
- Heel–Face Turn: Caesar Martinez, formerly one of The Governor's top lieutenants, is working with the heroes here.
- Jawbreaker: Michonne gets her jaw crushed by the Governor, though she gets better.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: As soon as Rick hits the ground, he sees Glenn, who survives until they meet Negan in the main series, being devoured by Walkers without any lines of dialogue.
- One-Winged Angel: As revealed by the alien accompanying The Governor in Issue 2, the aliens are capable of transforming into a larger, more monsterous form.
- Spared By Adaptation: The most prominent examples are Rick and Andrea, who manage to survive the whole run. Same with Caesar, Tyreese and Axel, though they vanish from the plot shortly after laying out an Info Dump to Rick.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Caesar, Axel, and Tyreese only show up in the prologue to establish the situation before disappearing from the comic completely, not even showing up during the final battle.
