Does Not Illustrate: Series.The Walking Dead

Hi folks,

Lately the main image for The Walking Dead has gone under some changes. The original image was the first teaser posters of the series, seen here◊. It was recently changed to a poster for the eighth and most recent season, currently uploaded there. I've grown a bit disdainful towards the current choice for several reasons, but I don't think it's an outright horrible choice. It just doesn't illustrate the series properly.

But going back to the first teaser poster. That shot, of the main character going into downtown Atlanta on a deserted side of the freeway, is far and away the most iconic shot of the series and probably the franchise. It appeared in the source material, it was referenced during the show's last arc set in Atlanta, it's pretty synonymous with the show. That said, I can understand why perhaps some people took issue with it since it doesn't really show any of the cast.

Going to the Season Eight poster. To explain the context, the theme of Season 8 is a big war between the main heroes and the main antagonists of the series at present, the Saviors. While this poster obviously does show the main cast of the season, that's a problem with it - it only shows the main cast of the eighth season. And it possibly could spoil people who are say, midway through the show, since several characters present in say, Season 3, are not on the S8 poster, having long since been killed off. And of course, one day this poster itself will be outdated since inevitably many characters in this poster will be killed off (this is also why its unwise to me to use a poster of say, the season 3 cast or something). Not only is the rotating cast of characters a strike against this poster for me, but it's the theme. The Saviors weren't introduced as the main villains until Season 6 and about seven years into the show's lifetime. The show isn't about the heroes versus the Saviors as a whole.

One option I had considered for the image was this poster◊ for a tie-in mobile game. It does show pretty much the main theme of the show, the heroes versus the undead and all the evil in the world that the zombies represent. However, it suffers from a problem I already listed in that two characters on this poster have been killed off. The other four seem to be in this for the long run and have definitely been around with the show for a large amount of its' lifespan (the same holds true for one of the deceased characters). I could photoshop out the logo from this so it would be blank. Besides the dead cast issue, I understand it being disqualified since it was made for a video game and not the show itself (the cast is rendered in CGI, obviously).

The season 5 poster, seen here◊, is my personal favorite and I think it could work. It depicts the main cast in the process of migrating, and in the context of season 5, migrating towards a better future and a new start. The map reading "the new world's gonna need Rick Grimes". While they do establish a permanent base of operations in late season 5, they're always working towards a better future in spite of the terrible state of the world. So thematically, the Season 5 poster may be a good option (and it's also my personal favorite piece of art from the series).

I think the best possible option would be to find an image that has main characters who have not been killed off, or at least have been around for the vast majority of the show's eight-season run (and I mean 5 seasons bare minimum) if they're already deceased, and preferably fighting the undead. However, I think that in the end the most appropriate option may be to stick with the season 1 poster since it is the most iconic shot of the series.

I hope I did this right, it's been a long time since I've done an Image Pickin' deal. I'd just like to see something be done about this. Thanks.

Thanks for bringing this up...not really sure what would be the best image for the page, but that original poster is probably one of the best options giving the numerous cast changes.

Yes, change back to the original image, but without any text.

Speaking as someone who’s got no plans of watching the show, I agree that the original image will suffice. It seems bleak and mysterious, which is mainly the vibe I get from the series. I’m not sure the mobile game poster will resize well.

Okay thanks for the input guys! Will this do, then?

I say we stick with the original.

Perfect!

This one's almost at the clocking point and we've got enough consensus to swap back to the first season poster, so it's up and tagged. Locking up.

Old pic: