Just FYI, Carl Grimes Is Very Much Alive in 'The Walking Dead' Comics

Fans of both the comics and TV version of The Walking Dead know that, although the AMC series follows its comic book origins fairly closely, there are a lot of deaths that don't happen by the book.

Big ones include Shane (he was stabbed by Rick in the series, but shot by Carl in the comics), Lori (she died in childbirth on the show, but was gunned down, along with baby Judith, by Lilly), and Hershel (the Governor decapitated him with Michonne's sword in the show, but was shot in the head in the comics). One of the most controversial show deaths is that of Carl Grimes — and that's because he's very much alive until the very end in the comics.

Carl doesn't die in the Walking Dead comics — and he is actually a very significant part of the comics' ending. In the comics, Rick Grimes is shot to death by Sebastian Milton, the son of the Commonwealth's leader, Pamela. This leaves Carl to carry on Rick's legacy, and the final pages of the comics show a grownup Carl (who ends up marrying a very much alive Sophia) reading a story about how Rick saved humanity to his young daughter, Andrea.

After Rick is murdered in the comics, the story fast-forwards 25 years, showing an adult Carl who has held on to Rick's moral code. Carl, Sophia, and Andrea live on a farm, far away from the Alexandria Safe Zone, a place where walkers haven't been seen as a threat for a while. One day, Carl sees one stagger up to his property, and he kills him. Carl ends up on trial for killing a walker who belonged to Hershel Rhee, Maggie's grown-up son.

Luckily, Maggie (the President of the Commonwealth) steps in and Carl is spared from punishment. But Carl does a very Rick Grimes thing and destroys all of Hershel's walkers, whom he sees as a threat to society. He ends up on trial again, except this time, it's in front of the entire community. Michonne is a judge now, Judge Hawthorne, and after Carl gives a speech about how the community can't let their guard down, Michonne decides to pardon him.

The comics end with Carl reading the story of Rick Grimes' brave efforts to save humankind from the walkers to Andrea.

If you've kept up with AMC's The Walking Dead, then you know things don't play out this way for Carl in the TV version. In Season 8, Carl goes out to kill some walkers with Siddiq (as a way to honor Siddiq's mother, who believes killing walkers frees their souls) and unfortunately they get outnumbered by them and Carl is bitten really severely. He spends the next couple days accepting his fate, and ultimately, he shoots himself so that Rick and Michonne don't have to.

It's likely that Judith will be the one who carries on Rick's legacy in the show, so the end of the TV series will be different from the comics — but the sentiment will be similar. We'll see how this last season of TWD plays out.

Watch the Season 10 premiere of The Walking Dead on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.