THE WALKING DEAD #100 Makes Comic Book History As Best-Selling Initial Ordered Book

The 100th issue of Robert Kirkman's Eisner Award-winning THE WALKING DEAD comic series for Image Comics/Skybound has sold out of its 383,612 initial orders on July 11th, the same day it was released, to make it the best-selling comic book in initial orders for any publisher since 1997, when Image Comics/Top Cow's THE DARKNESS #11 was released.

"This is a remarkable achievement," said Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson. "It's extremely uncommon, if not flat-out rare, for a comic book to see a sustained increase in sales following its first issue, but  THE WALKING DEAD  steadily climbed up and up since its launch in 2003, and we couldn't be more proud of Robert, Charlie and the whole Walking Dead team."

" THE WALKING DEAD  continues to greatly exceed all my expectations in all forms," said Robert Kirkman. "I am especially excited for what this means for comics as an industry, that this is an independent comic hitting that number." Kirkman continued, "The future of comics couldn't be brighter as more and more readers are embracing new ideas in a big way."

THE WALKING DEAD topped the bestseller lists for graphic novels in 2011 and frequently topped the New York Times and Amazon's bestseller lists, taking the top five spots on hardcover and paperback lists. Kirkman is also the executive producer and writer of the hit television show, AMC's  THE WALKING DEAD , the highest-rated basic cable drama of all time in the U.S for season two. Friday's AMC panel was one of the hottest events at Comic-Con. The show is also an international success in 120 countries, showing in 250 million households worldwide.

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