The Walking Dead The Animated Series: Merle Dixon

Hey kids, it's everyone's favorite borderline-psychotic racist redneck meth-head bayonet-handed zombie apocalypse survivor!

Merle's one of my favorite characters on The Walking Dead. Well, maybe after Daryl and Michonne. He's a miserable specimen of humanity, but that's what makes him so much fun to watch. He brings an element of danger and unpredictability to the human element of the show. 

Let's face it, the show's only as good as its villains, and as scary as zombies are, they really don't make very good bad guys. All they want to do is eat your brains; they can't scheme against you or plot your overthrow.

Merle's the perfect psycho villain. He's like a wild animal; you never know what he might do next. It doesn't hurt that he's played by Michael Rooker, who's a fine actor and is very good at playing assholes. 

SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT HIGHLIGHT UNLESS YOU'VE SEEN THE ENTIRE THIRD SEASON!
I actually uttered a Vader-esque "Noooooooooo!" at the screen when Merle died. As I said, he made a terrific bad guy and I think the show will be poorer for his absence. Merle was more than just a one note villain; he had some actual substance. He willingly sacrificed himself to give his little brother a chance at defeating the Governor. A guy who does that can't be all bad. I'm gonna miss him.
SPOILER ALERT ENDED!

I doubt if I'll draw any more Walking Dead characters, mainly because they're all just a bunch of normal people wearing dirty clothes. I drew Merle because I found him the most visually interesting, what with his cool bayonet hand and all. Maybe I might draw the Governor or Michonne some day. We'll see.

One thing I discovered while drawing Merle: his bayonet hand is much more complicated than I realized. I just assumed it was a simple metal tube, but once I looked up reference photos I saw that it's full of all kinds of straps, braces and bolts. I probably went a little overboard on the detail of it, especially for a cartoony figure such as this, but hey, that's what I do.

Merle was drawn all in InDesign. The scratchy background and the splatters were done in Photoshop and imported into InDesign.

Here's the original quick sketchbook doodle I did of Merle. I drew this from memory, as evidenced by the wobbly looking knife (rather than bayonet) sticking out of the middle of his stump cover. His basic facial features are all there though.

Here's the final digital sketch I did. I imported this into InDesign and then traced over it.

Walking Dead News: The Governor And The Return Of Merle!

I guess I should put a big ol' SPOILER tag here, in case you don't want to know any details about Season 3 of Walking Dead. You've been warned!

This week we got our first look at actor David Morrissey, who'll be starring as The Governor this fall. Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before, but it looks like November spawned a monster! Get it? Morrissey? Stop me? Spawned a monster? Hey, hey, take your coat off and get back here.

By the way, I don't know who that's supposed to be there in the background. The Governor's Filipino Pool Boy, perhaps?

I first covered the news that Morrissey was the Governor earlier this year, so I won't rehash old news. I wasn't quite convinced that Morrissey was the right man for the part, but he looks sufficiently badass here, so I'm willing to give him a chance (I'm sure he'll no doubt be greatly relieved to hear he has the support of my highly influential blog).

The comic book version of the Governor bore more than a passing resemblance to makeup artist/actor Tom Savini, who in fact lobbied long and hard for the role. As I'm not a fan of Mr. Savini, I'm not particularly torn up that he didn't get the part, or that the final character looks nothing like him. Based solely on other things I've seen David Morrissey in, I think they made a wise choice.

The Walking Dead producers keep insisting that they're not going to water down the Governor character for TV. Don't you believe a word they say, as they are big fat liars. There is absolutely no way that the TV show will be able to faithfully depict the comic book version of the Governor or the whole Woodbury story arc. It's just not possible. The Governor was a sadistic and depraved dictator who routinely resorted to torture and dismemberment to get what he wanted. That whole Woodbury comic book storyline was just brutal, and at times hard to get through. There's no way they can pull it off on TV, no matter what they say. Remember, early this year these same producers kept telling us that John Bernthal wasn't leaving the show, so right there they've proved they can't be trusted.

Also this week, actor Michael Rooker, better known as Merle Dixon, was spotted on the set. As you know, Merle has been a constant presence on the show despite the fact that he's only appeared about three times (and even then, one of those times was as his brother's feverish hallucination!). So is Merle back for good, or is he still a figment of Daryl's imagination? I'm guessing he's back for real, as one of the Governor's men. I have a bad feeling that when he does show up again, things aren't gonna go well for Rick. Remember, Rick's the one who handcuffed Merle to the roof of a zombie-packed building and left him there, causing him to saw his own hand off to escape. Things like that tend to make you hold a grudge.

I need a TARDIS so I can hurry up and see Season 3 NOW!