The Walking Dead Books in Order
Robert Kirkman's long-running black-and-white horror comic follows former sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes and a band of survivors struggling to stay human as civilization collapses under a zombie apocalypse. The story runs across 32 numbered trade paperback volumes from 2004 to 2019.
Publication order
In the order the books were originally released.
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Buy on Amazon2004 · Robert Kirkman
Kentucky deputy Rick Grimes wakes from a coma to find the hospital abandoned and the dead walking. Desperate to find his wife and son, he travels to…
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Buy on Amazon2004 · Robert Kirkman
Seeking shelter from the brutal winter, Rick leads the survivors to a quiet farm owned by a man convinced the dead can be cured. As the group settles…
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Buy on Amazon2005 · Robert Kirkman
The survivors discover an abandoned prison that seems to offer the safety they have long craved. Behind its fences, though, old secrets, murder, and…
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Buy on Amazon2005 · Robert Kirkman
Life at the prison briefly resembles something normal, but the discovery of a nearby town called Woodbury shatters the calm. Its charismatic and…
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Buy on Amazon2006 · Robert Kirkman
Reeling from the Governor's cruelty, the prison group struggles to recover and rebuild a fragile defense. As they tend to their wounded and bury…
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Buy on Amazon2007 · Robert Kirkman
The full assault on the prison arrives as the Governor returns with weapons, numbers, and a thirst for vengeance. In this devastating volume, the…
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Buy on Amazon2007 · Robert Kirkman
Survivors of the prison's fall regroup on the road, broken and grieving. Rick and his son Carl, badly wounded in body and spirit, search for purpose…
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Buy on Amazon2008 · Robert Kirkman
Joining a growing band of travelers, Rick's group meets a man named Eugene who claims to know the cause of the outbreak and a safe route to…
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Buy on Amazon2009 · Robert Kirkman
The road to Washington proves merciless as the group faces starvation, despair, and a horrifying band of survivors known as the Hunters. With morale…
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Buy on Amazon2009 · Robert Kirkman
The travelers reach the Alexandria Safe-Zone, a walled community that feels almost untouched by the apocalypse. Rick struggles to trust this orderly…
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2010 · Robert Kirkman
As Rick settles uneasily into a leadership role in Alexandria, the community's naivety about the outside world becomes dangerously clear. When…
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Buy on Amazon2010 · Robert Kirkman
Alexandria faces its first true test as a massive herd of walkers threatens to overwhelm the community's defenses. Amid the chaos, Rick's harsh…
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Buy on Amazon2010 · Robert Kirkman
In the aftermath of disaster, the survivors begin rebuilding Alexandria and venture out to make contact with neighboring settlements. The discovery…
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Buy on Amazon2011 · Robert Kirkman
Rick and his people forge connections with the Hilltop and other nearby colonies, glimpsing a future where survivors cooperate rather than just…
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Buy on Amazon2011 · Robert Kirkman
The survivors come face to face with Negan and his Saviors, a ruthless gang that extorts other communities under threat of violence. Negan's…
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Buy on Amazon2012 · Charlie Adlard
Living under the Saviors' thumb, Rick quietly plots resistance while pretending to submit to Negan's demands. As he gathers allies from the Hilltop,…
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Buy on Amazon2012 · Robert Kirkman
Rick unites the communities and launches an open rebellion against Negan, igniting a sprawling conflict between the survivors and the Saviors. The…
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Buy on Amazon2013 · Robert Kirkman
The war against the Saviors rages on with mounting casualties and shifting fortunes on both sides. As Negan retaliates with cruel ingenuity, Rick's…
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2013 · Robert Kirkman
The conflict with Negan reaches its climax as the allied communities make their final push. With everything on the line, Rick weighs justice against…
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Buy on Amazon2014 · Robert Kirkman
Set after the war, this volume jumps ahead to a recovering civilization where the communities have begun trading, farming, and rebuilding society.…
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Buy on Amazon2014 · Robert Kirkman
As the rebuilt communities settle into an uneasy normal, strange markings and disappearances hint that an unknown group is watching from the…
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Buy on Amazon2014 · Robert Kirkman
The survivors encounter the Whisperers, a disturbing group that moves among the dead by wearing their skin and hiding within the herds. This new…
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Buy on Amazon2015 · Robert Kirkman
Tensions with the Whisperers escalate as their leader, Alpha, establishes brutal boundaries that the communities cross at their peril. Rick and his…
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Buy on Amazon2015 · Robert Kirkman
In the wake of a shocking atrocity committed by the Whisperers, the communities reel with grief and a hunger for revenge. As leaders argue over how…
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Buy on Amazon2016 · Robert Kirkman
The conflict with Alpha and her Whisperers builds toward open war as the communities mobilize for a fight against an enemy hidden among the dead.…
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Buy on Amazon2016 · Robert Kirkman
The war with the Whisperers reaches its bloody peak as a colossal herd is driven toward the communities. Survivors scramble to defend their homes and…
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Buy on Amazon2017 · Robert Kirkman
In the aftermath of the Whisperer War, the communities turn toward recovery and the dream of a true civilization. As new institutions take shape,…
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Buy on Amazon2017 · Robert Kirkman
A railway line connecting the communities symbolizes the survivors' progress toward a rebuilt society spanning the region. Yet as travel and trade…
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Buy on Amazon2018 · Robert Kirkman
Rick travels to the Commonwealth, a vast and surprisingly intact community of thousands governed by a rigid social hierarchy. The discovery of such a…
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Buy on Amazon2018 · Robert Kirkman
As Rick's people integrate with the sprawling Commonwealth, friction grows between its entrenched class system and their hard-earned belief in…
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Buy on Amazon2019 · Robert Kirkman
Discontent within the Commonwealth deepens as the divide between the privileged and the powerless threatens to boil over. Rick navigates dangerous…
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Buy on Amazon2019 · Robert Kirkman
The final volume brings the saga of Rick Grimes and the survivors to its conclusion. As the Commonwealth's tensions resolve, the story looks ahead to…
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Companion & related books
Short-story collections and companion titles in this series.
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Robert Kirkman
This prose novel, co-written with Jay Bonansinga, traces the origin of the series' most infamous villain. It follows Philip Blake and his companions…
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Robert Kirkman
This prose novel, written with Jay Bonansinga, follows survivor Lilly Caul as she drifts across a collapsed Georgia and arrives at the seemingly…
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Robert Kirkman
This hardcover collects volumes thirteen and fourteen, covering the survivors' rebuilding of Alexandria and their first contact with neighboring…
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Year unknown · Charlie Adlard
This hardcover gathers volumes twenty-one and twenty-two, introducing the Whisperers, the chilling group that disguises itself among the walking…
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The Walking Dead, Book Fifteen
Year unknown · Charlie Adlard
This hardcover gathers volumes twenty-nine and thirty, covering Rick's discovery of the sprawling Commonwealth and his people's uneasy integration…
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Robert Kirkman
This hardcover collects volumes nine and ten, covering the harrowing journey toward Washington and the survivors' arrival at the Alexandria…
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Cliff Rathburn
This hardcover compiles volumes seven and eight, following Rick and the scattered survivors after the fall of the prison. It collects their…
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The Walking Dead, Book Fourteen
Year unknown · Robert Kirkman
This hardcover collects volumes twenty-seven and twenty-eight, following the communities as they recover from the Whisperer War and pursue a true…
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Robert Kirkman
This hardcover collects volumes seventeen and eighteen of the series, gathering the all-out war between Rick's allied communities and Negan's…
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Robert Kirkman
This hardcover edition collects the first two volumes of the series. It follows Rick Grimes from his lonely awakening in an abandoned hospital…
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Robert Kirkman
This hardcover compiles volumes fifteen and sixteen, deepening the survivors' subjugation under Negan and the Saviors. It collects Rick's quiet…
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Robert Kirkman
This hardcover gathers volumes eleven and twelve, covering Rick's establishment of leadership within the Alexandria Safe-Zone. It collects the…
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Buy on AmazonThe Walking Dead, Book Sixteen
Year unknown · Robert Kirkman
This final hardcover collects volumes thirty-one and thirty-two, bringing the saga of Rick Grimes to its conclusion. It gathers the resolution of the…
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Year unknown · Robert Kirkman
This hardcover edition compiles volumes nineteen and twenty, covering the conclusion of the war with Negan and the leap forward to a rebuilding…
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The Walking Dead, Book Thirteen
Year unknown · Robert Kirkman
This hardcover compiles volumes twenty-five and twenty-six, covering the climactic battles of the Whisperer War. It gathers the survivors' desperate…
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Robert Kirkman
This hardcover gathers volumes five and six, building toward the violent confrontation between the prison survivors and the Governor's town of…
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Year unknown · Charlie Adlard
This hardcover gathers volumes twenty-three and twenty-four, deepening the survivors' conflict with Alpha and her Whisperers. It collects the fallout…
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Robert Kirkman
This hardcover collects volumes three and four, covering the survivors' discovery of the prison and the dangers that fester inside its walls. It also…
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Buy on AmazonThe Walking Dead, Compendium Four
Year unknown · Robert Kirkman
This compendium collects volumes nineteen through twenty-four in one massive paperback. It spans the conclusion of the Negan war, the rebuilding of…
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Buy on AmazonThe Walking Dead, Compendium One
Year unknown · Robert Kirkman
This thick compendium collects the first eight volumes of the series in a single black-and-white edition. It follows Rick Grimes from his awakening…
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Frequently asked questions
What order should I read the The Walking Dead books in?
Publication order — Widely recommended by readers and matches the publisher's (Image Comics) numbered volume sequence Start with “The Walking Dead, Vol. 1.”
How many books are in the The Walking Dead series?
We list 32 books by Robert Kirkman , published between 2004–2019.
Where can I buy the The Walking Dead books?
Each title above links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
Reading order compiled from author/publisher guidance and verified bibliographic data. Spotted an error? We continuously correct the catalog.