In the opening scene of the 1985 film Day of the Dead, two of the main characters disembark from a recently landed helicopter and stare down a vacant street cluttered with debris. Suddenly one of them shouts, “Hello! Is anyone there?”
Twenty-two years later, Michonne Hawthorne tells a group of fellow survivors in issue 171 of The Walking Dead comic book, “Hold up, I want to try something.” She then looks around her surroundings on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and likewise shouts, “Hello! Is anyone there?”
Both scenes share more than the same dialogue as each was written by arguable the two biggest giants of the zombie genre – George A. Romero and Robert Kirkman. It was Romero who transformed the zombie lore of the past into the living dead of today, while Kirkman took inspiration from Romero’s groundwork to create his own classic, The Walking Dead, first as a long-running comic book series and then as a successful television show.
“I wrote the opening sequence to this issue a few months ago,” Kirkman explains in The Walking Dead #171. “When I had them leaving deserted Pittsburgh – the hometown of George A. Romero and the setting of Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead – I just couldn’t resist the idea of having Michonne turn around and reenact the memorable scene from Day of the Dead. To say these movies were an inspiration for what you’re now reading the 171st issue of is an understatement. They’re the true north of what I’ve done in this series. The Walking Dead simply does not exist without George A. Romero doing his movies first.”
Romero died in July 2017, and while issues 170 and 171 had been written beforehand, their release in August and September of that year served as a tribute nonetheless, bringing a small group of survivors from The Walking Dead to the Steel City for the one and only time.
The first of these twin issues begins with leader Rick Grimes sending a small group of his followers – led by Michonne Hawthorne – to Ohio to meet with another survivor, simply known as Stephanie. The journey involves an additional fifteen miles within the safe zone from their starting point so Michonne is expecting a “quiet day,” but fellow traveler Yumiko has a different view. “I’ve never been that far north in my life,” she remarks. “We have no idea what’s up there now. This is exciting!”
At the edge of the safe zone, the group encounters a guard who tells them that everything has indeed been quiet. As for beyond the safe zone, however, he has no idea what the travelers can expect to find there. The comment elicits another squeal of “Ooooh, exciting” from Yumiko but likewise puts Michonne on edge as well.
Eventually the group decides to set up camp for the evening but are interrupted during the night by an unexpected zombie attack. While the others debate whether to return to their sleeping bags afterwards, Eugene Porter points out that the noise generated from the skirmish might have aroused additional members of the “walking dead” and they are thus better off continuing their journey.
It is still dark outside when the group come across the distinct skyline of Pittsburgh – replete with PPG Place, Fifth Avenue Place, and the Encore on Seventh – on the opposite banks of the Allegheny River. Although the group is traveling north, they actually enter the Steel City from the south – but as Robert Kirkman notes in the following issue, Pittsburgh is the “true north” of The Walking Dead so the geographical error can be forgiven.
Pausing at the base of the Roberto Clement Bridge, the group briefly debate whether it is safe to enter the actual city or whether it would be better to go around it. It is again Eugene Porter who ultimately makes the decision. “No, too much time,” he says. “In the early days, the dense population made cities dangerous. By now, they should have dispersed. We should be okay – if we’re quiet.”
In addition to being quiet themselves, the travelers find a downtown Pittsburgh that is eerily quiet in its own right. Skeleton bones lie along the streets as they make their way on what appears to be Fourth Avenue and past One Oxford Center. Shocked by how empty the city is, they decide to renew their rest for the night on the rooftop of a nearby office building.
Issue 171 of The Walking Dead picks up the next morning with the group on the outskirts of Pittsburgh and Michonne replicating the opening scene from Day of the Dead. While the shout of “Is anyone there?” attracted a horde of lumbering zombies in the film, Michonne’s cry is answered by a young Mexican American woman wearing a pink coat, goggles and brandishing a machine gun.
Michonne asks who she is and what she wants, but the newcomer takes offense to being questioned. “Excuse me?” she replies. “You’re the one screaming out. I thought you needed help. Now you’re treating me like I’m the one causing the problem. I haven’t seen another living person in a year, and the first one I find seems like she’s probably a meanie. It truly is the end of the world.”
After Michonne apologies, the woman rambles on a bit before introducing herself as Juanita Sanchez. Since she always hated that name, however, she now goes by Princess. “When I got here, and the city seemed empty, I claimed it as my own,” she explains. “I’m the Princess of Pittsburgh!”
While Pittsburgh may look empty, Princess comments that the city is not as vacant as it appears. To prove the point, an unexpected horde of zombies similar to those from Day of the Dead suddenly appear, but Princess easily eliminates them with her machine gun. She then asks if she can join the group from The Walking Dead, but Michonne quickly dismisses the idea since they don’t know her.
After more rambling from Princess – which she claims is a side-effect from not having anyone to talk to for a year – the group reconsiders. The newcomer then asks them to follow her so that she can gather her few belongings. Again Michonne rejects the idea, fearing it might be a trap, but Princess hands over her gun as a sign of good faith.
Upon their arrival at an abandoned apartment building, it appears that Michonne’s distrust was justified as Princess suddenly shouts, “Look alive, boys! I brought us some horses!” Michonne quickly prepares for battle but the new girl merely laughs hysterically, explaining that it was just a joke. With Michonne angrily glaring at her, Princess heads to gather her belongings so that both she and the others can quickly leave Pittsburgh behind.
It took fourteen years and 170 issues before the survivors from The Walking Dead comic book arrived in Pittsburgh – the birthplace of the modern zombie – but the journey was finally completed in August 2017, just one month after the 77-year-old George A. Romero passed away. Though unintentional, the timing allowed Robert Kirkman to pay tribute to his long-time hero nonetheless.
“He’s George A. Romero, the father of the modern zombie and horror master,” Kirkman concludes at the end of The Walking Dead #171. “There will never be another person who influences zombie horror as much as he did. If you are a fan of The Walking Dead, you are a fan of George A. Romero. He will be missed.”
Anthony Letizia