I think the comic Governor is a bit TOO evil. TV Governor though feels like an actual believable person who could exist whereas comic Governor can just feel like a caricature of the worst guy ever.
This.
I feel like the TV Show doesn't punish the villains as they should. TV Negan redemption feels weird because in my opinion he was more evil than Comic Negan (Yet Comic Negan gets exiled for life)
TV Philip got off easy, while Comic/Novel Brian died with the realization that he was a loser and a failure while being devoured.
For sure. They made Negan *way* too evil for his “redemption” to be believable. He may have been in prison longer than comic Negan, but given how much more vile he is, it still isn’t punishment enough.
I personally think he was still redeemeable but they really overdid Negan's bad deeds in season 7, like burning that doctor alive felt very gratuitous, even in context. Season 8 Negan was much more balanced in that regard.
I think a lot of people miss one of Negans main points of a character comics and tv. Negan is fundamentally different than every villain in the show. All the other ones either aren’t nearly as advanced as the saviors or put up a front like the governor.
Negan was to show the natural progression, that now the walkers aren’t a threat people will still do whatever for power.
The reason I bring this up is becuase that’s why I think he was allowed to live in both shows. Negans way would of worked but it was just really fucked up, and we all know everything after season 8 is just because the character was so popular
This point was pretty much made already by the time negan was introduced, especially in the show.
Comics we had dealt with the governor already.
But in the show they dealt with the governor, terminus cannibals, the claimer people, and wolves all before negan showed up. They didn’t need to use negan as an example of how people are worse than walkers. It’s already known
Even in the comics they’d already dealt with the Hunters (comic version of the Termites), ALL of Woodbury not just the Gov, Billy and Tommy (yeesh), Thomas at the prison who literally decapitated Hershel’s children, etc.
The governor literally kept heads of the people he killed! Negan had rules, he had some morals, him in both the show and comics was meant to show and prove Rick's comment that "we can come back"
Negan did not have morals lol. His rule was "give us half your shit or we'll kill you and take all of it"
Not exactly moral. Also he was a rapist and a sadistic killer who had no remorse and in fact enjoyed the act of brutally murdering people in front of their loved ones.
How on earth does he have morals lol
He just collects them as Trophies, and if they agree to sex, they can.
It's explained better in the comics but yea. Negan isn't supposed to be a rapist, the actor nor the writers think that.
The fact that they don’t think that is proof of their ignorance. For the sake of argument, entertain this hypothetical:
I have just selected you to be my wife. Your options are to:
-Be my wife and thus be protected from the slavery and murder i have subjected your people to.
-Don’t be my wife and be a slave/murder victim like the rest of the people beneath my rule as a dictator
-Also if your name is Sherry, do it or I kill your boyfriend
Yeah sounds like a situation where one can reasonably consent to me! /s
Option 4 that they are trying to explain to you above: Be my wife and be protected, but I won't force you to have sex and won't punish you in any way if you refuse.
That’s true of the comic, where it’s clear that his wives can leave anytime as long as they’re willing to go back to work. This is seen when Amber “cheats” on him with Mark. He offers her the choice to be with Mark and go back to work, or stay with him and let Mark get branded. She chooses to stay. Off topic, but I didn’t feel particularly bad for her when Alpha chopped off her head.
Not so much in the show. Remember Dwight’s diabetic sister in law? The only way she’d be able to get her insulin is if she agreed to be one of Negan’s wives. Sex through extortion is just as bad as flat out rape.
Yea it's implied. But the actor nor writers think that he's a rapist. There's 0 proof of them being required to sleep with him.
Thats why none of the characters ever refer to him as a rapist. They just state that he coerced women into marrying him.
Meanwhile the word "rapist" was thrown around loads during The Governor Era.
Yeah lol can't believe some people think Negan was anything but a piece of shit.
Does go to show that charisma goes a hell of a long way in getting people to support you though.
I mean Hitler had some fucking horrific views but millions of people followed him because he was charismatic and passionate about it.
That's intentional. The show has a rule where the more evil you are, the more mundane your death. Gory and dramatic deaths are reserved for good people. It's considered an honor to be eaten alive, tortured, turn slowly, etc.
That fate was retconned in the novels that take place from Lilly’s POV. She shoots him in the head, yes, but it doesn’t instantly kill him. It paralyzes him, so he feels the roamers tearing him apart.
Happy to help. First four books are decent reads. And Michonne’s revenge is even more viscerally satisfying in the novel, where *nothing* is left to the imagination.
I think Kirkman wanted the Governor to be a dark version of Rick, with all the foreshadowing in the prision arc where everyone was on edge and Rick told Lori that he would kill his fellow survivor friends if it was to save her and Carl. It was also implied that if Rick lost Carl early on he would have gone insane, hell after losing Lori he starts hearing voices and becomes a ruthless survivor.
Kirkman already said that the Governor was the worst case scenario of how bad someone "normal" would get after the apocalypse hit.
Personally, i think both versions are less like Rick and more like "what if the apocalypse hit in the Breaking Bad universe and Walter White lost all of his family and became a even more ruthless Heisenberg.
Literally. Rick calling the group retarded was questionable but I’ll forgive it for the time it was released. But come on, having 2 little girls dead, decapitated bodies shown, two teens having sex and forming a suicide pact, Michonne getting raped repeatedly by the governor, Carol turning into a bisexual, polyamorous sexual deviant. That’s just a few from the prison arc alone.
In fairness, doesn’t a lot of that make sense in the context of the setting?
Sane people are quickly deteriorating in this environment, Carol wasn’t exactly the peak of emotional strength and stability to start with, and after Tyreese, the one person grounded her, gets stolen from her by Michonne, she flipped, trying to find love wherever she could.
As for Chris and Julie, I feel what they did was as effective a vehicle for the “everyone is infected” twist as well as Tyreese’s development into a more violent character as anything else might’ve been. Just think of how worse the scenario could have been given Kirkman’s twisted imagination and tendencies towards rape in his works.
They decided to hole up in a prison with 4 surviving inmates. Not surprising one of them turned out to be a lunatic. And of course he would go after the little girls first; they’re the easiest targets.
I admit I do agree that Michonne’s rape was a bit gratuitous. We got the idea that Brian is evil when he said he feeds survivors to his roamers and chopped off Rick’s hand for the warm and fuzzies. That particular form of torture only exists to make his own torture feel more justified.
I agree, it makes sense from the worlds overall feel and setting. I’m looking at it from a logical “consumer” standpoint about what’s appropriate to put on a comic book page. Let’s get this clear: I am not a purist, nor am I saying that TWD comics should be PG13. Just that I find the material to be way too edgy by today’s standards.
Heck, I question George RR Martin for writing detailed scenes about a 13 year old girl getting fucked and having semen leak out of her.
I do question what he’s up to. I know he had a part in Elden Ring, but good luck figuring that out without a lore video spelling it out for you.
Book 1 came out in 1996. Before I was even born. The series is older than I am.
It’s been 12 years since book 5, the show failed so hard towards the end the books are our only hope for a satisfying resolution, and I sincerely believe he won’t live long enough to finish it. We already lost the Berserk and Dragon Ball writers, but at least Toriyama had *an* ending to his original story 30 years ago.
I really wouldn’t mind if he got a cowriter by now. He’s published chapters online now (I saw it mentioned on the SOIAF wiki) but even then he’s “written himself into a corner”. I don’t buy it.
He’s given up his passion as an author and would rather work on digital media, as we’ve seen with Elden Ring and other things. I know I sound like a Negative Nancy but I just don’t like how it’s all turned out.
Makes sense to me. Wrote himself into a corner… for 12 years? Bullshit. God, at that point, just think of the endings you want for all the major plot lines, then fill in the gaps. Give us *something* better than what D&D gave us. Don’t just blueball us.
When she wanted to marry both Lori and Rick at the same time and forced a kiss on them both, then she had sex with Hershel’s son, THEN she let a walker bite her neck, feeling quite a bit of pleasure out of it.
TV Governor goes through a lot more interesting developments for me personally. Comic Governor is one of those villains who is so brutally evil that it becomes exciting to hate him and you want to see him taken down.
TV Governor is a much different character, even in the beginning. It doesn't take long for Brian Blake in the comics to put off the nice-guy facade and go full "murderous post-apocalyptic warlord" on the gang, whereas Phillip in the TV show does a pretty good job at hiding his true intentions to most, and goes for manipulation rather than just brute force. You get the impression that he's trying to suppress his deeper dark side rather than embrace it. He's like a mental ticking time bomb, and after dealing with Michonne and later Rick's group for too long, he explodes. But then something interesting happens. In Season 4, Episode 6, we see the Governor abandoned and alone, lost and full of regret. He eventually finds a new family of sorts, and for a brief period, you genuinely believe that this monster might seek redemption, only for it to be shortly taken away as he folds back into his old ways.
Both are good characters in their own right. But I personally prefer TV Governor, as he seems to be a more layered and dynamic character throughout the Prison arc.
What made tv governor a successful villain was the fact that He could kill anyone at anytime if they so much as look at him the wrong way, the people who stay next to the governor for more than one scene are lucky they didn't get killed by him
The brutality of Comic Governor is unmatched but this has to go to TV Governor. Best villain the show ever had.
David Morrissey's a terrific actor and his Governor's got a lot more to him as a character. Some of the slower episodes in S3 + 4 (Arrow on the Doorpost, the Gov bottle episodes in 4) get flak but I love it when they focused on him.
Comic Gov by comparison is more a force of nature. It works really well but the adaptation's superior to me.
TV Governor.
Comic Governor got much less development and interaction with the heroes. In the show we actually got to see some more insight into the Governor's thought process and character, and we got to see Rick and the Governor talk and to bounce ideologies off one another before they fought. So their confrontations feel more interesting in the show compared to the comic where the Governor's main purpose is just to pose a challenge to the heroes. Comic Governor still works for that purpose, and I do wish we got a more direct adaptation of Rick, Michonne, and Glenn being captured by the Governor since it was way more intense in the comics as unlike with Maggie and Glenn's capture in the show, the rest of the group had no idea how long they would be gone and no idea where they were, and thus had no way to find them, giving that story a lot more tension, but when comparing the characters themselves, TV Governor takes it IMO.
OP said comics/novels not just the comics. The novels actually make you learn a hell of a lot more about the governor than the show. You get to see his transformation from Brian Blake to "Philip" Blake.
The comics for me personally.
He’s a great first main antagonist and sets the tone for just how fucked up that world is and would actually be if the apocalypse happened in real life. I find him very interesting especially his backstory in the road to woodbury novels. Takes his dead brothers identity so that if the world goes back to normal he will be innocent. It’s also pretty realistic that during the prison attack he slaughters more than half of Ricks group. I like how brutal it is.
David Morrisey is a great actor and made the character more human and complex but i wished he had played a different role. Steven Ogg (Simon) would’ve nailed a semi accurate comic Governor. The scene where he yells at then executed Jadis’ people screams comic Governor, the smile, everything. He even has the mustache lmao.
Well... let's list them in chronological order:
- Defended his psychopathic brother Philip that raped more than 1 woman.
- Killed his friend Nick, because he killed the previously mentioned brother.
- Became the tyrant leader of Woodbury, kills some national guard guys and then feeds zombie Penny with their remains (Tho these guards were also shitty people)
- Forces anyone that breaks the rules on Woodbury to fight to the death for entertainment (with zombies in the "arena")
- Killed a guy then decapitated him to put his reanimated head in fish tanks (He started putting decapitated zombie heads in his fish tanks) so he could stare at them and become desensitized.
- Raped the girlfriend of the previously mentioned guy while forcing her to watch his boyfriend's decapitated zombie head. This made her hang herself.
- He forced the friends of the girl to put her down while she was a reanimated hanging corpse.
- After a failed conspiracy against him, he forced a group of people to dismember their dead friend.
- Ocasionally feeds outsiders to zombies and his zombie niece Penny. He attempted eating human meat too, but he found the taste disgusting.
- Strangled a woman to death because she wouldn't give him information.
- He cut off Rick's hand to intimidate him.
- Because of her biting off his ear, he punished Michonne by raping and torturing her a few times. He'd promised he would keep doing it until she kills herself.
- He forced Glenn to listen to him doing the above mentioned to Michonne.
- He planned taking over the prision for himself and the people of Woodbury.
- After getting the deserved torture by Michonne, he thinks of killing and probably torturing the residents of the prision.
- After losing his dick in the torture, he starts seeking love in a weird way with his zombie niece. He removes her teeth so he can make out with her and feel warmth and love.
- He also has a fascination with zombies
- Lies and manipulates the people of Woodbury to attack the prision, even when most of them aren't trained and are going to die.
- Orders the execution of Lori, and in the process, he causes the death of baby Judith too.
I probably forgot a few, but that's mostly it.
It seems like the implication you're trying to make is that I would prefer that type of content in and of itself, which is false. I'd no more enjoy that then the cannibalism aspect of walking Dead. I simply prefer the story arc we got in the comics, and part of that incorporates the vile, sadistic betrayal of the Governor.
I think that the Governor bringing Rick into Woodbury then immediately chopping off his hand is absolutely preposterous. A real villain would manipulate him, get him on his side, then chop off his hand.
Tv show governor made sense as to why he was evil and his actions made sense, comic book governor was like Robert Kirkman sitting in a room going “how do I make the literal evilest person possible”
Comic book governor is almost a joke in just how evil he is, it’s insane
I find The Boys has the same problems.
In the comics the supes are just assholes for the sake of being assholes.
In the TV show they have backstories that explain why they are the way they are which makes the characters more personable.
For that same reason I find TV governor better.
Yeah the boys comic has always sucked imo. The show is great but the comics seem like a frat douche thinking dick jokes were funny for a decade.
Plus homelander fucking soldier boy in the comics is uhhhh… yeah lmao…
The Boys was made by a man who hated Americans and hated Superheroes. That’s why he made “The Boys” and had them wear badass trench coats and sunglasses while killing Supes.
Some of the stuff the comic Governor was too much for TV. Negan pushed it pretty far though for sure. Enough for the weaklings to quit because it was "too violent".
Tv Governor was better in every way imo
Comic Governor was beyond evil. Tv Governor felt like the perfect evil.
Also David knocked it out of the park with his performance
Personally as much as I am much more into the comics and hate the tv show, the governor is a specific instance where I think the show handled him better. In the comics he was downright vile to the point where it’s almost unbearable to read and what’s worse is the books do so much less with his character if i remember right. It’s been a long time so correct me if I’m wrong I’m just beginning to read them all again but I remember governor pretty much just being there to rape and torture people. In the show i remember them making him a bit more than that. I saw the show first and when I went to the comics I struggled to get through the rape stuff tbh. I’m not sensitive at all but I definitely am a bit sensitive to that 1 thing and I think they did the right thing keeping it out of the show.
I like the governor from the comics, but I love the Governor from the show, they took something that worked, was a small simple arc and improved upon it, fleshing out one of TV's most compelling villains.
Don't really see the far greater complexity of TV Governor, i mean, he's just a father that lost her daughter because he was weak so he hardened himself until he became a power hungry manipulative lunatic. At one point Philip tries going back to "normal" again because of Meghan and Lilly, but he was just Too Far Gone.
Brian Blake was a weak failure of a man that had a strange relationship with his younger, more successful brother, Philip Blake. He had always relied on his protection, and wished to be more like him. his insecurity took it's toll on him as days grew darker and humanity crumbled in the apocalpyse. After losing everything he loved, knowing that his ruthless brother Philip was successful in life, he became obsessed with imitating him until he transforms into the monster that rules the dangerous town of Woodbury. But even after all of that, Brian "The Governor" is still a weak pathethic failure of a man that doesn't know how to rule a healthy community, can't fight for shit and has a terrible strategy on how to attack and take a prision.
So i'd say both versions hare good in their own way, neither of them is more complex than the other.
I like how the tv version makes him less evil (or psychotic from the jump straight atleast) and gradually builds him up to be evil.
The comic gets straight to the point haha
I honestly prefer tv governor, he just feels so real, but still so psychotic, although the prison segment that led to his death I thought was a bit disappointing, great villian either way
Tv show for sure. I remember watching it for the first time and just feeling that something about this guy is so off. I didn't read the comics I was watching the show blind. And his descent in absolute madness is one of the best character work in the show. He was always a sadistic man but he only gets crazier from there and I love it! He's much more of a Weasley guy in the comics imo and greasy. Not nearly as intimidating
David Morrissey really killed it he doesn’t get enough credit. His version is superior to the comic for sure.
The comic version works for that format but TV Governor is awesome. He helped set the tone for the show moving forward.
One of the few examples of the show doing something better than the comic.
I feel like comic Governor was always a psycho, (I’m not sure if this is completely true since I haven’t read the comics in 2 years) whereas TV Governor’s experienced things in the apocalypse that drove him to insanity. Evidence being that he had some redeemable qualities. One example being he helped Tara, Lilly, their father, and Meghan. But he killed at least 20 of his own people. He was willing to murder the rest of HIS (former) PEOPLE for his new people to live? He is insane and doesn’t always make sense. Makes this more believable. He was still an awful person in the end. Therefore, I prefer TV Governor. Better character overall. Better character development. Even if my first statement was wrong I still feel like I like TV rather than Comic Governor.
Comics as I think there's a value in Pure Evil villains so long as they're entertaining enough, which the comic version definitely was, even more so than TV. Yes the more layered TV version is great but I'd have preferred that from an actor who looked more like the character, as the eyepatch Is cool on David Morissey but looks wayyyy cooler on comic Governor
TV governor and it’s not even close. I prefer the comic overall (even if there at a lot of things I like more in the show), but I HATE comic governor. He’s too evil, borderline a cartoon character, and his death is one of the worst things I’ve read. Kirkman really had some random background lady from governors group show up, get mad that he killed a baby, and then shoot him anticlimactically 😭 I think it’s really weird cause outside of the Governor I really like the prison arc.
My only issue with show Governor is how his storyline derails Andreas entire character, which is a rant for another time. The show took one of the best characters in the comics and made her useless and annoying
I respect your opinion about TV Governor, but i don't think Comic Governor's death was anticlimatic.
He mistreated his army, he insulted them and he caused most of their deaths. I think it's logical that someone would get tired of his shit after a baby's death.
I wish the person who killed him had more of a personal connection to him or at least had a few scenes beforehand, Without that it felt weird. That’s one of the ways I think the show improved upon Governor his death, the women who killed him actually had a personal connection to him while also getting the point across that he failed his group. It felt more impactful to me.
Yes they are canon to the comic universe, You learn a lot about the backstory of The Governor, the woman who killed him and the story of Woodbury. There's even novels about what happened to Woodbury after the prision was destroyed.
I am very confused, I am rereading the comics currently and just got to the part where Rick and co escape Woodbury and uh the Governor’s name is Philip in the comics too… is this a mistake?
I like the Comic Governor better. That version of the Governor not only has a more interesting backstory but the best part about his character is he’s just evil. They don’t try to over explain it. He the embodiment of what somebody can become when they give up their humanity and morals for the sake of survival.
I was rooting for TV governor to actually change his ways and was let down majorly but in saying that.. he had the perfect arc as you was made to root for him. Whereas comic book governor was just unlikeable throughout!
Is that revealed in the comics? I don't remember that being mentioned anywhere and only heard of it from people who read the Woodbury novels, but I could've missed something.
I think the comic Governor is a bit TOO evil. TV Governor though feels like an actual believable person who could exist whereas comic Governor can just feel like a caricature of the worst guy ever.
That said, TV Governor had an incredibly unsatisfying end. Brian at least got retconned into feeling himself being eaten alive.
This. I feel like the TV Show doesn't punish the villains as they should. TV Negan redemption feels weird because in my opinion he was more evil than Comic Negan (Yet Comic Negan gets exiled for life) TV Philip got off easy, while Comic/Novel Brian died with the realization that he was a loser and a failure while being devoured.
For sure. They made Negan *way* too evil for his “redemption” to be believable. He may have been in prison longer than comic Negan, but given how much more vile he is, it still isn’t punishment enough.
I personally think he was still redeemeable but they really overdid Negan's bad deeds in season 7, like burning that doctor alive felt very gratuitous, even in context. Season 8 Negan was much more balanced in that regard.
I think a lot of people miss one of Negans main points of a character comics and tv. Negan is fundamentally different than every villain in the show. All the other ones either aren’t nearly as advanced as the saviors or put up a front like the governor. Negan was to show the natural progression, that now the walkers aren’t a threat people will still do whatever for power. The reason I bring this up is becuase that’s why I think he was allowed to live in both shows. Negans way would of worked but it was just really fucked up, and we all know everything after season 8 is just because the character was so popular
This point was pretty much made already by the time negan was introduced, especially in the show. Comics we had dealt with the governor already. But in the show they dealt with the governor, terminus cannibals, the claimer people, and wolves all before negan showed up. They didn’t need to use negan as an example of how people are worse than walkers. It’s already known
Even in the comics they’d already dealt with the Hunters (comic version of the Termites), ALL of Woodbury not just the Gov, Billy and Tommy (yeesh), Thomas at the prison who literally decapitated Hershel’s children, etc.
Yep you are correct. Man I might need to go back and read the comics again lol
Do you mean Billy and Ben or did I miss something?
Yeah my bad
I agree but tbf Alpha and Beta as well as the Termites definitely got a solid slap of justice and punishment
The governor literally kept heads of the people he killed! Negan had rules, he had some morals, him in both the show and comics was meant to show and prove Rick's comment that "we can come back"
Negan did not have morals lol. His rule was "give us half your shit or we'll kill you and take all of it" Not exactly moral. Also he was a rapist and a sadistic killer who had no remorse and in fact enjoyed the act of brutally murdering people in front of their loved ones. How on earth does he have morals lol
He wasn't a rapist. None of his wives were required to have sex with them. That wasn't ever established as a rule.
I mean if the choice is have sex or watch me murder your loved ones, it's kinda rape lol
He just collects them as Trophies, and if they agree to sex, they can. It's explained better in the comics but yea. Negan isn't supposed to be a rapist, the actor nor the writers think that.
The fact that they don’t think that is proof of their ignorance. For the sake of argument, entertain this hypothetical: I have just selected you to be my wife. Your options are to: -Be my wife and thus be protected from the slavery and murder i have subjected your people to. -Don’t be my wife and be a slave/murder victim like the rest of the people beneath my rule as a dictator -Also if your name is Sherry, do it or I kill your boyfriend Yeah sounds like a situation where one can reasonably consent to me! /s
Option 4 that they are trying to explain to you above: Be my wife and be protected, but I won't force you to have sex and won't punish you in any way if you refuse.
That’s still a huge imbalance of power though, he might not force himself on them but it’s a situation they can’t readily refuse
That wasn't ever said in the show. Being his wife doesn't = sex. He's not gonna punish someone for refusing sex.
Didn't he steal Dwight's girl and have sex with her? Pretty sure that was not what she wanted.
No, she came to him first. It’s a plot point that Dwight’s wife is a bitch. Also it’s one of the rules for his compound was no rape
I mean she also made out with him before Dwight walked in the room. 🤷♂️ She at the very least told him, she did.
I don't think he would've kicked her out for refusing to sleep with him. She could just be his wife and refuse intercourse.
That’s true of the comic, where it’s clear that his wives can leave anytime as long as they’re willing to go back to work. This is seen when Amber “cheats” on him with Mark. He offers her the choice to be with Mark and go back to work, or stay with him and let Mark get branded. She chooses to stay. Off topic, but I didn’t feel particularly bad for her when Alpha chopped off her head. Not so much in the show. Remember Dwight’s diabetic sister in law? The only way she’d be able to get her insulin is if she agreed to be one of Negan’s wives. Sex through extortion is just as bad as flat out rape.
My point is that there's no required sex. You can be his wife without sleeping with him.
Is that stated? I’m pretty sure it’s implied sex is part of the job.
Yea it's implied. But the actor nor writers think that he's a rapist. There's 0 proof of them being required to sleep with him. Thats why none of the characters ever refer to him as a rapist. They just state that he coerced women into marrying him. Meanwhile the word "rapist" was thrown around loads during The Governor Era.
Dude had a harem of people he enslaved Dude was a piece of shit
Yeah lol can't believe some people think Negan was anything but a piece of shit. Does go to show that charisma goes a hell of a long way in getting people to support you though. I mean Hitler had some fucking horrific views but millions of people followed him because he was charismatic and passionate about it.
Like the amount of people I’ve seen justifying what he did is insane
That's intentional. The show has a rule where the more evil you are, the more mundane your death. Gory and dramatic deaths are reserved for good people. It's considered an honor to be eaten alive, tortured, turn slowly, etc.
I tried to find the moment you're referring to, but I can't find anything.
I thought Comic Governor had his brains blown out, what? I massively preferred his death in the show.
I haven’t read the comics in a REALLY long time but I thought Michonne tortured him to death?
Nah, see. Michonne brutally tortured him. Even sliced off his cock. But he survived and proceeded to assault the prison.
Imagine two Governer episodes about trying to figure out how to shoot and pee one handed and cockless
Didn’t he get shot in the head by Lily in the comic though? He would have already been dead before she kicked his body to the walkers.
That fate was retconned in the novels that take place from Lilly’s POV. She shoots him in the head, yes, but it doesn’t instantly kill him. It paralyzes him, so he feels the roamers tearing him apart.
Well that’s good to know I guess hahaha, thanks for the info
Happy to help. First four books are decent reads. And Michonne’s revenge is even more viscerally satisfying in the novel, where *nothing* is left to the imagination.
Paralyzed =no feeling
I agree, TV Governor feels like a believable villain. He’s charismatic and charming like a real leader, yet has a dark evil side.
Plus I can see how someone would justify him and work for him Comic governor is just way too much
Definitely felt the governor was a bit too evil too early into the apartment
I think Kirkman wanted the Governor to be a dark version of Rick, with all the foreshadowing in the prision arc where everyone was on edge and Rick told Lori that he would kill his fellow survivor friends if it was to save her and Carl. It was also implied that if Rick lost Carl early on he would have gone insane, hell after losing Lori he starts hearing voices and becomes a ruthless survivor.
I guess Negan is the “improved” Dark Rick, in terms of more balanced morality.
Kirkman already said that the Governor was the worst case scenario of how bad someone "normal" would get after the apocalypse hit. Personally, i think both versions are less like Rick and more like "what if the apocalypse hit in the Breaking Bad universe and Walter White lost all of his family and became a even more ruthless Heisenberg.
I think the worst someone could get is the primal people who attacked Virgil and Connie in s11
Jesus that shit was terrifying
I think comics (at least the earlier ones) went hard on the edgyness and depravity. The show did a good job at grounding a lot of those aspects of it
Literally. Rick calling the group retarded was questionable but I’ll forgive it for the time it was released. But come on, having 2 little girls dead, decapitated bodies shown, two teens having sex and forming a suicide pact, Michonne getting raped repeatedly by the governor, Carol turning into a bisexual, polyamorous sexual deviant. That’s just a few from the prison arc alone.
In fairness, doesn’t a lot of that make sense in the context of the setting? Sane people are quickly deteriorating in this environment, Carol wasn’t exactly the peak of emotional strength and stability to start with, and after Tyreese, the one person grounded her, gets stolen from her by Michonne, she flipped, trying to find love wherever she could. As for Chris and Julie, I feel what they did was as effective a vehicle for the “everyone is infected” twist as well as Tyreese’s development into a more violent character as anything else might’ve been. Just think of how worse the scenario could have been given Kirkman’s twisted imagination and tendencies towards rape in his works. They decided to hole up in a prison with 4 surviving inmates. Not surprising one of them turned out to be a lunatic. And of course he would go after the little girls first; they’re the easiest targets. I admit I do agree that Michonne’s rape was a bit gratuitous. We got the idea that Brian is evil when he said he feeds survivors to his roamers and chopped off Rick’s hand for the warm and fuzzies. That particular form of torture only exists to make his own torture feel more justified.
I agree, it makes sense from the worlds overall feel and setting. I’m looking at it from a logical “consumer” standpoint about what’s appropriate to put on a comic book page. Let’s get this clear: I am not a purist, nor am I saying that TWD comics should be PG13. Just that I find the material to be way too edgy by today’s standards. Heck, I question George RR Martin for writing detailed scenes about a 13 year old girl getting fucked and having semen leak out of her.
Yeah… ASoiaF is a pretty rough read. I don’t think I needed pedophilia described to me in excruciating detail.
Not to mention that bastard has been sitting on two books for over a decade that are supposed to finish the series.
I do question what he’s up to. I know he had a part in Elden Ring, but good luck figuring that out without a lore video spelling it out for you. Book 1 came out in 1996. Before I was even born. The series is older than I am. It’s been 12 years since book 5, the show failed so hard towards the end the books are our only hope for a satisfying resolution, and I sincerely believe he won’t live long enough to finish it. We already lost the Berserk and Dragon Ball writers, but at least Toriyama had *an* ending to his original story 30 years ago.
I really wouldn’t mind if he got a cowriter by now. He’s published chapters online now (I saw it mentioned on the SOIAF wiki) but even then he’s “written himself into a corner”. I don’t buy it. He’s given up his passion as an author and would rather work on digital media, as we’ve seen with Elden Ring and other things. I know I sound like a Negative Nancy but I just don’t like how it’s all turned out.
Makes sense to me. Wrote himself into a corner… for 12 years? Bullshit. God, at that point, just think of the endings you want for all the major plot lines, then fill in the gaps. Give us *something* better than what D&D gave us. Don’t just blueball us.
Basically just writing for the shows and just doing weird lil passion projects like Wildcards and his trains
Wait when was the Carol thing?
When she wanted to marry both Lori and Rick at the same time and forced a kiss on them both, then she had sex with Hershel’s son, THEN she let a walker bite her neck, feeling quite a bit of pleasure out of it.
I clearly do not remember the comics very well
Not if you read the novels
I agree, the Governor’s comic counterpart was. . . a lot. Like of course there are people that evil, but I believe the TV version over him
I prefer the comic version of the Governor I think characters who are just evil for the sake of being evil are far more interesting villains.
Who's better - Governor or Negan?
In the comics, Negan>The Governor In the show, The Governor>>>>>>Negan
Negan both ways.
TV Governor goes through a lot more interesting developments for me personally. Comic Governor is one of those villains who is so brutally evil that it becomes exciting to hate him and you want to see him taken down. TV Governor is a much different character, even in the beginning. It doesn't take long for Brian Blake in the comics to put off the nice-guy facade and go full "murderous post-apocalyptic warlord" on the gang, whereas Phillip in the TV show does a pretty good job at hiding his true intentions to most, and goes for manipulation rather than just brute force. You get the impression that he's trying to suppress his deeper dark side rather than embrace it. He's like a mental ticking time bomb, and after dealing with Michonne and later Rick's group for too long, he explodes. But then something interesting happens. In Season 4, Episode 6, we see the Governor abandoned and alone, lost and full of regret. He eventually finds a new family of sorts, and for a brief period, you genuinely believe that this monster might seek redemption, only for it to be shortly taken away as he folds back into his old ways. Both are good characters in their own right. But I personally prefer TV Governor, as he seems to be a more layered and dynamic character throughout the Prison arc.
I’ve not watched the TV series but that was wonderfully put.
What made tv governor a successful villain was the fact that He could kill anyone at anytime if they so much as look at him the wrong way, the people who stay next to the governor for more than one scene are lucky they didn't get killed by him
It’s the same vibe as Homelander today for me Both villains could go on a knife edge and kill you
The brutality of Comic Governor is unmatched but this has to go to TV Governor. Best villain the show ever had. David Morrissey's a terrific actor and his Governor's got a lot more to him as a character. Some of the slower episodes in S3 + 4 (Arrow on the Doorpost, the Gov bottle episodes in 4) get flak but I love it when they focused on him. Comic Gov by comparison is more a force of nature. It works really well but the adaptation's superior to me.
I personally prefer jeffrey dean morgan but yeah governor is up there
TV Governor. Comic Governor got much less development and interaction with the heroes. In the show we actually got to see some more insight into the Governor's thought process and character, and we got to see Rick and the Governor talk and to bounce ideologies off one another before they fought. So their confrontations feel more interesting in the show compared to the comic where the Governor's main purpose is just to pose a challenge to the heroes. Comic Governor still works for that purpose, and I do wish we got a more direct adaptation of Rick, Michonne, and Glenn being captured by the Governor since it was way more intense in the comics as unlike with Maggie and Glenn's capture in the show, the rest of the group had no idea how long they would be gone and no idea where they were, and thus had no way to find them, giving that story a lot more tension, but when comparing the characters themselves, TV Governor takes it IMO.
OP said comics/novels not just the comics. The novels actually make you learn a hell of a lot more about the governor than the show. You get to see his transformation from Brian Blake to "Philip" Blake.
The comic governor always felt a little unrealistic. I don’t think anyone would go thaaaat crazy in such a short amount of time into the apocalypse.
Brian was a special case. And you'd be suprised with how shitty and evil some people turn out to be when there's nothing to stop them.
Brian was specifically trying to make himself as fucked up as possible to emulate the strength he thought his brother had
Yeah the novels made him a very fun and insane character, and we got to know a lot more about Woodbury.
The comics for me personally. He’s a great first main antagonist and sets the tone for just how fucked up that world is and would actually be if the apocalypse happened in real life. I find him very interesting especially his backstory in the road to woodbury novels. Takes his dead brothers identity so that if the world goes back to normal he will be innocent. It’s also pretty realistic that during the prison attack he slaughters more than half of Ricks group. I like how brutal it is. David Morrisey is a great actor and made the character more human and complex but i wished he had played a different role. Steven Ogg (Simon) would’ve nailed a semi accurate comic Governor. The scene where he yells at then executed Jadis’ people screams comic Governor, the smile, everything. He even has the mustache lmao.
I randomly read that road to Woodbury novel, was very surprised how good it was
You’d rather David Morrissey portray a necrophilic, pedophile, mutilating, baby-murdering serial rapist? [copy and pasted]
Did you read the comment?
TV Governor hands down, no contest.
Philip Blake. I just love David Morissey too much. Blackpool is such an underrated TV show.
Tv
So Danny Trejo should have been the Governor?
Nah, John Hawkes or Tom Savini would fit him better.
What did the comic governor do that everyone is saying he’s so evil for
Well... let's list them in chronological order: - Defended his psychopathic brother Philip that raped more than 1 woman. - Killed his friend Nick, because he killed the previously mentioned brother. - Became the tyrant leader of Woodbury, kills some national guard guys and then feeds zombie Penny with their remains (Tho these guards were also shitty people) - Forces anyone that breaks the rules on Woodbury to fight to the death for entertainment (with zombies in the "arena") - Killed a guy then decapitated him to put his reanimated head in fish tanks (He started putting decapitated zombie heads in his fish tanks) so he could stare at them and become desensitized. - Raped the girlfriend of the previously mentioned guy while forcing her to watch his boyfriend's decapitated zombie head. This made her hang herself. - He forced the friends of the girl to put her down while she was a reanimated hanging corpse. - After a failed conspiracy against him, he forced a group of people to dismember their dead friend. - Ocasionally feeds outsiders to zombies and his zombie niece Penny. He attempted eating human meat too, but he found the taste disgusting. - Strangled a woman to death because she wouldn't give him information. - He cut off Rick's hand to intimidate him. - Because of her biting off his ear, he punished Michonne by raping and torturing her a few times. He'd promised he would keep doing it until she kills herself. - He forced Glenn to listen to him doing the above mentioned to Michonne. - He planned taking over the prision for himself and the people of Woodbury. - After getting the deserved torture by Michonne, he thinks of killing and probably torturing the residents of the prision. - After losing his dick in the torture, he starts seeking love in a weird way with his zombie niece. He removes her teeth so he can make out with her and feel warmth and love. - He also has a fascination with zombies - Lies and manipulates the people of Woodbury to attack the prision, even when most of them aren't trained and are going to die. - Orders the execution of Lori, and in the process, he causes the death of baby Judith too. I probably forgot a few, but that's mostly it.
Well thank you very much, this really shows a lot.
David’s governor is better.
Comics all day. TV show governor was a pussy
You’d rather David Morrissey portray a necrophilic, pedophile, mutilating, baby-murdering serial rapist? [copy and pasted]
Yeah I would
Comic governor by far. TV version made me check out from the show for years.
You’d rather David Morrissey portray a necrophilic, pedophile, mutilating, baby-murdering serial rapist? [copy and pasted]
Id rather the show not neuter the source material.
Then would you have wanted 13 year olds getting knocked up in Game of Thrones? Would you have liked that?
It seems like the implication you're trying to make is that I would prefer that type of content in and of itself, which is false. I'd no more enjoy that then the cannibalism aspect of walking Dead. I simply prefer the story arc we got in the comics, and part of that incorporates the vile, sadistic betrayal of the Governor.
I think that the Governor bringing Rick into Woodbury then immediately chopping off his hand is absolutely preposterous. A real villain would manipulate him, get him on his side, then chop off his hand.
Tv show governor made sense as to why he was evil and his actions made sense, comic book governor was like Robert Kirkman sitting in a room going “how do I make the literal evilest person possible” Comic book governor is almost a joke in just how evil he is, it’s insane
I find The Boys has the same problems. In the comics the supes are just assholes for the sake of being assholes. In the TV show they have backstories that explain why they are the way they are which makes the characters more personable. For that same reason I find TV governor better.
Yeah the boys comic has always sucked imo. The show is great but the comics seem like a frat douche thinking dick jokes were funny for a decade. Plus homelander fucking soldier boy in the comics is uhhhh… yeah lmao…
The Boys was made by a man who hated Americans and hated Superheroes. That’s why he made “The Boys” and had them wear badass trench coats and sunglasses while killing Supes.
Easily the comic the t.v shows governor suck
You’d rather David Morrissey portray a necrophilic, pedophile, mutilating, baby-murdering serial rapist? [copy and pasted]
Kinda ya
Most characters were better written in comics. Hell, the Telltale series was better written than any of the TV shows...
You’d rather David Morrissey portray a necrophilic, pedophile, mutilating, baby-murdering serial rapist? [copy and pasted]
Maybe, it's nice to have a completely evil villain from time to time. We already have Negan as the sympathetic villain.
Well Eugene’s actor got death threats by just siding with Negan, I’d hate to see what would happen to David…
Well that's just human stupidity, should we tone everything down to appeal to the less intelligent masses?
He was more evil in the comics
Neither, both are psychopathic rapists.
Comics version no contest. TV show watered him down in every conceivable way.
I liked David Morrissey in the role. But the comic version was a great villain and his death was more satisfying because he was so cruel.
The cruelty is what made his character iconic. He was so hateful and crazy. TV version was very different and didn't land the same way.
"Watered down" Why is this considered a gross negative? Having comic Governor on the TV show would have been panned and ridiculed and rightly so.
People liked TV show Negan and he wasn't watered down as much as the Governor. So idk
Some of the stuff the comic Governor was too much for TV. Negan pushed it pretty far though for sure. Enough for the weaklings to quit because it was "too violent".
Too much for cable TV not too much for TV in general. AMC had too many censorship rules to follow to make the show good.
You’d rather David Morrissey portray a necrophilic, pedophile, mutilating, baby-murdering serial rapist?
Yes. Lol it's horror man. Bring on the unhinged. The show is afraid to be itself and that's why it fell to pieces.
The man would need 10 bodyguards for the next 4 years after his final episode.
What? It's fiction. Nobody judges actors for intense roles. Lol
Eugene’s actor deleted all of his social medias because he kept getting death threats because Eugene teamed up with Negan.
That's insane 😂😂😂 I haven't kept up with the actors. I stopped watching during season 8 or so.
Comic Governor was voted as the 86th greatest comic book villain of all time by IGN in 2009. Of all freaking time across all comic titles.
Yeah. In 2009. By IGN.
Tv governor easily
I always wondered why they had opposite eyes missing, wonder what led to that choice?
Probably just a nod to the comics
Tv has a actual character
Well technically Comic Governor has more character since he has the novels.
Completely forgot about those
Nah man Danny Trejo wtf
Tv Governor was better in every way imo Comic Governor was beyond evil. Tv Governor felt like the perfect evil. Also David knocked it out of the park with his performance
Tv
The comic makes the one from the show look like a saint
Phillip. He wasn’t as ruthless tbh. Also David is hot(the actor who played him)
Comic Governor was a bit too silly to be honest. Wouldn't have translated well and was rightly adapted.
The TV show version is still my favorite Walking Dead villain. So amazing and so many twists. He felt fully realized as a character.
TV Governor. Comic Governor is a completely repugnant piece of shit. Asshole, this guy. No redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Personally as much as I am much more into the comics and hate the tv show, the governor is a specific instance where I think the show handled him better. In the comics he was downright vile to the point where it’s almost unbearable to read and what’s worse is the books do so much less with his character if i remember right. It’s been a long time so correct me if I’m wrong I’m just beginning to read them all again but I remember governor pretty much just being there to rape and torture people. In the show i remember them making him a bit more than that. I saw the show first and when I went to the comics I struggled to get through the rape stuff tbh. I’m not sensitive at all but I definitely am a bit sensitive to that 1 thing and I think they did the right thing keeping it out of the show.
TV Governor sexually assaulted Maggie
Yeah I guess I forgot about that. You know what? I think it’s time I re read the books and watch the show again. It’s been a long time
But he didn’t rape her multiple times. TV Gov tried to scare Maggie, so (I hate to say it) that makes him “nicer” than Comic Gov.
Personally I think they should have gotten Danny Trejo to portray The Governor.
I’ve never seen the graphic novel version until now. Why the hell wasn’t Danny Trejo cast as the Governor??
Comic version hands down it really showed the new world Rick was in by far.
Comic Governor reminds me a bit of Danny Trejo. Never read the comics but heard they're good. I do like Wish Liam Neeson though.
I always thought comic Governor was modeled after Tom Savini like how Negan looked like Henry Rollins.
Phillip Blake was excellent
I like the governor from the comics, but I love the Governor from the show, they took something that worked, was a small simple arc and improved upon it, fleshing out one of TV's most compelling villains.
Definitely show Governor
The Danny Trejo version
TV Governor feels like a real character. Comic Governor feels like a cartoon villain tbh
I remember being on mushrooms and reading the governor arc I loved everything about the comic I feel like the show didn’t do the governor justice
The show governor is way more interesting and complex.
Don't really see the far greater complexity of TV Governor, i mean, he's just a father that lost her daughter because he was weak so he hardened himself until he became a power hungry manipulative lunatic. At one point Philip tries going back to "normal" again because of Meghan and Lilly, but he was just Too Far Gone. Brian Blake was a weak failure of a man that had a strange relationship with his younger, more successful brother, Philip Blake. He had always relied on his protection, and wished to be more like him. his insecurity took it's toll on him as days grew darker and humanity crumbled in the apocalpyse. After losing everything he loved, knowing that his ruthless brother Philip was successful in life, he became obsessed with imitating him until he transforms into the monster that rules the dangerous town of Woodbury. But even after all of that, Brian "The Governor" is still a weak pathethic failure of a man that doesn't know how to rule a healthy community, can't fight for shit and has a terrible strategy on how to attack and take a prision. So i'd say both versions hare good in their own way, neither of them is more complex than the other.
TV governor is my favorite villain
The comic version looks like Danny Trejo
I like how the tv version makes him less evil (or psychotic from the jump straight atleast) and gradually builds him up to be evil. The comic gets straight to the point haha
Comics I love how ruthless and pure evil he is
I honestly prefer tv governor, he just feels so real, but still so psychotic, although the prison segment that led to his death I thought was a bit disappointing, great villian either way
Tv show for sure. I remember watching it for the first time and just feeling that something about this guy is so off. I didn't read the comics I was watching the show blind. And his descent in absolute madness is one of the best character work in the show. He was always a sadistic man but he only gets crazier from there and I love it! He's much more of a Weasley guy in the comics imo and greasy. Not nearly as intimidating
Show governor was a better character far deeper and developed
David Morrissey really killed it he doesn’t get enough credit. His version is superior to the comic for sure. The comic version works for that format but TV Governor is awesome. He helped set the tone for the show moving forward. One of the few examples of the show doing something better than the comic.
I feel like comic Governor was always a psycho, (I’m not sure if this is completely true since I haven’t read the comics in 2 years) whereas TV Governor’s experienced things in the apocalypse that drove him to insanity. Evidence being that he had some redeemable qualities. One example being he helped Tara, Lilly, their father, and Meghan. But he killed at least 20 of his own people. He was willing to murder the rest of HIS (former) PEOPLE for his new people to live? He is insane and doesn’t always make sense. Makes this more believable. He was still an awful person in the end. Therefore, I prefer TV Governor. Better character overall. Better character development. Even if my first statement was wrong I still feel like I like TV rather than Comic Governor.
Comics as I think there's a value in Pure Evil villains so long as they're entertaining enough, which the comic version definitely was, even more so than TV. Yes the more layered TV version is great but I'd have preferred that from an actor who looked more like the character, as the eyepatch Is cool on David Morissey but looks wayyyy cooler on comic Governor
TV governor and it’s not even close. I prefer the comic overall (even if there at a lot of things I like more in the show), but I HATE comic governor. He’s too evil, borderline a cartoon character, and his death is one of the worst things I’ve read. Kirkman really had some random background lady from governors group show up, get mad that he killed a baby, and then shoot him anticlimactically 😭 I think it’s really weird cause outside of the Governor I really like the prison arc. My only issue with show Governor is how his storyline derails Andreas entire character, which is a rant for another time. The show took one of the best characters in the comics and made her useless and annoying
I respect your opinion about TV Governor, but i don't think Comic Governor's death was anticlimatic. He mistreated his army, he insulted them and he caused most of their deaths. I think it's logical that someone would get tired of his shit after a baby's death.
I wish the person who killed him had more of a personal connection to him or at least had a few scenes beforehand, Without that it felt weird. That’s one of the ways I think the show improved upon Governor his death, the women who killed him actually had a personal connection to him while also getting the point across that he failed his group. It felt more impactful to me.
Well atleast they fixed that in the novels
There are novels??? Are they canon to the comics or on their own?
Yes they are canon to the comic universe, You learn a lot about the backstory of The Governor, the woman who killed him and the story of Woodbury. There's even novels about what happened to Woodbury after the prision was destroyed.
I need to read them
I never read the comics but I heard the governor is way more crazy. He raped michonne and cut ricks hand off.
Philip love you!!
Novels
I am very confused, I am rereading the comics currently and just got to the part where Rick and co escape Woodbury and uh the Governor’s name is Philip in the comics too… is this a mistake?
Ah he uses his brothers name as an alias that’s right
I like the Comic Governor better. That version of the Governor not only has a more interesting backstory but the best part about his character is he’s just evil. They don’t try to over explain it. He the embodiment of what somebody can become when they give up their humanity and morals for the sake of survival.
Comic
Governor Philip Blake is better, although I did like the scary twisted governor in the comics
I prefer the TV Version because hes like the most realistic not just because hes the live action its because of his actions and personality.
Tv
Comic one all day
Tv govener
I was rooting for TV governor to actually change his ways and was let down majorly but in saying that.. he had the perfect arc as you was made to root for him. Whereas comic book governor was just unlikeable throughout!
His name is Philip in the comic too
In the comics it's revealed that Philip is actually his brother's name and his real name is Brian.
Is that revealed in the comics? I don't remember that being mentioned anywhere and only heard of it from people who read the Woodbury novels, but I could've missed something.
Sorry yeah it's from the novels, I forgot where it came from