Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that answer the question.
Query: When was the comic book series The Walking Dead introduced?
"The Walking Dead" debuted in 2003, published by Image Comics, with art by Tony Moore for the first six issues and Cliff Rathburn shading the art after issue five. Charlie Adlard took over as artist on issue #7, after he was approached by Kirkman. Moore also did the cover art for the first twenty-four issues and the first four trade paperbacks. The remainder were done by Adlard.
A comic strip also regularly appeared in the pages of "Doctor Who Magazine". This began as a Marvel Comics publication under the name "Doctor Who Weekly" in 1979 (soon changing to "Doctor Who Monthly"), and the magazine continued to be published after the programme ceased production in 1989. The comic strip has usually featured the current Doctor in a series of adventures independent of the novels and the audios, and with another companion, though several crossovers with the worlds of the audio and literary "Doctor Who" and the comics have occurred. Creators who have worked on the "Doctor Who Magazine" strip include such notables as writer Alan Moore and artists Dave Gibbons, Mike McMahon, and John Ridgway. Selected stories were reprinted in North America by Marvel Comics, which was also the publisher of "Doctor Who Magazine" at the time. "Marvel Premiere" #57 (December 1980) was the first Doctor Who comic published in North America. When "Doctor Who Magazine" was published by Marvel, some characters occasionally crossed over between the "Doctor Who" comic and other titles published by Marvel UK; these include the froglike Venusian businessman Josiah Dogbolter and the robotic bounty hunter Death's Head. In the "Flood Barriers" feature in the trade paperback "Doctor Who: The Flood", it is revealed the comic strip was given the opportunity to show the regeneration of the Eighth Doctor into the Ninth Doctor.
Later that year, Schulz approached United Feature Syndicate with the one-panel series "Li'l Folks", and the syndicate became interested. By that time Schulz had also developed a comic strip, usually using four panels rather than one, and to Schulz's delight, the syndicate preferred that version. "Peanuts" made its first appearance on October 2, 1950, in seven newspapers. The weekly Sunday page debuted on January 6, 1952. After a slow start, "Peanuts" eventually became one of the most popular comic strips of all time, as well as one of the most influential. Schulz also had a short-lived sports-oriented comic strip, "It's Only a Game" (1957–59), but he abandoned it after the success of "Peanuts". From 1956 to 1965 he contributed a single-panel strip, "Young Pillars", featuring teenagers, to "Youth", a publication associated with the Church of God.
Wendigo (occasionally: Wen-Di-Go) is a fictional monster appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Marvel character is based on the Wendigo legend of the Algonquian peoples. The monster first appeared in "The Incredible Hulk" #162 (April 1973), created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Herb Trimpe, fighting the Incredible Hulk in the Wendigo's first comic book appearance.
The series debuted on July 12, 2002, on USA Network. It continued for eight seasons, with the final season concluding on December 4, 2009. The series held the record for the most-watched scripted drama episode in cable television history from 2009 through 2012 (broken by "The Walking Dead") with "Mr. Monk and the End – Part II", its series finale, with 9.4 million viewers, 3.2 million of them in the 18–49 demographic.
The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the popular book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW on September 10, 2009, and concluded on March 10, 2017, airing 171 episodes over eight seasons.
Three trilogies followed: "The Secret Circle" (1992), "The Forbidden Game" (1994) and "Dark Visions" (1995). The first installment of "Night World" series was published in 1996, followed by eight more over the next two years. 
In 1998, Smith began a decade-long hiatus from writing, returning in 2008 with a new website and a series of new short stories. "The Vampire Diaries" series was reissued in 2007, followed by reprintings of "The Secret Circle" trilogy and "Night World" series in 2008–2009. "The Night of the Solstice" and "Heart of Valor" were also reissued in 2008. Three new "Vampire Diaries" installments were published in 2009 and 2010. The series was later adapted into a TV series ("The Vampire Diaries") in 2009, as well as "The Secret Circle", which became a TV series of the same name in 2011.
From 1947 to 1949, the newspaper printed the comic strip "Li'l Folks", by Twin Cities native Charles M. Schulz. This comic introduced a number of characters who would later return in 1950 in the syndicated comic strip "Peanuts", including Charlie Brown and a dog strongly resembling Snoopy.
The debut of the "Batman" television series in 1966 had a profound influence on the character. The success of the series increased sales throughout the comic book industry, and "Batman" reached a circulation of close to 900,000 copies. Elements such as the character of Batgirl and the show's campy nature were introduced into the comics; the series also initiated the return of Alfred. Although both the comics and TV show were successful for a time, the camp approach eventually wore thin and the show was canceled in 1968. In the aftermath, the Batman comics themselves lost popularity once again. As Julius Schwartz noted, "When the television show was a success, I was asked to be campy, and of course when the show faded, so did the comic books."
"The Vampire Diaries" is an American fantasy-drama television series which was first broadcast on The CW from 2009 to 2017, airing 171 episodes over 8 seasons. Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec adapted the TV series from L.J. Smith's novel series of the same name. Some of the characters appeared in the spin-off series, "The Originals".
First issued in 2003 by publisher Image Comics, the comic is written by Kirkman with art by Moore (issues No. 1–6) and Charlie Adlard (issue No. 7 onward). Moore continued to do the covers through issue No. 24.
"KoDT" first started in the second issue of "Shadis" magazine in March 1990 when then editor Jolly R. Blackburn decided to draw a simple strip of his own to put on the last page which he called "Knights of the Dinner Table". The first comic only contained B.A. and Bob. Over the next three issues Blackburn continued to draw his own comics (adding in Dave and Brian), but by the sixth issue he had acquired other comics and replaced "KoDT" with them. Readers, however, demanded the return of the "Knights" strip. It was brought back in the eighth issue and lasted into the 21st.
Entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications in autumn 1934. The company debuted with the tabloid-sized "" #1 with a cover date of February 1935. The company's second title, "New Comics" #1 (Dec. 1935), appeared in a size close to what would become comic books' standard during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books, with slightly larger dimensions than today's. That title evolved into "Adventure Comics", which continued through issue #503 in 1983, becoming one of the longest-running comic-book series. In 2009 DC revived "Adventure Comics" with its original numbering. In 1935, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the future creators of Superman, created Doctor Occult, who is the earliest DC Comics character to still be in the DC Universe.
In autumn 1934, having seen the emergence of "Famous Funnies" (1933) and other oversize magazines reprinting comic strips, Wheeler-Nicholson formed the comics publishing company National Allied Publications. While contemporary comics "consisted ... of reprints of old syndicate material", Wheeler-Nicholson found that the "rights to all the popular strips ... had been sewn up". While some existing publications had included small amounts of original material, generally as filler, and while Dell Publishing had put out a proto-comic book of all original strips, "The Funnies", in 1929, Wheeler-Nicholson's premiere comic – "New Fun" #1 (Feb. 1935) – became the first comic book containing all-original material. As author Nicky Wright wrote,
"Bloom County" originated from a comic strip known as "The Academia Waltz", which Breathed produced for "The Daily Texan", the student newspaper of the University of Texas. The comic strip attracted the notice of the editors of "The Washington Post", who recruited him to do a nationally syndicated strip. On December 8, 1980, "Bloom County", syndicated by The Washington Post Writers Group, made its debut and featured some of the characters from "Academia Waltz," including former frat-boy Steve Dallas and the paraplegic Vietnam war veteran Cutter John.
"" is a police procedural television series that began airing on the NBC network immediately after Super Bowl XXVII on January 31, 1993, before moving to Wednesday evenings for the remainder of the first season. The show temporarily replaced "L.A. Law" on Thursday evenings at 10:00 p.m. ET for its limited season 2 run. From season 3 on it aired Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET. "Homicide: Life on the Street" chronicled the work of a fictional Baltimore Police Department homicide unit. The show ran for seven seasons on the NBC network from 1993 to 1999, 122 episodes in all, and then was followed by a 2000 made-for-television movie. The series was based on David Simon's nonfiction book "", and many characters and stories used throughout the show's seven seasons were based on individuals and events depicted in the book.
The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from the late 1930s to circa 1950. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known characters were introduced, including Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel (later known as SHAZAM!), Captain America, and Wonder Woman.
A few days after the series finale was aired, IDW Publishing released the seventh issue of the long-running "Star Wars Adventures" multi-era comic book series, which contained the first of a two-part comic arc, set between the second and third season, in which the Spectres embark on a mission to save a rare endangered bird from Imperial custody. The second part appeared in the next issue, which was released on March 28, 2018.
In addition to "Villains Month", a seven-issue limited series titled "Forever Evil", by Geoff Johns and David Finch, launched in September 2013 and focused on the Crime Syndicate, an evil version of the Justice League from Earth-3 in the Multiverse, as they attempt to take over Prime Earth in the Justice Leagues' defeat at the end of "Trinity War". The "Forever Evil" event ran in other titles starting in October 2013, including three 6-issue tie-in books that launched: "Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion" by Brian Buccellato and Patrick Zircher; "Forever Evil: Arkham War" by Peter Tomasi, Scot Eaton and Jaime Mendoza; and "Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S." by Matt Kindt and Manuel Garcia. Other tie-in titles included: "Teen Titans", "Suicide Squad", "Justice League", "Justice League of America" and the "Forever Evil: Blight" storyline in "Constantine", "Justice League Dark", "Trinity of Sin: Pandora", and "Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger". "Forever Evil" #1 was also reprinted in a director's cut one-shot in October 2013.
Wolfman said when he pitched the series to DC, he realized it was going to be a completely new beginning for the DCU. "I knew up front, and they did too, how big this was going to be," he said. "But, no-one knew how well it would sell, or whether it would sell at all. It was a risk DC was willing to take, because my thoughts were that DC needed a lot of help at that time, and they did too." Wolfman also said he saw it as an attempt to improve DC's reputation for storytelling. Many readers at the time saw them as old fashioned.
Detective Comics is an American comic book series published by DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is best known for introducing the superhero Batman in "Detective Comics" #27 (cover dated May 1939).
The original pitch by Kirkman and Moore was for a followup to George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", with the series taking place in the 1960s. Image Comics co-founder Jim Valentino suggested using an original concept instead so the creators would own the property outright. The revised pitch became "The Walking Dead."
AMC picked up the rights to produce a show based on the comic in 2009. It ordered a pilot episode on January 21, 2010 and began filming on May 15, 2010. The series premiered on October 31, 2010 with high ratings. On November 8, 2010, after broadcasting two episodes, AMC renewed "The Walking Dead" for a second season of 13 episodes, which began on October 16, 2011. The TV show is loosely inspired by the comic, introducing new characters and deviating from the comic in certain plot points.
In May of 2018, Image Comics and its imprint Skybound Entertainment, the company that has driven development of "The Walking Dead" comic series since 2010, jointly announced "The Walking Dead Day." The fan-oriented event has a scheduled date of October 13, 2018 and will coincide with the release of a "Walking Dead #1 15th Anniversary Variant Edition," with cover art by current series artist Charlie Adlard. A select number of "The Walking Dead Day" participating local comic shops become part of the comic's story line, with their own special edition of Adlard's anniversary cover, featuring the store’s logo incorporated into the cover art. The company also noted that additional limited edition collectibles and festivities would be announced at a future date, prior to the October 2018 event.
Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead: Search and Destroy is a post-apocalyptic horror novel written by Jay Bonansinga and was released on October 18, 2016. The novel is a spin-off of "The Walking Dead" comic book series, and it is the seventh novel based on the series. It continues to explore the story of Lilly Caul as her group deals with new enemies. "The Walking Dead: Search and Destroy" is the third book in a four-part series of novels.