The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman names the “totally embarrassing” goof corrected in later printings of the comic book, including the colorized reprint series The Walking Dead Deluxe. In the latest installment of the behind-the-scenes backup feature “The Cutting Room Floor,” Kirkman’s creator commentary explains misnaming Martinez as “Rodriguez” after the character’s introduction in 2006’s The Walking Dead #27. The case of mistaken identity was previously corrected when Image Comics collected the issue in The Walking Dead compendiums, replacing two panels where the Woodbury security officer is misidentified as “Rodriguez.”
“I couldn’t keep Martinez’s name straight. I think I’d originally planned to call him Rodriguez after Robert, the famous director, but changed my mind at some point,” Kirkman writes in “The Cutting Room Floor” of The Walking Dead Deluxe #32. “But in the original printing of this issue, I believe, it was one of them from this era, he was actually called Rodriguez for an issue. Totally embarrassing.”
In a previous installment of “The Cutting Room Floor” in The Walking Dead Deluxe #31, Kirkman noted Martinez’s original name was “Miguel” but was changed.
Introduced in The Walking Dead #27, Martinez welcomes Rick Grimes, Michonne, and Glenn to Woodbury, home of the Governor. In his next appearance in issue #31, he’s Martinez; in issue #32, Glenn and Woodbury’s Dr. Stevens call Martinez “Rodriguez.” By issue #36, Rick refers to him as “Martinez.”
Explaining his choice of character names in The Walking Dead Deluxe #31, Kirkman writes, “People may expect the writer to be a little more careful with his name picking. Well… I’m pretty haphazard with mine.”
“Most of the time, names are just typed at random as I’m writing because I don’t want to stop and spend time picking the perfect name. You’ll notice often that names are different in the plots and then they change in the scripts,” Kirkman explains. “That’s me just randomly changing my mind… and even then, I have another bite of the apple when I prepare the script for lettering, so I feel like I have three chances to change a name… so it’s always a ‘I’ll consider that name more carefully later’ situation. And then the name starts sounding right to me and it sticks.”
The Walking Dead Deluxe #32 is now on sale from Image Comics and Skybound. The Walking Dead: The Final Season returns with new episodes February 20 on AMC.
Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter and @NewsOfTheDead for The Walking Dead Universe coverage all season long.
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