‘The Walking Dead’: Ping Pong Bats Were Negan’s Weapon Of Choice Before Lucille

Have you ever wondered what Negan from The Walking Dead was like before the zombie apocalypse? Well, Image Comics has just spilled the beans on his backstory.

Spoiler alert: This article discusses Season 6 and 7 of AMC’s The Walking Dead as well as the comic books the TV series it is based on. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.

Negan is played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the TV series, and his arrival has been a long time coming. Fans of the TV version of The Walking Dead who also read the comic books AMC based their show on knew just how terrible this character could be. Along with the anticipation of the man, they knew he brought with him a brutal instrument he liked to use to beat in the skulls of those who opposed him. Lucille is a baseball bat covered in barbed wire. But how did this weapon come about? And just why is Negan so equally charismatic and downright horrendous? The creator of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman, and artist Charlie Adlard decided it is time for fans to know just where Negan came from and why he ended up the most feared baddie in The Walking Dead.

Of everything you could have imagined Negan doing before the zombie apocalypse struck in The Walking Dead, was school teacher or ping pong coach ever on your list? Even the actor who portrays Negan approached the part like he was a used car salesman, according to the Hollywood Reporter. But that is what has been revealed in this month’s installment of Here’s Negan in Image Comics preview magazine, Image+ according to ComicBook.com.

Here’s Negan will be released in installments of four pages per monthly issue of Image+. In total, Here’s Negan will run for 48 pages and give viewers and readers of The Walking Dead a clearer idea of just how Negan became the monster we know today.

The first page of the first installment was released early to garner even more interest in Negan’s backstory — not that extra hype was really needed. But now, with the release of the first edition of Image+ featuring Here’s Negan, fans get a look at the extra three pages. And Negan was not only a school teacher who also coached ping pong, he had a lady friend as well!

The first installment of Here’s Negan shows Negan’s mean streak was already a thing before the zombie apocalypse struck and not as a result of it. When Negan defeats one of the students he is coaching, he then goes on to use foul language and sexual innuendo to further humiliate the man, according to Cinema Blend. After this event, Negan’s love interest (it is unclear whether she is Negan’s wife or girlfriend yet) turns up when Negan is trying to be the cool teacher and has a seizure in front of them.

As we know from both the comics and the TV series, Negan’s girlfriend/wife is no longer with him. So that begs the questionL Did she leave or did she die? If she died, was it because of Negan? Could he have even killed her? So far, that hasn’t been revealed, but it is likely the relationship between the pair will be explored more in subsequent issues of Here’s Negan. As yet, it is unclear whether AMC will follow with the official version of Negan’s backstory or will create something entirely different in their TV version of The Walking Dead.

You can purchase Image+ at most comic book retail outlets, with the first installment of Here’s Negan in the April 27 edition. As yet, AMC has not confirmed the Season 7 premiere date for The Walking Dead, although it is anticipated to be sometime in October of this year.

[Image via Gene Page/AMC]