“The Walking Dead” comic book released by Image Comics seven years ago, written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Charlie Adlard, goes where most zombie stories are afraid to go–long term survival.

Now that Kirkman has recently released the 75th issue, it seems he is doing just that and succeeding.

This Eisner Award winning comic series follows Rick Grimes, a sheriff from a small town who wakes from a coma to find the world he once knew completely different.

Zombies have taken over and his family is nowhere to be found.

He goes on a mission to find them, but as opposed to most zombie stories, the plot doesn’t end when he finds his family.

Grimes finds his wife, Lori, and son, Carl, camping out on the outskirts of Atlanta with a small group of survivors.

They had been traveling through Georgia trying to find shelter, food and general safety.

“The Walking Dead” breaks away even further from the norm when eventually the zombies become more of a backdrop to the characters and how they adjust to their surroundings.

Kirkman and Adlard successfully convey every sort of reaction anyone could have in this situation, ranging from suicidal tendencies to violent desensitization. It is both an amazing zombie apocalypse story as well as a fantastic examination of human response to horrible circumstances.

American Movie Channel (AMC) will be premiering the first episode of the television adaptation, with Kirkman as an executive producer, Oct. 31 at 10 p.m.