Walking Dead Michonne

Walking Dead Michonne, AMC’s “The Walking Dead” closed out its second season in spectacularly bloody and fiery fashion on Sunday night. Several characters met their demise and shocking revelations were made. But the thing that has a lot of people buzzing is the introduction of a mysterious, hooded character wielding a katana and leading two zombies around on chains. Just who is this mystery woman?

Longtime readers of Robert Kirkman’s comic know that this woman is Michonne, and when the series returns for its third season, she’ll soon have a whole new crowd of admirers.

Actress and playwright Danai Gurira has been cast as the no-nonsense character who will join another major character from the comics, the villainous Governor (played by David Morrissey), for the show’s third season.

Anticipation for Michonne’s introduction on the TV series has been huge. In fact “Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard put together a six-page mini-comic for the April issue of Play boy detailing the character’s origins.

She first appeared in “The Walking Dead” Issue 19 back in 2005 doing the same thing TV viewers saw her doing on Sunday — leading armless zombies on chains and dispatching other zombies with her Katana blades.

Those who want to discover Michonne on their own can stop reading now, but for those who can’t wait for the next season, here are some essential facts about the character (at least the comic book version of her).

Michonne (pronounced Me-shone) used to be an attorney before the zombies took over. Those two zombies she’s leading around on chains were people very closer to her: her boyfriend and his best friend.

The Walking Dead Michonne

The Walking Dead Michonne, The Walking Dead TV series left fans with a lot to daydream about until next season with the prison and Michonne both making an appearance. However, fans of the comics and the AMC show have a little something special to tide them over as the katana-wielding zombie slayer makes an appearance in next month’s issue of Play boy.

But sorry, guys – that doesn’t mean that Treme’s Danai Gurira is going to strip down for the men’s magazine. It was announced on Talking Dead that the relatively unknown actress has been cast as the mysterious hooded figure that saves Andrea from a zombie by attacking it with a sword, but of course Danai Gurira isn’t going to ruin the street cred of a kick-ass female character like Michonne by taking her clothes off for a magazine that exploits women.

Instead, The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman created a six-page origin story for one of the most beloved characters of the comic book. Be forewarned that some major spoilers lie ahead.

The mini-comic appears in the April issue of Play boy currently on newsstands, and it follows Michonne as she goes from being an attorney to a sword-swinging survivor. At the end of the comic it’s revealed that she’s actually telling her story to those two chained zombies she drags behind her, and it can only be hoped that the TV series also revisits her past to show their origins – she de-armed and de-jawed her zombified boyfriend and his best friend to use as a deterrent to the undead.

In the comics she’s one of the most badass characters, and she survives being sexually assaulted and tortured by the Governor. So some female comic book fans might not be too happy about her story being published in a magazine that essentially uses women for men’s pleasure.

In The Walking Dead comics, Michonne gets involved with Tyreese, who hasn’t made an appearance on the TV show yet. So here’s an idea – maybe she and Daryl (Norman Reedus) should get romantically involved. This would lead Carol (Melissa McBride) on the path to the crazy breakdown she has in the comics, and of course Daryl’s racist brother Merle (Michael Rooker) would not be happy about the relationship. It’s been revealed that Merle isn’t the Governor, but who’s to say that he hasn’t become his one-handed right hand man?