In issue of Image Comics' The Walking Dead, Rick Grimes and his group are ambushed by armed bandits who attempt to rape Carl, Rick's son. This leads Rick to bite the neck of his own assailant, which co-creator Robert Kirkman describes as the moment Rick becomes "a living zombie." However, this moment also shows that anyone is capable of becoming a monster when their moral instincts are set aside, and sets up the moral center of the series as tracking Rick's evolution from a clean-cut sheriff to a savage protector of his family. Ultimately, the comic confirms that every character within The Walking Dead is prepared to do monstrous things to survive, but what sets hero apart from villain is who fights to embody something more.