How long should "The Walking Dead" last, and would you give the same answer today that you would've given last year or the year before?

This week, the Internet dug up some quotes that TWD comic book writer Robert Kirkman dropped into his Letter Hacks column last May. No idea why the quotes are just circulating now, other than that the longevity of the series is always an interesting talking point and fans get bored over the winter break.

In Issue 154, which came out in early May 2016, a fan asked what would happen when the show caught up to the comics, because it seemed to be happening quickly.

Here's Kirkman's response (via Moviepilot):

This came up in a couple letters, and yeah I can see how going from #75 to #100 in 8 episodes may cause some concern. But the show does double back on the comic from time to time, like presenting the Billy and Ben plot in a new way. Plus we're still 54 issues ahead... Or really, 54 and a half since the cliffhanger interrupted the events of #100...

Yeah, look at it this way ... it took us 6 seasons to get to 100. It won't take us 6 years to get to 200 and that will take us to season ... TWELVE. And we'll STILL be ahead of the show at that point.

And if the show is still going strong at season 12 ... well, that would be about the most amazing thing ever ... so we'll all be too busy celebrating to worry about anything.

Season 12! Did he mean it? Kirkman's letter was printed after the Season 6 finale, but long before AMC aired the October Season 7 premiere.

For reference, "Walking Dead" Issue 100 covered Negan's first meeting with our group, when Lucille took Glenn's life. We saw that in the Season 7 premiere. The Season 7 midseason finale, which aired in December and included Spencer's death, was covered in Issue 111. The comic book is currently up to Issue 162, which will be printed January 4, 2017.

The TV show is still about 50 issues behind and a lot happens in those issues, so fans don't really need to worry about a "Game of Thrones" situation where the TV show outpaces the source material. However, fans may need to worry about how much TWD is too much TWD. Is there such a thing?

TV shows rarely stay strong well into the double digits, and Season 7's dip in the ratings (and fan indignation) revealed that the show is not indestructible even with longterm viewers. That said, "The Walking Dead" is still the biggest thing on TV for 18-49 viewers, so AMC probably hopes it does continue to Season 12 and beyond.

How long should the show continued, in your opinion?

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