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The Walking Dead is one of the most successful zombie books ever published, and the reason why is because it wasn’t marketed or pitched as a zombie book. But they almost tried stealing the name of the most popular zombie movie ever.

“Walking Dead from the time it was published had a positive sales slope,” former Image Comics publisher Jim Valentino says during an episode of Robservations with Rob Liefeld.  “And [Robert Kirkman] loves to tell this story, because I told him zombie books don’t sell. And I wouldn’t consider Walking Dead a zombie book. It’s a survival book.”

Finding the right hook wasn’t hard, but finding the right title proved challenging - even possibly copyright-infringing.

“[Kirkman] hit me with the first thing which was, ‘I want to call it The Dawn of the Dead.’ No Robert, you can’t do that. It’s already a movie. ‘What do you think of Planet of the Zombies?’” Valentino responded with a disgusted sound, but Kirkman’s next pitch turned out to be the winner.

“Kirkman says, ‘How about The Walking Dead?’ Boom, that’s it. Call it The Walking Dead.”

(Don't tell them, but 'The Walking Dead' is also the name 1930s Boris Karloff movie.)

The Walking Dead went on to become one of the most successful comics Image ever published, leading multiple television adaptations, video games, and more. Would it have gone this far if Kirkman had called it Planet of the Zombies?  We’ll never know for sure, but it’s clear that Image Comics chose the right name for the franchise.

Here's how to watch the Walking Dead TV series in order.