As if the zombies in The Walking Dead weren't enough to worry about already, the latest issue of the hit comic-book series is teasing that they could soon be something even more dangerous.

Writer Robert Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard (plus Tony Moore at the beginning) have been telling the story of The Walking Dead's survivors for a decade now, and they've presented us with an ever-shifting tapestry of survivors, threats, triumphs and defeats. Characters come and go, the tide of zombies ebbs and flows, but one thing has always been constant: the zombies themselves.

Anyone familiar with the traditional zombie paradigm knows what to expect from these creatures. They shamble toward you in their rotten state, wanting nothing more than to tear into your flesh. If they bite you, you get sick and die (or, if you're lucky, just lose a limb), then you return as one of them, moving and behaving in the same way they all do. To "kill" them, you hit them in the brain. That's it. It's not any more complicated than that, right?

Well, that was true until this panel from The Walking Dead #118, in stores today, teased that there may be a new twist coming for these zombies.

That body seems to have turned almost instantly, or at least much faster than the several minutes we've come to expect in both the comic and the TV series. Now, this could easily be Kirkman simply throwing a twist into this individual story, and establishing that it only happens in some situations. But it could also mean that change is coming to all of the story's undead. Imagine what would happen if survivors who were used to having time to move a body away from everyone else, or to catch their breath, or to clean up, suddenly had to deal with zombies who appeared almost instantly. How many would be caught off guard? How quickly could a survivor community be wiped out by a rapid infection rate? Imagine a zombie world in which a moment's hesitation to mourn a loved one could cost your life as well.

It's a very interesting idea, and it could make serious waves in both the comic and the TV series if it continues to develop. For now, though, we'll just have to keep reading to see if Kirkman sticks to this concept.

(Via Bleeding Cool)