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In Skybound X #5, The Walking Dead’s alien-infested alternate reality places the zombies in the hands of a surprising survivor during a final battle.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for “Rick Grimes 2000,” in Skybound X #5, available now.
In Skybound X #5, The Walking Dead’s alternate reality where aliens hijacked the planet comes to a high-octane end. In a world where aliens were the source of the zombie infection, the heroes jump into a wild, bombastic war against alien overlords, zombie golems and human threats like the Whisperers and Negan in a story by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Dave McCaig and Rus Wooton. Although Rick is heralded as a leader in this tale, the zombies themselves are ultimately placed under the control of Eugene, who then turns the tide.
Armed with Doctor Octopus-esque tentacles, Eugene is more self-assured and confident here than the scientist of the comics and TV show. He’s helping Andrea run the Sanctuary, using stolen tech to give humans upgrades like Maggie’s cybernetic arm, Carl with a cyber-eye and Michonne’s robotic body. He’s retrofitted the aliens’ work to make big blasters, hoverboards and other tools to give mankind a fighting chance from this last bastion of hope for humanity’s future.
This gives Eugene much more fulfilling work to do than to simply help make guns and bombs or using radio signals to call for help. After Maggie smashes Negan’s face in, she kills the tyrant, allowing his tech-infused bat to fall into Eugene’s hands, which gives him the ability to direct the zombie horde.
Eugene can tell the window of opportunity is short so he summons the walkers and uses the undead to march against the aliens. Beyond that, he also disrupts the aliens’ communications network. This allows Rick’s resistance to strike back and gives Eugene more agency as a hero in the field rather than someone hanging back and hacking at the base.
It’s also a spin on his plans in the franchise where he devised a Pied Piper-esque scheme to lure the zombies off cliffs using noise. This time, he’s not baiting them, he’s controlling them and helping humanity become masters of their own fate.
As fate would have it, Eugene then helps Rick after the victory in crafting a perfect world that must be rebuilt with a proactive, aggressive eye. With the remaining tech, space ships and defense stations are engineered and placed in orbit to prep for the inevitable next space invasion. It’s a clever take on Eugene and gives him a happier ending than one where he’s pining for Rosita or feels like a bit-part player. Here, he kept people safe in the Sanctuary and is a main participant in the liberation of Earth who helps makes it an offensive powerhouse for the future. In short, it’s his dream come true, and this world proves that Eugene is still as selfless and brilliant as always.
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