A second graphic novel continuing the story of Telltale’s The Walking Dead releases today

Clementine: Book Two — the second book in a planned trilogy of young adult graphic novels starring the heroine of Telltale’s The Walking Dead series of video games — goes on sale today (October 3).

It follows on from (you might have guessed it) last year’s Clementine: Book One, and is considered canon to the games per Skybound, IP holders for the entire Walking Dead franchise founded by the original comics’ author Robert Kirkman. You may recall Skybound stepping in as publishers to resurrect the series like one of its own walkers after Telltale suddenly announced its “majority studio closure” in 2018, with two episodes of the final season still as-then unmade.

The premise of the Clementine trilogy is admittedly somewhat controversial among fans of the games, on account of how it almost immediately overrode the happy ending of The Walking Dead: The Final Season, in which – spoilers! – Clem at long last found a home with her ward AJ and (optionally) your choice of love interest. The latter is an especial source of contention since, of course, multiple choice romances don’t fare too well in mediums other than video games; so both the lovely Louis and the intriguing Violet were given an unceremonious off-page boot in favour of an original character as Clem’s new partner in the graphic novel series.

If you can get over that downer, however (and for the record: I for one will never be fully over Louis), the Clementine books are compelling continuations of the game series which, while neither uplifting nor fanservicey, are undeniably tonally appropriate for the universe of The Walking Dead. Which is to say: grim. But hey, if you got this far, you presumably quite like that sort of thing.

The Clementine trilogy is the work of author-illustrator Tillie Walden, who has won Ignatz and Eisner awards for her previous original graphic novels, most of which tell the stories of LGBTQ+ young adults like Clementine; and who has recently been named Vermont’s Cartoonist Laureate 2023-26. The publishers are Skybound Comet, Image/Skybound’s in-house YA-oriented graphic novel imprint that launched with the first Clementine book last summer.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead is made up of four seasons, a spin-off miniseries, and an interquel DLC, released episodically between 2012 and 2019. All 23 episodes are now available as The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series (published by Skybound), which is currently playable on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Clementine: Books One and Two can be bought from most booksellers. Book Three is expected in 2024, and is currently the final planned entry in the Telltale/Clementine sub-franchise of The Walking Dead.