Moore teve problemas com prazos
De acordo com uma entrevista com Kirkman :
Q: You and artist Tony Moore are longtime friends and collaborators. You created The Walking Dead comic together. What prompted Tony to leave the series? Any drama, I hope?
A: Well, there’s always drama when people as close as Tony and I work together. So, you know, sure. My favourite response to this question is that Tony got pregnant and had to leave the book, because that leaves things interesting and mysterious which is the best way to leave them.
The real answer is much more boring. We were very adamant about scheduling early on, and Tony—fantastic artist though he is—is much more the type that works best on a variety of projects, rather than a single, constant deadline, so we decided it would be best if we went our separate ways for the time being. So, at that time, I contacted Charlie Adlard, who is a fantastic artist, and we’ve been working together ever since.
A escuridão do estilo de Adlard pode ter melhor adaptado ao quadrinho
Existem dois outros possíveis fatores contribuintes.
Robert Kirkman, criador de The Walking Dead , declarou que o estilo de Adlard é mais adequado para captar o "humor" e "eeriness" da série.
When asked about the artistic switch from Tony Moore to Charlie Adlard, Kirkman replied:
"Tony and Charlie both do a great job portraying the characters emotions and expressions, as well as drawing some mighty cool zombies, Tony especially—I think that guy kills people and keeps them in his basement for reference. Charlie, I think, adds an additional layer of mood and eeriness that Tony wasn't really bringing to the plate. This book just keeps getting darker and darker and I think Charlie came on the book at the right time for that. I think Charlie's stuff makes the book seem more "serious" somehow. Both artists do a great job, though. Tony's covers are spectacular and Charlie blows me away with every issue he turns in."
Embora isso seja dito em termos de Adlard "vindo na hora certa" para uma mudança de tom, parte da linguagem me faz suspeitar que essa foi uma das razões para trazê-lo . Por exemplo:
"...an additional layer of mood and eeriness that Tony wasn't really bringing to the plate."
Kirkman e Moore podem ter tido um desentendimento
De acordo com Kirkman , em uma entrevista com Marc Maron:
Kirman: “Yeah, it’s definitely an unfortunate thing but I think like, uh, I don’t know. I still love the guy. If he called today and said he needed a kidney, like, there’s a history there. It’s like real, you know? But yeah, we definitely drifted apart. So, you know.”
Maron: “Over the show?”
Kirkman: “Over the comic. That six issue break was a pretty, uh, defining moment in both of our lives.”
Mais tarde, Moore entrou com uma ação, alegando que ele (como co-criador de The Walking Dead ) havia sido enganado em desistir de sua participação no trabalho. Embora o processo não tenha sido arquivado até 2012, do que Kirkman diz na citação anterior, o "afastamento" pode ter acontecido antes, durante a exibição dos quadrinhos. Isso, é claro, não é inconsistente com a idéia de que Kirkman julgou o estilo de arte de Moore inadequado para a direção em que a revista estava indo.
Como evidência de que a contratação de Adlard provavelmente era acrimoniosa, uma entrevista com Moore :
Q: If you were on a boat with Kirkman and Charlie Adlard and you and Adlard fell out of the boat and were drowning, who do you think Kirkman would save?
A: Charlie is clearly much more useful to him. I'd wager I was pushed out of the boat in the first place.