Original THE WALKING DEAD Artist Tony Moore Sues Writer & Creator Kirkman

The original Walking Dead comic artist Tony Moore is suing longtime collaborator Robert Kirkman over what he deems to be hardly any profit from the recent success of the AMC TV adaptation. Check out the response from Kirkman's attorney and more.

The Walking Dead tells the story of the weeks and months that follow a pandemic zombie apocalypse. County Sheriff Rick Grimes travels with his family and a small group of survivors, constantly in search of a safe and secure home. But the constant pressure of fighting off death on a daily basis takes a heavy toll, sending many to the lowest depths of human cruelty. As Rick struggles to keep his family alive, he will discover that the overwhelming fear of the survivors can be far more dangerous than the mindless walkers roaming the earth.

Tony Moore was the artist on the comic series The Walking Dead for the first six issues and continued doing covers for the zombie saga after Charlie Adlard took over the inside of the book. Over time, Adlard eventually took over the covers as well and has been writer Robert Kirkman's partner for years. Now that the highly established zombie comic series has been turned into a very successful TV series on the AMC network, Moore is speaking out at what he deems to be a lack of profits from the venture.

In the papers Moore reveals that he was duped fraudulently in 2005 to signing over his copyright interests to Kirkman's company. Moore claims that he signed a deal granting him 60 percent of 'Comic Publishing Net Proceeds' for both Walking Dead and Brit; 20 percent of 'motion picture net proceeds' for Walking Dead and Brit; and 50 percent of 'motion picture net proceeds' for Battle Pope.

"Indeed, they have not issued a single statement or allowed access to their books and records in accordance with the reporting obligations of the agreement," said the statement.

Moore said that he was told in 2005 that a big TV series deal was on the table but in order for the deal to go through, he had to assign all of his interest in the Walking Dead and other works to Kirkman. This is why Moore feels he was "swindled" out of all his rights to the Walking Dead series. Check out Kirkman's attorney's response below:

"(This case is) totally frivolous. Mr. Moore is owed no money at all. And Mr. Moore's contract has an attorneys' fees clause in it so we will be going after him to collect attorneys' fees. We are taking this matter very seriously."

The Walking Dead stars Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs and Norman Reedus. AMC's Emmy Award-winning horror drama, based on the acclaimed comic book series by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, airs Sunday nights at 9/8c.