Morgan Jones (Comic Series)

"Losing a son... takes something out of you. For me it felt like someone has cut a piece of me off... Like a part of me was gone. Still does. It'll be a while before Dale feels okay again--and he'll never be the same again. Never."

- Morgan Jones to the group.

Morgan Jones is a character first encountered in Issue 1 of Image Comics' The Walking Dead. He and his son, Duane, hid in various houses in Rick Grimes' neighborhood in Cynthiana, Kentucky, attempting to ride out the zombie apocalypse.

Cynthiana, Kentucky
Morgan was an initial survivor of the outbreak along with his son, Duane. They were traveling through Cynthiana and decided to lay low in one of the houses. One day Morgan heard his son hitting a person with a shovel and discovers that the man is still breathing. The two take him inside and the man later wakes up. Morgan invites the man to come eat with them and finds out the man's name is Rick Grimes. Rick explains that he was in a coma for the last month and has no idea what has happened, so Morgan proceeds to tell him about the walkers and how the government had told people to travel towards the relative safety in Atlanta; despite this, Morgan reveals that he decided to take his chances and avoid the city. Afterwards, Rick reveals that he was a sheriff's deputy and wants to return the favor for Morgan's hospitality: he takes Morgan and Duane to the local police station to grab some supplies.

After taking some of the guns and ammo (as well as receiving a patrol car from Rick), the two men part ways and wish each other good luck.

Life in Cynthiana
His whereabouts were unknown for awhile, up until Christmas, where Morgan and Duane are seen alive in safety and relative comfort. The exact specified time-frame was not elaborated upon, but it is safe to assume as the pair are celebrating Christmas, it occurred while Rick and the survivors were traveling on the road from Wiltshire Estates or the first and only winter at The Prison.

Reunion
Several months after Morgan encountered Rick, the pair re-encountered each other when Rick, along with Abraham Ford and Carl, made the decision to pass through Cynthiana to scavenge the remaining supplies in the police station for the road to Washington. The pair met nearly the exact same way as their first meeting; although this time, it was an unshaven, crazy looking Morgan who struck Rick down with the shovel. However, Morgan recognized his old friend and broke down emotionally soon after.

Morgan explained since Rick last saw him, Duane had been bitten and reanimated. He recounts that it was about three months ago, and that he had never heard his son scream like he did since he was a child. Morgan had been feeding his zombified son the bodies of four human looters and a couple of dogs. Morgan hints that he had to kill all of them out of necessity and self-defense. While he explains his situation on the brink of a breakdown, Rick asks him to leave the house and join their group. Morgan slowly agrees. Before he does leave, the trio hear a gunshot and Abraham assumes that Morgan killed himself. After Morgan left the house, Rick, Abraham, and Carl assumed he killed Duane; however, it is revealed Morgan instead shot Duane's chain, allowing him to roam freely within the house.

Road to Washington D.C.
Since joining Rick's group, Morgan exhibited signs of severe mental illness and self-harming behaviors. He attempted to engage in conversation with Carl many times to re-live his relationship with his dead son, which only garnered uncomfortable reactions from the latter. When the four traveled to the police station, Morgan began to smack his head against the wall in an emotional outburst, as he remembered only a year ago he had been there and Duane was alive. Evident from this outburst was a severe deterioration of his sanity. This concerned Rick and the group, and Abraham consulted Rick on his decision to bring him along. Ultimately, as the four traveled back to the others and encountered the herd, the trio and Morgan himself had little time to deal with his problems.

When Morgan and the others re-joined the rest of the survivors, he largely remained to himself. As the incidents involving the twins overwhelmed the group, along with Gabriel's sudden appearance and Dale's disappearance, Morgan's problems took a backseat. He was shown speaking to Rosita and Michonne a few times, with the former commenting on her like for his overgrown hair.

On the evening of Ben's death, Morgan was the sole member of the group who knew the killer was Carl, as he witnessed him returning to the tent shortly after the group was alerted. However, Morgan kept this to himself.

Like the rest of the group, Morgan was pinned down in Gabriel's Church by The Hunters and remained behind while Abraham and the other leaders took care of them. He was unharmed during and in the aftermath.

Alexandria Safe-Zone
As with the rest of the survivors, Morgan successfully traveled and made it to the Alexandria Safe-Zone. He, like the others, were attempting to adjust to living in the community, and it's revealed that Douglas Monroe wanted to make him a chef. Morgan did attend the party that was thrown to welcome them there, but left after a short time, mainly because he felt uneasy seeing all of the people so happy. Michonne, who also left the party after he did, soon witnesses him and agrees with him. She then talks about how she made a scene, because she hated listening to the woman chattering on. She says it made her feel frustrated and alone, to which she rests her head on his shoulder for comfort. Though he seems a bit taken by the surprise by her gesture, he doesn't seem to mind letting her. In the next issue, it's revealed that Michonne and Morgan had sexual intercourse, although Morgan says it was a mistake.

Morgan does make a few more appearances, although he doesn't speak much. In Issue 79, he goes over to Michonne's home and apologizes for his behavior, and explains he's still trying to deal with the factor that his wife's dead. He informs Michonne that he does like her and would like to get to know her better. Understanding that he wants to take things slow, Michonne kindly offers him breakfast. The two begin sleeping together soon after.

Alexandria Safe-Zone Chaos
When the zombies begin to overrun the Safe-Zone, Rick and Morgan start to clear zombies out. At the end of Issue 81, Morgan is bitten by a zombie after helping Rick fight a large group of the undead that broke through the community's defenses. Screaming, he falls to the ground, giving in to the attackers, much to Rick's protest.

In Issue 82, Morgan decides he wants to live and struggles off of the ground. Michonne comes to the rescue, and amputates his infected arm with one swing of her katana. She and Rick move Morgan to Rick's house, and the doctor patches him up. His condition looks grim, and Carl is left to guard him should he die and reanimate. During their time together, Morgan reveals he saw Carl shoot Ben and he knew that he murdered him, but he understood why. Morgan has a heartfelt conversation with Carl and tells him to always remember that he is still a good person. Due to his fever, Morgan confuses Carl with Duane. Carl reminds him that Duane is dead, and Morgan becomes emotional as he remembers his son's death. Though he should not have lived from the blood loss of the impromptu amputation, it is unknown if his arm was severed before the infection had spread.

Killed By
In Issue 82, Morgan is bitten on his arm by a zombie. Rick tries to help Morgan up, and Michonne runs to him and quickly amputates his arm, he is then taken to Dr. Cloyd to repair the damage. In Issue 83, Michonne apologizes to Morgan, however, he does not respond and she realizes that he had already passed away. Michonne begins to cry and apologizes again before killing him in anticipation of his reanimation. She then informed the group of his death.
 * Zombies
 * Michonne (Before Reanimation)

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Morgan has killed:
 * Numerous counts of zombies and at least four unnamed men.

Duane Jones
Being his only son and surviving family, Morgan displayed the utmost care for Duane in his protection and caution when dealing with the undead threats and when the two encountered Rick. Duane's eventual death and reanimation had a significant negative impact upon Morgan's emotional well-being and mental stability.

Rick Grimes
Morgan and Rick formed a quick friendship shortly after the former informed the latter of the then current situation. Being the only friendly person he has revealed to have encountered, it is evident he had a lasting impression when Rick comes by Cynthiana again a little over a year later.

Carl Grimes
After losing his son, the emotionally scarred Morgan takes a quick liking to Carl and like Michonne, seems to have kept on eye on him as a sort-of surrogate father. Despite Carl's behavior, Morgan attempts to be kind to him and fatherly. One example would be trying to comfort him when he was worried about Rick when he went off to fight the Hunters. He is also the only person, besides Rick, that seems to know that he killed Ben but for some reason has kept quiet over it. Before he dies, he informs Carl that he knew of what Carl did to Ben. But he doesn't scold him because he understood why he did it. He did it because he was the only one that could and he saw how his murder had affected Carl. He saw Carl's grief and pain and reminds him that it shows that he's a good person and not a cold-blooded killer. Although this world has caused him to lose his innocence, he reminds Carl to never lose sight of being a good person and to be strong.

Michonne
Morgan has had brief conversations with Michonne. She approached him while resting on the road in camp and later asked Rick for some insight into Morgan as she was interested in a possible relationship, though only to not be alone. It is possible Morgan knows about her mental condition as he asks, "Where's your friend?", as it could mean he knows she talks to her old "boyfriend" to keep herself sane. Michonne admitted to Rick that she may be attracted to him, but expressed hesitance due to Tyreese's death. In Issue 72, after Michonne admitted she felt alone at the party held by the people of the Alexandria Safe-Zone. She rests her head on his shoulder, although a bit surprised, he lets her rest on his shoulder. Later, it is seen that Morgan had sex with Michonne, although he regrets this which angers Michonne. Morgan explains how he wants to take things slow with her and she accepts him. Michonne was greatly affected by his death and admits to Rick how she wanted to build a life with him.

Appearances
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Volume 15: We Find Ourselves

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Trivia

 * Creator Robert Kirkman confirms that the issue with Morgan and Duane celebrating Christmas is the "Christmas Episode".
 * Morgan is one of three people who's death Michonne has cried over, the others being Tyreese and Abraham Ford.
 * Morgan is the only character in the first script book whose age isn't mentioned.
 * He died similarly to Lee Everett, both having been bitten on one arm and then amputate it to avoid the spreading of the infection (Determinant), and both speaking with a child in their final moments.
 * Also, curiously, Lee and Morgan share a similar physical appearance, and both the kids they took care off are nine years old.