‘The Walking Dead’ season 8 premiere date announced ahead of Comic-Con

The hit series based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book series of the same name will return October 22 on AMC. The season 8 premiere date was revealed via the network’s San Diego Comic-Con promotional art that debuted ahead of the convention’s Wednesday “Preview Night” events.

The art spotlights the looming war between Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his makeshift army of survivors and the heavily armed Saviors led by the brutal Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The previous season’s finale had Rick and the leaders of several other communities terrorized by the Saviors marshaling their forces after a rare victory, and looking ahead to the violent conflict on the horizon.

The news regarding the season premiere of The Walking Dead was accompanied by an announcement of the return of the spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead. Currently in the middle of its third season, Fear the Walking Dead follows another group of survivors on the opposite side of the country, similarly dealing with the aftermath of the zombie outbreak.

Fear the Walking Dead will return for the ninth episode of the third season on September 10.

The announcement of the show’s return was made in similar fashion to The Walking Dead premiere date, with a piece of promotional art created for San Diego Comic-Con revealing the series’ scheduled return.

Both series will be the focus of a Comic-Con panel event held Friday in San Diego. While the cast and creative teams for each series will certainly be in attendance, there is also likely to be some talk of the recent death of a stuntman, which occurred last week.

Collectively, the two series have earned a wide range of awards and nominations, with The Walking Dead nominated in the “Best Television Series — Drama” category at the 2010 Golden Globe Awards, and winning two Primetime Emmy Awards from the 15 nominations it received over the course of its first six seasons.