One of the most rewarding aspects of watching The Walking Dead is experiencing iconic comic moments come to life. Although the show takes creative freedoms we’ve identified the eight best parallels to the comics from Season 6. Enjoy:

1. Rick’s Smackdown Speech

Rick can verbally annihilate a person as savagely as Steph Curry can annihilate Chris Paul’s ankles with a crossover. With that in mind, we are SO glad Season 6 included the badass moment from the comics when Rick laid down the law that his people were NOT be f**ked with. Ok fine, in the comics he delivered it to Nicholas, not Carter, but the speech came after Rick discovered an Alexandrian was conspiring with his neighbors to kill him. Both speeches also laid the groundwork for the Ricktatorship to take shape.

2. The Saviors

Negan’s henchmen The Saviors played a HUGE role in Season 6. Although some of them got blown up by an RPG, stabbed while they slept, or burned alive by Carol, they eventually captured Rick the his group in the end. In both the comic and show their group notoriously terrorizes nearby communities and claims possession over anyone and anything they see (at least half, anyway).

3. Spencer’s “Heroics”

Sorry show fans, Spencer is JUST as annoying in the comics. In both instances he tries to leave Alexandria via a rope to distract the herd away from the wall (which was unstable). Unfortunately, the rope gives out and his ‘heroics’ almost get him, Rick, and other survivors killed. Nice going, Spence!

4. The Alexandrian Invasion

Alexandria has been forced to reckon with a LOT: Rick’s takeover, a Wolves invasion, and their inevitable debate on whether ‘safe-zone’ is an appropriate moniker for their town anymore. The most INSANE event was the walker horde onslaught that quickly turned Alexandria into a bloody hellscape. Like the comics, a seemingly endless swarm of walkers penetrated the walls and started eating people on sight.

In both the comic and show Rick and the gang disguise themselves in zombie gut ponchos to escape. Jessie has trouble calming her son down and their back-and-forth eventually attracts the walkers straight to them…leading to the son getting eaten. Overcome with emotion, Jessie is ALSO consumed by the walkers, leaving Rick in complete shock and their plan in shambles.

Christ that escalated. As we know, it only goes downhill from there….

5. Carl’s Eye

Following her death, Rick notices Jessie’s hand is still clutched onto Carl’s wrist. He sets aside his emotions and axes it off to save his son. Chaos ensues and Carl gets shot immediately after through the eye (the circumstances differed but the sequence stayed the same). He infamously manages to blurt out, “Dad?” before collapsing in shock. Rick panics, grabs Carl, and rushes him to the Dr. Denise Cloyd at the infirmary.

Denise works quickly through the night to save Carl’s life while Rick goes full Mel Gibson from The Patriot in the town square. His group along with some brave Alexandrians join and somehow manage to single-handedly kill every walker in town. The next morning Rick clings to Carl’s bedside and admits the Alexandrians are stronger than he thought. Weeks later Carl makes a miraculous recovery and returns to every day life.

6. Jesus

The comic and show Jesus are nearly mirror images of each other. Although show Jesus may be a tad shorter and his last name was changed from Monroe to Rovia (so it wouldn’t be confused for Deanna’s family) both are incredible fighters who can take over or escape any situation. Both are introduced to Rick’s group through an ambush that turns into Jesus getting tied up and captured by Rick. Jesus eventually earns Rick’s trust and introduces him to his community:

7. The Hilltop

In both the show and comic Jesus introduces Rick’s group to his community: The Hilltop Colony (props to the set design team that brilliantly re-created this community). The Hilltop is spear-guarded community run by Gregory, a self-indulgent leader who’s struck a deal to surrender half of his community’s food and supplies to Negan in exchange for safety. Unfortunately, this relationship has had hiccups and some of Gregory’s men have been killed as a result.

Just like in the comics, Gregory gets stabbed by one of his own and Rick’s group intervenes by killing the man. Rick decides he’ll take Negan and The Saviors on in exchange for a trade policy with The Hilltop. Although The Hilltop only makes it into one episode in Season 6 it plays a MAJOR role in later comic storylines. Hopefully those will play out in the show as well! Just LOOK at how close the show and comic were:

8. Abe & Rosita’s Breakup

Just like in the show, comic Abraham struggles with his love life despite his tough exterior. In both instances he catches feelings for another woman (Holly in the comics, Sasha in the show) and tells Rosita she’s not the only woman left on Earth after all (ouch). unfortunately, this results in the two splitting up for good.

9. Dwight/Eugene’s Resourcefulness

This scene was as cringe-worthy to read as it was to watch. In both the comics and show Eugene got captured by Dwight and the Saviors after going on a supply run with Abraham.

Out of options, Eugene did the only thing he could to escape and bit the living hell out of Dwight’s crotch, which caused a distraction. Eugene’s group was able to get the upper hand and drove Dwight and The Saviors out of dodge.

Although a dozen or so Saviors were mowed down in both situations, a handful (including Dwight) unfortunately managed to escape. Rick’s group letting them go signaled a MAJOR turning point that led to Negan himself.

10. Negan’s Arrival

After years of waiting Negan has FINALLY made it on the show! Although his arrival has been brief, it’s been memorable. in fact, we’re hard-pressed to find moments (outside of the cursing) that didn’t parallel the comics! The look, the devilish charm, and the dialogue all match up PERFECTLY with the most infamous Walking Dead villain to date. Below we’ve mashed up the comic AND show so you can see just how close AMC got:

What were YOUR favorite crossover moments this season? Let us know in the comments and we might add them in!