While some fans suspected he’d committed suicide after destroying Lucille #2, the then-final issue revealed that Negan was still alive in a mostly empty town following the time-jump, and that Carl regularly brought him supplies, though without any communication.
The former villain made the briefest appearance in #193, as he was shown bringing flowers to his wife Lucille’s grave.
As readers of the comic book know, Negan basically dropped out of the main storyline in #174 (the issue before the “New World Order” arc introduced the Commonwealth community).
Maggie had tracked Negan down, bent on killing him to avenge Glenn’s murder, but changed her mind after seeing how willing Negan was to die.