Invincible (comics)

Invincible

Cover of Invincible 52. Art by Ryan Ottley.
Publication information
Publisher Skybound Entertainment (Image Comics)
First appearance

Tech Jacket #1 (Nov. 2002)
(first preview in comics – 6 page "Invincible #1" preview. Pre-dates Savage Dragon #102 and Masters of the Universe #1)


Noble Causes:Family Secrets #3 (Nov. 2002)
(cameo appearance – in variant cover and in one-panel)


Invincible #1 (Jan. 2003)
(full appearance in own title)
Created by Robert Kirkman
Cory Walker
In-story information
Full name Markus Sebastian "Mark" Grayson
Species Half-Viltrumite/Half-Human
Place of origin Earth
Team affiliations The Pact
Teen Team
Guardians of the Globe
Abilities Superhuman strength, speed, durability, and endurance
Flight
Extended lifespan
Enhanced healing factor

Invincible is an Image Comics Universe series named for its superhero, "Invincible" ("Mark Grayson"). Created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Cory Walker, Invincible first appeared in Tech Jacket #1 (November 2002), before graduating to his own self-titled regular series in 2003, as the premier title in Image's then-new superhero line.

Invincible is the teenaged son of Omni-Man, an extraterrestrial superhero of the Viltrumite race. Invincible inherited his father’s superhuman strength and ability to fly and he has sworn to protect the Earth. He has had trouble adjusting to his newfound powers and coping with the reality of his origins.

Publication history

Creator Robert Kirkman signing a copy of Invincible Compendium One at the 2011 New York Comic Con.

While Robert Kirkman has been the sole writer of the series, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley have contributed the art. Cory Walker co-created the book and provided art from #1 to #7. Ryan Ottley assumed art duties with issue #8 and has been pencilling since. Kirkman has provided back-up space for a few aspiring comic creators, most notably Benito Cereno and Nate Bellegarde.

Character biography and synopsis

Markus Sebastian Grayson is the son of Nolan Grayson, who is the superhero Omni-Man as well as a successful novelist, and Deborah Grayson. When Mark was seven years old, Nolan reveals that he is a member of a race of peaceful alien explorers called Viltrumites, that he had come to Earth to help mankind and that one day Mark would develop super powers.[1] Mark's powers manifest at the age of 17 while he is working at his part-time job.[2]

His powers which increase with use are; great strength, speed, flight, some invulnerability and fortunately fast healing as despite his chosen name, he is severely beaten (even once having his entrails spilled out) many times, almost to death. Also an ability to hold his breath for very long periods as he flies through space at faster than light speed.

Mark meets a young superhero group, the Teen Team (Robot, Dupli-Kate, Rex Splode, and Atom Eve), and realizes that he goes to school with Eve.[1] They soon discover that one of their teachers has been turning students into bombs and has also turned himself into a bomb; Mark flies him to Antarctica before he detonates.[3] Nolan asks Mark to fight a superpowered alien who visits Earth periodically, but Mark decides to talk to the alien, named Allen, who explains that his job is to assess the strength of planets' superpowered protectors; Mark helps him realize that he had been coming to Earth by mistake for decades.[4]

While Mark and his friend William visit the university they plan to attend, it is attacked by a cyborg, which leads to William finding out about Mark's powers.[5] Shortly afterwards, the Guardians of the Globe are attacked and killed by Omni-Man[6] as part of the Viltrum plan to take over the Earth.

A new Guardians of the Globe is formed, but Mark declines membership; he begins dating Amber Bennett. Meanwhile, the Mauler Twins dig up and revive the Immortal, leader of the Guardians.[7] The Immortal attacks Omni-Man, who kills him again in Mark's presence[8] and then reveals that the Viltrumites are actually a warrior race who conquer planets for their Empire, killing anyone who refuses to join. He was sent to Earth as an advance agent and killed the Guardians in preparation for the invasion. Mark, refusing his father's entreaties to join the Viltrumites, tries to fight him[9] but is almost killed before Omni-Man flies off planet in tears.[10] Mark is rescued by the U.S. government and introduced to Cecil Steadman, who is in charge of protecting the planet; Cecil used to inform Omni-Man of potential threats and offers Mark the same deal while financially supporting both his education and family. Allen the Alien returns to tell Mark that Earth is going to be invaded by the Viltrumites.[11]

Mark is sent to marry the fishlike humanoid Queen of Atlantis, since his father killed the previous King, but he gets another Atlantian to marry her.[12] A man named Angstrom Levy has been traveling between dimensions recruiting his alternate dimension duplicates for a secret project; he also enlists the help of the Mauler Twins.[13] Mark is sent to Mars with a group of astronauts to keep them safe, but they are captured and almost executed by native Martians, who are trying to keep a slave race of aliens called Sequids from rising up. The astronauts and Mark escape, but one of the astronauts, Rus Livingston, is left behind and replaced by a Martian shape-shifter.[14]

Eve retires from being a superhero and moves to Africa to make better use her powers, while Mark enrolls in college. The campus is attacked by another cyborg, which is revealed to be under the command of a student named D.A. Sinclair,[15] who then decides to turn his roommate (and Mark and William's friend) Rick into a cyborg called a Reaniman. Meanwhile, in order to get back together with Amber, Mark tells Amber that he is Invincible.[16] Allen returns to the Coalition of Planets and tells them about Mark, but is then brutally attacked by some Viltrumites.[17]

Angstrom Levy has built a machine to duplicate all of his alternate selves' memories and then transfer those memories into his own brain. When Mark arrives to stop this, the Mauler Twins bring several of their alternate selves to the lab to fight him. Angstrom attempts to stop the machine to save Mark, which leads to a huge explosion. Mark survives, but Angstrom is hideously deformed and driven insane; he blames Invincible and escapes to plan his revenge.[18]

Mark fights an alien who is disguised as one of Mark's favorite comic book characters, Science Dog; the alien asks Mark to save his planet and Mark accepts. On the planet, he finds his father alive.[19] Nolan introduces Mark to his half-brother, whom he had with one of the insect-like native species.[20] When other Viltrumites attack the planet, Mark's father asks Mark to take his new family to caves for protection, but they meet a Viltrumite warrior inside.[21] Mark and Nolan fight the Viltrumites, who have already killed most of the population;[22] Nolan is captured by the Viltrumites, sparing the planet. The Viltrumites tell Mark that he is in charge of readying Earth for invasion. Nolan tells Mark to read his novels.[23] After Mark helps repair the planet's cities, he returns to Earth with his newly found half-brother, only to be reprimanded by Cecil for leaving Earth, as there was a crisis during his absence.[24]

Mark's mother becomes attached to his new half-brother and agrees to raise him.[25] When Mark receives a phone call warning that his mother is in danger, he flies home and sees his mother beaten, next to Angstrom Levy.[26] Angstrom attempts to weaken Mark by dragging him through various dimensions, including the Marvel Universe.[27][28] Mark finds the portal to his home dimension and sees that Angstrom has beaten his mother. Enraged, Mark pulls him into an alternate dimension and beats him to death.[27] Mark is rescued by a group of Guardians from 15 years in the future; the future Eve tells him that she loves him and says to tell his Eve how he feels so she can move on.[29] Mark's tailor informs him that Nolan had written science fiction books early in his career; these books have information on how to beat the Viltrumites.[30]

Mark's roommate William tells him that their friend Rick (previously kidnapped by D.A. Sinclair) has gone missing. Several homeless people have disappeared from a park, so William dresses as a homeless person and sleeps on a bench with Mark watching, hoping this will lead them to Rick. When a Reaniman abducts William, Mark chases after but is attacked by three other Reanimen, including Rick.[31] As Sinclair begins operating on William, Mark and the Reanimen burst in. William gets Rick to attack the other Reanimen; Mark breaks Sinclair's jaw, but Cecil comes in and arrests them. Later, Cecil offers Sinclair a job with the government.[32] Mark goes to Africa to tell Eve how he feels, and they kiss.[33]

Mark is called to help fight a Sequid invasion.[34] Using a device built by Robot to stun the Sequids,[35] Mark successfully stops the invasion. He and Amber break up.[36] Mark goes to press conference to talk about his father and his intentions. He then discovers his half-brother, Oliver, can fly.[37] Mark considers quitting college and then meets with Allen to show him his father's books. Eve finds out that Mark and Amber broke up and says they're dating now.[38]

Mark tells Eve what her future self told him and that he doesn't feel that way about her; she storms off. Later, a female Viltrumite shows up, wanting to know how far he has come in preparing Earth for invasion. She tries to show how Earth may benefit from being part of the Viltrumite empire. After helping Mark save people on a sinking ship, she asks him if he is ready to work for the Viltrumites. When he refuses, she attacks him[39] and informs him that a replacement will come soon to take over Earth.[40] Mark begins preparing for the invasion.

Mark goes to Africa looking for Eve. Cecil pages him that Doc Seismic is holding all of the superheroes captive. Mark destroys Seismic and many of the monsters, but passes out from exhaustion. He then learns that Cecil hired Sinclair, the evil creator of the Reanimen, and Darkwing II, a psycho whom Mark had previously captured. He beats up Darkwing but discovers that none of the gathered heroes knows Darkwing was actually a murderer. He talks with Eve about making the biggest mistake of his life. Cecil, thinking Mark is becoming evil, uses the Reanimen to attack him; Mark defeats them but discovers that Cecil has placed something in him to upset his equilibrium. After getting Robot to block the frequency, Mark destroys almost all of the Reanimen. Cecil fires him, and Mark says to stay away from his family. He goes home and tells the story to his mom, brother, and Eve. Eve and Mark go into the backyard, and he tells her that when he thought he was going to die, all he could think of was her; they kiss.

Mark, now a free agent, tells Oliver that he needs to train him how to use his powers. They get new costumes, with Oliver insisting on being called Kid Omni-Man. They fight two super villains, and Oliver makes many rookie mistakes, but Mark forgives him. Back home, Mark hangs out with Eve, and they kiss again, only to be watched by a floating camera sent by the presumed-dead Angstrom Levy.

The Mauler Twins have a new weapon and appear to have taken out the new Guardians of the Globe. They become frustrated while fighting Mark and launch a nuclear missile. Oliver arrives, and Mark takes off after the missile; while he is in space, Oliver kills the Twins. Mark and Oliver argue over the right to kill, with Mark trying to convince Oliver that human life is precious. Mark tells Oliver he is too much like their dad. Oliver asks Mark if he ever thought their father was right, and Mark replies discreetly: sometimes.

Mark is disturbed at what Oliver has done and leaves his date with Eve early, returning home and arguing with Oliver. While on patrol, Mark comes across Titan and says he has not forgiven him for taking over Machine Head's corporation. They fight until a huge dragon attacks Mark. Titan escapes and we see that he is going to start a war with Mr. Liu (the dragon's host) and his gang, which also consists of Multi-Paul (Dupli-Kate's brother). Mark comes across Eve in the sky and tells her he will meet her later. He returns home to talk to Oliver, and he forgives him. Oliver notices an orb in the tree.

Mark and Eve realize they love each other, and sleep together for the first time. Meanwhile, Allen the Alien is in a Viltrumite prison, where Nolan is scheduled to be executed. Allen has become good friends with Nolan and breaks them out of their cells along with Battlebeast. Allen, Nolan, and Battlebeast fight the Viltrumites and eventually escape after Nolan reveals that there are only 50 pure blooded Viltrumites left.

Mark receives a call from Amber and goes to see her. She says her father has died and her new boyfriend Gary is physically abusive. Meanwhile, Oliver is patrolling the city when he comes across a giant robot destroying the city; he is being followed by one of Angstrom Levy's floating orbs. Mark holds Gary over a building by his leg and threatens to kill him if he hurts Amber again. Mark goes to help Oliver, who says that the human inside the suit just wants to get out, and Mark says that they'll talk about it later. Amber, who is happy about what Mark did, tells him she is giving Gary another chance. Later, Mark apologizes to Oliver about not teaching him things. Oliver sees a reflection in the trees and Mark tries to get the orb, but it blows up in his hand. He realizes someone was watching them. He asks Cecil if it is him; Cecil says it was not, but asks if he can help track down a fugitive, Wolf-Man.

Angstrom Levy finally makes his move. Flashbacks show that Mark had not actually killed Angstrom, who had just enough energy to make one last portal to a dimension where a group of aliens heal him of his wounds. After he recovers, he travels to other dimensions and gathers over a dozen evil versions of Invincible. The evil Invincibles launch a massive assault on Earth with the intent on not just causing damage but also ruining Invincible's reputation. Many major cities are destroyed, and Rex-Splode dies when he explodes his own skeleton in order to defeat an evil Invincible. The surviving evil Invicibles revolt against Angstrom, who uses his power to strand them in another dimension. An enraged Mark is ready to kill him, but Angstrom escapes with the loss his arm and returns to the beings that had healed him; due to his failure, however, they inform him he now works for them.

Invincible visits Eve in the hospital while the rest of the super-powered community cleans up after the war. Invincible joins in but blames himself for much of the death and destruction. Cecil invites Invincible, Robot, Brit, Black Samson and Donald (a cyborg) to join the new Guardians of the Globe, with Invincible as the leader, but Mark, still not trusting him, leaves. A Viltrumite named Conquest arrives to remind Invincible of his job of taking over earth. Invincible refuses and the two of them engage in a vicious battle, but Conquest is better trained and dominates the fight. Oliver tries to help but is nearly killed; a still recovering Eve rushes to help, but is killed by Conquest. Mark continues to fight, but is badly injured. Eve's powers somehow restore her to life, and she burns Conquest's skin off. Mark then headbutts the alien repeatedly until he crushes his skull; Mark then collapses.

Invincible awakens in the Pentagon hospital some time later with Eve by his side. He joins the other heroes at Rex's funeral and afterwards visits Oliver in the hospital. Mark then reveals a shocking revelation he had during his fight with Conquest: in order to truly protect Earth, he must kill every villain he encounters from now on.

Allen and Nolan, having escaped from the Viltrumite prison, search the universe for things that can hurt the Viltrumites. It is revealed that a virus produced by rebels of the Viltrumite empire was successful in killing over 99.9% of the Viltrumites. Their reason for attacking Earth is that human DNA is compatible with Viltrumite; they want to use Earth as a breeding colony. A character from Nolan's novels, the Space Racer, is revealed to be alive; he is found by Nolan and Allen, who convince him to join the upcoming war.

Back on Earth, Invincible and the rest of the superheroes finish reconstructing the cities of the world. Invincible is attacked by a new villain called Dinosaurus, whom he is about to kill when he is interrupted by the Guardians. Later at Eve's house, he explains what happened; after an awkward dinner with her parents, Mark and Eve talk about their new business providing superhero services to prisons. Oliver arrives in his new costume; due to his rapid aging he now looks like a teenager and calls himself Young Omni-Man. While this is happening, Conquest, who was secretly kept alive by the government, escapes and flies into space. That night Eve finds out she is pregnant with Mark's child.

The Sequids, who have been hiding in the sewers, commence their attack, led by Rus Livingston. At the same time a nuclear power plant is attacked by an alien woman named Universa. Mark answers the call from the nuclear plant before his mother can tell him about the Sequids. Universa tells Mark she is on Earth for the planet's energy and will not leave until she gets it. After a difficult fight, Invincible manages to get her staff, but Atom Eve sucker punches her. Cecil tells Invincible the Sequids are back; the battle against them seems hopeless, leaving Invincible no option but to kill Rus. Afterward, he returns to his house to tell Eve what he did and how bad he feels. Later, Invincible helps Titan battle his old master, but almost kills Titan in the process.

The Viltrumite War

Omni-Man returns to Earth with Allen the Alien and tells Mark that war is upon them. Mark is forced to leave with his father, Oliver and Tech Jacket to fight the Viltrumite Empire. During the first skirmish of the war, Invincible is nearly disemboweled by Conquest, but manages to strangle him. Mark's injuries require an extended ten-month recovery, during which time the Viltrumite Empire regroups for their last stand. After a heated fight, in which Oliver is grievously injured and the Viltrumite home-planet destroyed, Mark falls into a two weeks coma. When he awakes, he is informed that the surviving Viltrumites have completely disappeared; Mark deduces that they have gone to Earth. The Viltrumites, realizing that a direct conflict could potentially kill off their race, bargain a truce with Invincible and Omni-Man. Instead of fighting, they will hide on Earth as neutral observers, holding off any attempt at conquest and restoration of their Empire for at least a thousand years. During this time, they will breed with humans and raise the Human/Viltrumite hybrids in secret. Despite the danger this poses, Invincible and Omni-Man realize this plan is safer than fighting a bloody war on Earth, and they accept the truce, ending the Viltrumite War.

Post Viltrumite War

Omni-man and Mrs. Grayson decide to visit Oliver and attempt to fix their broken marriage. They leave the house in Mark's hands for six months, during which time Eve moves in and Mark returns to his superhero role. Eve reveals that she had an abortion while Mark was fighting off-world.[41] The two embrace, seemingly moving on with their lives. Soon, Dinosaurus emerges again, planting a bomb in Las Vegas; when Invincible arrives to disable the bomb, Dinosaurus reveals that there are multiple charges placed in the city. The bombs detonate, destroying the city, leaving it as a sheet of glass.[42]

Strongly affected by the Las Vegas incident, Invincible starts to change his outlook on how he helps people. He is attacked by Powerplex, but instead of fighting, he convinces Powerplex to end their pointless conflict. Mark tries this new strategy with Universa: he gets to know her, gives her the energy her planet needs, and sets her free. Cecil brings Mark to the white room, showing him the alternate reality Invincible Reanimen. Mark admits that they can help for the greater good.

Mark later sees the good the government is doing by using the glassed Vegas as a source of solar energy. He realizes that Dinosaurus was right about his Las Vegas plan. With this, Mark visits Eve and asks her to trust him and to love him no matter what. Invincible frees Dinosaurus in hopes of becoming partners and of helping the world for the greater good, while curtailing Dinosaurus' violent methods. In doing so, Mark is tagged by Cecil as an enemy of the state.

While Allen and Kid Omniman are en route to earth to deliver the Scourge Virus into Earth's atmosphere, Dinosaurus and Invincible lead coordinated plans to help fix the world. During a brief argument with Eve about his new methods, Mark is informed by Cecil of Allen the Alien's return. Oliver and Allen reveal their plan to Mark, who, angry that they do not care that it endangers human life, disavows their plan and attacks them. During the scuffle, Viltrumite Regent Thragg enters the scene, vowing to help Invincible against his assailants. A standoff is reached until the Guardians of the Globe attack, leading Oliver to take the Scourge Virus to Earth and release it. When Mark tries to stop him, the virus is released on Mark point blank; infected, Mark is taken to Thragg's ship on the Moon to be treated. It is revealed by Thragg's scientists that Mark and Nolan are part of the original bloodline of the Viltrumite King. Knowing he could never have a traitor taking over his role, Thragg decides to secretly kill Mark; however, Dinosaurus steps in and fights him, almost getting killed in the process, and uses timed explosions to escape with Mark to his secret base on Earth.

Mark soon learns that he has lost his powers (temporarily). In the meantime, Robot, has taken the name "Rex", reflects on the centuries he spent with Monster Girl in an alien dimension. Previously, it was believed that they had only been gone a decade when in fact time, relative to our dimension, moved much faster there. Robot and Monster Girl orchestrated a revolution on the alien world in that dimension that had been periodically invading Earth in the hopes of changing their society.

The effects of living in the alternate dimension has changed them greatly. Using their punishment of rebuilding their fallen capital, Robot and Monster Girl were to be able to gain the respect of the people and possible rebels, and use their time there effectively. Slow amassing power and influence, Robot and Monster Girl were able to gain control and become the leader of the planet. With power struggles constantly fighting back, Robot becomes a vicious tyrant who wants to eliminate the Zaxal Royal Family. Monster Girl (in male Monster form) has a brief affair with one of the princesses, and Robot is overthrown and banished for a brief time. When he is finally freed, Monster Girl tells him of her infidelity, and they decide it is best to return home.

Following them, a Flaxan invasion force attacks. Robot says this is impossible, as their legacy insured there would be no more invasions. As Mark sits helplessly without his powers, the Guardians of the Globe must defeat a more advanced invasion from the Flaxans. It is revealed the leader of the Flaxan invasion force is none other than Monster Girl's illegitimate child, who was born and raised after they returned to Earth. Monster Girl's son seeks revenge on the parents who abandoned him. Robot is able to get control of the situation and quell the invasion, and Monster Girl defeats her son and has him imprisoned, swearing she did not know he survived.

Dinosaurus's new plan is revealed when Mark is finished healing and is now unable to stop him. Dinosaurus has placed strange devices all over the world, and the Guardians of the Globe assume they are explosives. It is revealed that the devices are seismic in nature, and cause massive earthquakes in order to raise the water level and kill millions of people. Dinosaurus believes the only way to save the planet is to cut down on the population, so that all natural resources are used up much more slowly. While Robot and the Guardians of the Globe rescue survivors and build an artificial moon to fix the tides, Invincible fights Dinosaurus on television and is killed. It is revealed to be a very lifelike clone, and the real Dinosaurus offers Mark the chance to now work under the guise of being killed. Invincible is able to convince Dinosaurus that he could have been wrong, and maybe they could have found another way. Dinosaurus accepts this, and says Invincible must kill him before he tries to do something like this again, which Invincible does. As penance, Invincible is not given jail time for his compliance, but must now work for Cecil again.

Robot is outraged by the leniency of Mark's punishment, and is working on several hidden projects that he has built in the new moon base that corrects Earth's new tides. At a restaurant, he chews out a waiter and reveals to Monster Girl that he is having trouble re-adjusting to civilian life, since he was a ruler in the Flaxan universe.

Nolan and Debbie have moved out of their Earth home and are set up on a moon base, so that Nolan can keep an eye on the Viltrumites. He is also not allowed on Earth because of his past crimes. Thragg attacks Nolan outright, trying to kill him on the moon. The Viltrimites overhear Thragg talking about killing the rightful heir to the Viltrum empire, because Thragg believes he has earned the right to be ruler. The Viltrimites stop Thragg and are about to execute him, but Nolan stops them and has him imprisoned instead.

Meanwhile, Angstrom Levy discovers that Invincible is alive, and that the footage he saw earlier was fake. Planning instant revenge, he targets a pregnant Eve at the Grayson residence, while building a crib. A recent superhero doctor has informed them that Eve cannot use her powers while pregnant, or else they will sap the baby's atoms first and kill it. Angstrom talks about his sweet revenge, until Eve tells him that she doesn't wish harm upon her enemies and it works out for her because she never holds grudges and seeks revenge.

Invincible arrives and Angstrom teleports him to the barren world, where the alternate Invincibles have resorted to cannibalism in order to survive. A demented Invincible clone realizes Mark is not a hallucination, and attempts to kill and eat him. The mohawk wearing Invincible teams up with Mark in order to kill the deranged Invincible, and go back to Earth when Angstrom is convinced that Mark is not responsible for his damaged state.

Angstrom makes peace with Mark and Eve, and offers the last remaining Invincible a trip to his world. The mohawk Invincible tackles Angstrom and kidnaps him. Mark is still distressed by this, as he wants a guarantee that Levy is gone, and will not try to attack Eve again. Getting help from Robot, they are able to copy the same frequency and enter the alternate Earth.

Nolan meets with Thragg and lets him go. Nolan chooses exile, and says he wants Thragg to live to see how Nolan and the Viltrumites will peacefully co-exist with the humans. Thragg leaves, but Allen summons Battle Beast and sends him on a mission to kill Thragg.

As soon as Robot and Invincible arrive in the alternate universe, an alternate Conquest takes them to the throne room, where Mohawk Invincible greets them. He takes them to the dungeon, and shows Angstrom Levy upside down and tortured. Mohawk Invincible wants to harness Levy's power and use it to conquer other realities. Robot then murders the Mohawk Invincible with a bomb that works its way down the throat, and decapitates Angstrom Levy. Robot leaves Mark stranded in this alternate Earth, stating that he wants to take over the current Earth and become its new ruler. He wanted Mark to rule alongside him, but saw how easily one Invincible can conquer an entire planet. Mark is left in the basement dungeon with the dead bodies. While left in dismay that Robot betrayed him, Invincible proceeds to think of a plan before anyone arrives. General Kragg is approaching the door and Invincible using his superhuman speed to make it seem as if the alternate reality Invincible didn't die. He rips off parts of his hair and switches costumes with alternate Invincible's body.

Pretending to be Mohawk Invincible, Mark is able to blame Angstrom Levy's death as an attack from the alternate versions of Robot and himself. After allaying all suspicions, Mark finds that universe's deformed version of Robot underneath a bridge, and is able to convince him to help. Robot explains that he can find the same dimensions signal, but he wants something in return. Mark must track down the alternate Mauler twins, and discovers they are enemies with Mohawk Invincible. Convincing him that he has changed, Mark gets the remaining alternate Mauler Twin to build a machine to clone Mark's body, and transfer the deformed Robot into it so he can be the new emperor of that universe. The Viltrumites get suspicious, but Mark is able to complete the transfer and escape the dimension.

After finding his own dimension, Eve breaks up with Mark. She simply says that their baby cannot live in such a chaotic world, with the baby's father being so unreliable. At this point, Mark has been gone for five months and Rex (Robot) has told everyone that Invincible was killed.

Before Mark can get to Globe HQ, Anissa attacks him and intends to mate with him. She refuses to mate with any of the Earthlings, and after a struggle she rapes Mark by force. A bit shaken, Mark is given clothes by a passing farmer and continues.

Back at the Globe HQ, Mark tells Cecil about everything, and Rex simply denies it all. When Cecil says he will look into it, Rex makes his move. He slits Cecil's throat and kills him on the spot, and sends out his newly powered drones to kill all who would oppose him. Mark has trouble fighting the new drones, as when they are hit they emit a sound frequency which hurts Viltrumites. After a vicious killing spree, Rex kills several supporting heroes and villains and goes after Eve. During a fight in Mark's house, one of the drones rips Eve's leg off. Mark takes her to his father to save her life.

Rex reveals his plan to Monster Girl. He would rather beg for forgiveness than permission, and a paranoid superhero tries to take Rex's life. When Monster Girl tips her hand and realizes Monax was right, Rex reveals that he tried to kill the Zaxal that Monster Girl was with and then has his drones throw Monster Girl out into space to die.

Brit and the remaining heroes are gathered to regroup and plan, but Bulletproof has betrayed them and they are taken prisoner. Eve has given birth to a baby girl, and is given a prosthetic leg. She forgives Mark and they are back together.

On the moon, Nolan hears out Rex's plan via one of his drones. He intends to turn Earth into a utopia, and doesn't want to clash with the Viltrumites. The ensuing battle would lead to a loss of life, and Rex is able to sway Mark's parents into not fighting back. Rex also goes to the President in person and has earned favour with them.

Mark finds Rex at his lair, but Rex has too many drones. He begs Mark not to fight back, as he does not want to kill him. Mark decides he can't do it, and flies home to Eve. Mark states that Rex has won, as Rex reminisces about the old times, and realizes he is truly alone in his ambitious endeavours.

Reboot

A three issue story line (#124 to #126). Mark gets a chance to live his super powered life again and using future knowledge undo mistakes, save millions from being killed and save many Earth cities from destruction, as well as stopping Thragg from creating a possibly unstoppable army of super beings under his control. Mark realises that in the new timeline, his baby daughter will not exist, so rejects it, and so millions die because of him.

Supporting cast

Non-superpowered

Superheroes

Enemies

Several of Kirkman's superheroes.
Cover art by Ryan Ottley.

In 2003 and 2004, Image and Robert Kirkman published several other superhero series: Tech Jacket pencilled in a manga style by E. J. Su (cancelled at #6), the 3-issue Capes Inc. series drawn by Mark Englert and three oneshots starring Brit, the first two with artwork from Tony Moore and the third with artwork by Cliff Rathburn.

In 2007, Brit was launched as an ongoing full-color series written by Bruce Brown, with artwork by Cliff Rathburn. The series is overseen and edited by Robert Kirkman. In late 2007, a two issue mini-series starring Atom Eve was released.

Tech Jacket was first collected as a digest-sized, black and white graphic novel and later reissued in regular sized, full color and a cover scheme similar to Kirkman's other trade paper backs. Capes was collected as a trade paperback in summer 2007, and the three Brit one-shots were colored by Val Staples and published as a collection in 2007, as well.

At first shown to barely coexist in the same universe, the characters have since been integrated into Invincible's book. Tech Jacket was an ongoing series that tied into Invincible #27, and the character has been seen in the background of various battles during the series. The characters from Capes have also been supporting characters seen mainly in large superhero battles Invincible participates in, and the series ran as a back-up in the Invincible book starting with #27. Brit has had an even less substantial role, appearing a couple of times in the aforementioned brawls (understandable considering that after the last book Brit was somewhat-retired). In The Astounding Wolf-Man, Art, Invincible's tailor, appeared, designing the title character's costume. Wolf-man has also appeared in Invincible #48 & 49.

Continuity

Invincible, along with Firebreather and other new Image superhero characters, debuted in an issue of The Savage Dragon, and has since appeared with several of the characters in The Pact mini-series. Robert Kirkman wrote a miniseries, Savage Dragon: God War and two Superpatriot mini-series, establishing the friendship between Superpatriot's wife Claire and Invincible's mother in the pages of Invincible #13 and later. The Savage Dragon connection is mostly downplayed and Invincible follows its own continuity, tied mainly with previously mentioned satellite Kirkman characters. Invincible also appeared in the fourth issue of Jay Faerber's Noble Causes, and was seen at the funeral for Captain Dynamo, father of the characters in Faerber's Dynamo 5. Similarly, Invincible #48 features cameo appearances from several Savage Dragon characters, as well as both Dynamo 5, and many of Kirkman's own creations, while an earlier issue featured a funeral for the Guardians of the Globe, at which many Image characters, including Savage Dragon and Jack Staff, were in attendance.

Invincible #60 is a "done-in-one crossover event" with characters such as Spawn and Witchblade making appearances. During the invasion of Invincible's evil counterparts from alternate dimensions, the reader saw all Image heroes, like Spawn, Savage Dragon, Witchblade, Darkness, Firebreather, and Pitt fighting invaders alongside Invincible, the Guardians of the Globe, Brit, and Wolf-Man.[43]

In December 2009, the Image website announced an Image United tie-in one-shot called Image United: Interlude. Shipping in March 2010, Invincible is prominently featured on the teaser cover of the first issue in front of a group of silhouetted characters covered in a classified information label. The website claims, "This March the effects of IMAGE UNITED go global with a glimpse of the crossover's impact on INVINCIBLE and many other Image Comics favorites..."

Collected editions

Trade paperbacks

With the exception of volumes 14 and 18, every volume of the Invincible trade paperbacks is named after a television sitcom.

Title ISBN Release Date Collected Material
Invincible Vol. 1: Family Matters Paperback: ISBN 1-58240-320-1 11/2/03 Invincible #1–4
Invincible Vol. 2: Eight is Enough Paperback: ISBN 1-58240-347-3 4/28/04 Invincible #5–8
Invincible Vol. 3: Perfect Strangers Paperback: ISBN 1-58240-391-0 12/1/04 Invincible #9–13
Invincible Vol. 4: Head of the Class Paperback: ISBN 1-58240-440-2 4/20/05 Invincible #14–19; Image Comics Summer Special
Invincible Vol. 5: The Facts of Life Paperback: ISBN 1-58240-554-9 11/16/05 Invincible #0, 20–24, 25 (origin stories from the back only)
Invincible Vol. 6: A Different World Paperback: ISBN 1-58240-579-4 6/5/06 Invincible #25–30
Invincible Vol. 7: Three's Company Paperback: ISBN 1-58240-656-1 12/20/06 Invincible #31–35; The Pact #4
Invincible Vol. 8: My Favorite Martian Paperback: ISBN 1-58240-683-9 7/19/07 Invincible #36–41
Invincible Vol. 9: Out of This World Paperback: ISBN 1-58240-827-0 6/18/08 Invincible #42–47
Invincible Vol. 10: Who's the Boss? Paperback: ISBN 1-60706-013-2 5/20/09 Invincible #48–53
Invincible Vol. 11: Happy Days Paperback: ISBN 1-60706-062-0 8/24/09 Invincible #54–59; The Astounding Wolf-Man #11
Invincible Vol. 12: Still Standing Paperback: ISBN 1-60706-166-X 5/26/10 Invincible #60–65
Invincible Vol. 13: Growing Pains Paperback: ISBN 1-60706-251-8 8/25/10 Invincible #66–70; Invincible Returns #1
Invincible Vol. 14: The Viltrumite War Paperback: ISBN 1607063670 4/25/11 Invincible #71–78
Invincible Vol. 15: Get Smart Paperback: ISBN 1-60706-498-7 1/11/12 Invincible #79–84
Invincible Vol. 16: Family Ties Paperback: ISBN 978-1-60706-579-1 7/5/12 Invincible #85–90
Invincible Vol. 17: What's Happening? Paperback: ISBN 1-60706-662-9 1/23/13 Invincible #91–96
Invincible Vol. 18: The Death of Everyone Paperback: ISBN 1-60706-762-5 8/13/13 Invincible #97–102
Invincible Vol. 19: The War at Home Paperback: ISBN 1-60706-856-7 3/11/14 Invincible #103–108
Invincible Vol. 20: Friends Paperback: ISBN 1-60706-856-7 11/12/14 Invincible #109–114
Invincible Vol. 21: Modern Family Paperback: ISBN 1-63215-318-1 06/24/15 Invincible #115–120
Invincible Vol. 22: Reboot? Paperback: ISBN 1-63215-626-1 02/25/16 Invincible #121–126
Invincible Compendium Vol. 1 ISBN 1-60706-411-1 08/17/11 Collects #1–47, #0, Invincible story from the Image Comics Summer Special, The Pact #4
Invincible Compendium Vol. 2 ISBN 1-60706-722-6 08/27/13 Collects #48–96,Invincible Returns #1, Astounding Wolf-Man #11
Invincible Presents: Atom Eve & Rex Splode, Vol. 1 Paperback: ISBN 1-60706-255-0 6/14/10 Invincible Presents: Atom Eve #1–2; Invincible Presents: Atom Eve & Rex Splode #1–3

Hardcovers

Title ISBN Release Date Collected Material
Invincible Ultimate Collection Hardcover Vol. 1 ISBN 1-58240-500-X 8/3/05 Collects #1–13, plus extras
Invincible Ultimate Collection Hardcover Vol. 2 ISBN 1-58240-594-8 6/20/06 Collects #14–24, #0, Free Comic Book Day 2004 story, parts of #25, plus extras
Invincible Ultimate Collection Hardcover Vol. 3 ISBN 1-58240-763-0 11/7/07 Collects #25–35, The Pact #4, plus extras
Invincible Ultimate Collection Hardcover Vol. 4 ISBN 1-58240-989-7 4/29/09 Collects #36–47, plus extras
Invincible Ultimate Collection Hardcover Vol. 5 ISBN 1-60706-116-3 1/13/10 Collects #48–59, The Astounding Wolf-Man #11.
Invincible Ultimate Collection Hardcover Vol. 6 ISBN 1-60706-360-3 04/05/11 Collects #60–70, Invincible Returns #1
Invincible Ultimate Collection Hardcover Vol. 7 ISBN 1-60706-509-6 02/15/12 Collects #71–84
Invincible Ultimate Collection Hardcover Vol. 8 ISBN 1-60706-680-7 05/01/13 Collects #85–96
Invincible Ultimate Collection Hardcover Vol. 9 ISBN 1-63215-032-8 08/19/14 Collects #97–108
Invincible Ultimate Collection Hardcover Vol. 10 ISBN 1-63215-494-3 12/10/15 Collects #109–120
The Complete Invincible Library Vol.1 ISBN 1-58240-718-5 3/28/07 Collects #1–24, #0, Free Comic Book Day 2004 story, parts of #25, plus extras
The Complete Invincible Library Vol.2 ISBN 1-60706-112-0 11/25/09 Collects #25–47
The Complete Invincible Library Vol.3 ISBN 1-60706-421-9 11/30/11 Collects #48–70

Other collections

Adaptations

The comic has been turned into a motion comic by Gain Enterprises using the Bomb-xx process, and is broadcast on MTV2[44] and downloadable to mobile phones, from iTunes,[45][46] and Amazon.[47]

Cast

References

  1. 1 2 Invincible #2
  2. ↑ Invincible #1
  3. ↑ Invincible #4
  4. ↑ Invincible #5
  5. ↑ Invincible #6
  6. ↑ Invincible #7
  7. ↑ Invincible #9
  8. ↑ Invincible #10
  9. ↑ Invincible #11
  10. ↑ Invincible #12
  11. ↑ Invincible #13
  12. ↑ Invincible #15
  13. ↑ Invincible #16
  14. ↑ Invincible #18
  15. ↑ Invincible #20
  16. ↑ Invincible #22
  17. ↑ Invincible #23
  18. ↑ Invincible #24
  19. ↑ Invincible #25
  20. ↑ Invincible #26
  21. ↑ Invincible #27
  22. ↑ Invincible #28
  23. ↑ Invincible #29
  24. ↑ Invincible #30
  25. ↑ Invincible #31
  26. ↑ Invincible #32
  27. 1 2 Invincible #33
  28. ↑ Marvel Team-Up #14
  29. ↑ Invincible #34
  30. ↑ Invincible #35
  31. ↑ Invincible #36
  32. ↑ Invincible #37
  33. ↑ Invincible #38
  34. ↑ Invincible #39
  35. ↑ Invincible #40
  36. ↑ Invincible #41
  37. ↑ Invincible #42
  38. ↑ Invincible #43
  39. ↑ Invincible #44
  40. ↑ Invincible #45
  41. ↑ Invincible #79
  42. ↑ Invincible #80
  43. ↑ "Invincible's Done-in-One Crossover". Comic Book Resources. 2008-12-11. Retrieved 2015-05-03.
  44. ↑ mtv (2008-08-27). "Episode 1". MTV. Retrieved 2015-05-03.
  45. ↑ George Gene Gustines (2008-07-14). "A Comic Book Superhero Is Headed to Small Screens – NYTimes.com". NYTimes/com. Retrieved 2015-05-03.
  46. ↑ Archived November 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  47. ↑
  48. ↑ Kirkman, Robert (August 9, 2009). "Flying out tomorrow to New Mexico...". Twitter (via Echofon). Retrieved 2010-07-25.
  49. ↑ Pehanick, Maggie (November 30, 2015). "If You Blinked, You Missed This Easter Egg From The Walking Dead's Winter Finale". Popsugar. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
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