Capes, Volume 1

Invincible

by Robert Kirkman, Mark Englert (Illustrator)

Capes Inc. is a business that employs super-powered individuals to protect the city of New York and occasionally the world. Bolt, Kid Thor, Knock Out and Commander Capitalism They're all on the payroll - super-heroes who punch a time clock, take lunch breaks and get overtime.

Collects Capes #1-3 and back-up stories from Invincible #27-31, 34-38, 40-41.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Science Fiction, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 29, 2007

About the author

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.

Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.

In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.

Reviews

[Jan Philipzig · Rating 2 out of 5]

The original mini-series feels rushed and does not have much to offer beyond generic dialog and obvious superheroes-like-you-and-me jokes. However, this book also contains additional material originally published in the pages of Invincible, and this is where the characters are fleshed out a bit more, some jokes actually work, and one or two ideas with potential are thrown into the mix. Nothing earth-shattering, mind you, but by the time the book ends you almost want to read on... almost. Then you realize that Kirkman was already working on Invincible when Capes was launched, and that his next major project would be The Walking Dead - and you are glad he leftCapes behind for greener pastures.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kirkman originally intended this to be a companion piece to Invincible and the many characters here do show up in Invincible often. The back half of this was originally printed as back-up stories in Invincible actually. It seems somewhat derivative of Alan Moore's Top Ten, although this is certainly more juvenile. It's superheroes punching a clock and working on a payroll to protect the city. It's worth reading for Invincible completists and it does have it's moments. Mark Englert's art is obviously heavily influenced by Erik Larsen.

[Venus Maneater · Rating 1 out of 5]

I mentally clocked out after the second big boobs joke in twenty pages. Not my jam at all.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Capes Vol. 1 Punching the Clock collects issues 1-3 of Capes and back-up Invincible issues 27-31, 34-38, and 40-41. The series was written by Robert Kirkman with art by Mark Englert.

Capes is about a business that employs superheroes that punch a time clock while saving the world. We follow their adventures as a new superhero joins the team, a team member returns after being lost in time, and their greatest foe returns.

This was one of Robert Kirkman's first works and it shows. It's really rough around the edges in the first 3 issues, but you can see the talent underneath. The book started out as a miniseries that didn't really go anywhere but was completed in back-up stories of Invincible. The characters are all part of Kirkman's shared superhero universe. Some of the characters are interesting and others are very bland. The book also heavily relies on crude humor and sex jokes which reminded me of a much tamer version of The Boys. I really liked the design of The Chronodile as the big villain of the book. Largely, this book is skippable but it's interesting to see how Kirman has progressed.

[Alex Sarll]

Coeval with The Walking Dead, but you can see why that one was the hit. Kirkman's tone here is muddy; at times a lighthearted JLI-style superhero book, the jokes will suddenly get more meta, right before a sudden swerve into OTT gore, and it's unclear how seriously we're meant to take anything. The joke about the superheroine who feels obliged to wear ludicrous fake tits to get noticed is excellent - but might play better if there were other female characters beyond the one whose only apparent trait is sleeping her way around the team, and the dutiful non-powered wife. And so on.
On the upside, there is a time-travelling crocodile in a fez.

[Alex Memus · Rating 1 out of 5]

An one-liner joke stretched over 3 issues :(
Skippable.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very nothing story. Gross art, gross writing. Skip it, being a completionist or a super huge Invincible fan isn't a good enough reason to make this worth your time.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another invincible spin-off down, this was a nice introduction to the characters from capes incorporated. You see them in invincible from time to time so getting a story focused around them is nice. Story itself was good, nothing mind blowing but had a good time reading it.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. A rare miss for Kirkman. Though this came out at the same time as Invincible and The Walking Dead, so I’m sure most of his creative energy and talent was allocated to those projects. Kirkman intended for this to be an ongoing series but was told it would only run for 3 issues. You can see how evident it is that plans were changed around and the story was forced.

[Centauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concept alone is intriguing: time-clock superheroes!
I enjoyed how the creators fashioned a very plausible work environment and company that employed superheroes. It had me reeling off in all sorts of imaginative directions. A company not completely controlled by any 1 government that allowed superpowered folks to go out in the day (or the lack-luster-nightshift) to help rescue people from trouble seems like such a far-fetched premise but the story got grounded out in reality easily by the presence of time-clocks, conversations at the water cooler, irrelevant meetings, and disgust with the rush hour commute. It all felt so nice and common place, that I had wished I could go quit my job, wrap up in some odd outfit, and go apply at my local union. LOL.
The creators even amped up the realism by fan-focus groups wanting buxom beauties as their heroines, resulting in greater merchandising profits. Its a sickening truth about society as a whole, which sucks, but again grounds the tale in reality. The only problem I had with the execution of the tale were the antagonists.
Their motives felt too plot driven or too predictable. There was no real character development for the bad guys (and not so much for the good guys either, but even less so with the baddies). I literally figured out who the villain was within the first few pages (can't recall how). It was not a surprise to me who was orchestrating things (I won't spoil it for readers). Maybe it was too cliché? Or maybe the creators wanted it to feel that way? Not sure either way. But at the end of the day it was a really good read. And at the end of the day I loved how high school characters popped up in a published work. Sometimes our juvenile creations are the best versions to see the light of day.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way too short, and no sign that he's going to do a sequel.
Shame as it was a fun read. Likable cast and a well handled idea of super hero team run like a company, so the heroes work in shifts for a steady paycheck.

The two lead heroes were good characters and there were lots of fun/interesting background guys.

Would make a good TV show or cartoon.

[Ostrava · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was almost pleasantly surprised by this comic, but it's basically "we've got Top Ten 10 at home" if you've read that one. This has funny moments and a bit more charm than I gave it credit for in the beginning, but I can't fit it into the Invincible universe in my mind, and...it's sort of aimless. "What if superheroes 9-5?" is not a premise you can get very far, in my opinion. This comic didn't. It stopped before it got anywhere.

The other thing that doesn't work about this for me is the raunchy depiction of women, the horrendously boring villains and the fact that the comic can't decide on what character is more interesting for a specific issue. It would flow better if it actually told stories instead of doing whatever it is that it was trying to do. Then again, it doesn't feel like it's trying to do anything. No wonder it got cancelled!

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

My impression was that if this had been continued, the parts that were set up in this could have paid off. Putting it in the same world as Invincible felt like a bit of a stretch, but could have worked.
As is, though, it's a bit fragmented, because the original mini-series felt like a lead-in to something, and the other small parts were better, but still didn't develop the characters enough. Some of the things which did pay off were just too rushed or didn't feel well thought through.
Still it was very readable and mostly enjoyable, but be aware that the violence is very gruesome in a couple of battle scenes.
I do wish that the powers of the characters had been made more clear. That's one of the weaknesses that could have been addressed in an ongoing series.

[Trike · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is pretty juvenile stuff that reads like Invincible trying to be a sitcom. The cringey sex jokes and goofy violence are definitely the kind of thing 12-year-old boys go for. There are a couple of decent bits here and there, such as when Bolt tricks two supervillains into fighting each other. If there had been more clever little moments like that this would’ve been much better. In the hands of a better writer the bones could actually be used to tell a decent story, but there’s a reason why this failed to gain traction.

[Santiago Gª Soláns · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10

Uf. Flojita, flojita, tanto de guión como de dibujo (mejora algo después de la mini serie original, a partir del cuarto capitulo)
En realidad serían dos estrellas y media, y tan solo gracias a algún acierto puntual que le libra del suspenso.
Como un supuesto volumen 8.5 de Invincible, desde luego, no está a la altura.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing about this side-quest from Invincible stood out as necessary or even terribly entertaining. The art was absolutely not for me and the humor wasn't up to the standard I've come to expect from Invincible.

So, meh.

[Etain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man that was disappointing, I don't think I'll read any more of these spinoffs.
They could have had so much fun with a 3 issue series about any type of superhero they wanted but it's pretty basic stuff. The clairvoyant cuck stuff was funny at least

[Will Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre and pretty sexist. Bad art. The only thing that "saves" it are some fun superheroes in a business.

[Brian Spath · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the staples of the Kirkman style. It’s fun but empty, with more than a few cringeworthy moments.

[alternBRUNO°° · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was a meh at best.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, even if the characters and situations are not as fully developed as one would expect from Kirkman.

[Randall Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and engaging spin-off from Invincible. If you're a fan of that series, check this out.

[Filmkiller Zoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually liked this one more than I though I would. It has a pretty unique idea of a comic book and it's pretty decent not gonna lie. 7/10

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a spin-off from the main comic, Invincible. The main comic is much better.

[Lordlight · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

In honesty it was nice seeing other super-hero groups in this universe.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters were interesting. The art was decent. The story had its moments.

[kami · Rating 2 out of 5]

solid little comic from the invincible universe, i honestly wasnt all that baffled by it, but its a nice way of worldbuilding

[yuilixkiss]

Boring, boring boring
The only reason you would read it is to know more about invincible universe

[Mike Serisier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirkman never fails to impress me. I've read invincible, tek jacket, brit, and now capes. Kirkmans unique style is prevalent through all these books. He know's how to get you comfortable with the characters, and then kills them off when you least suspect it. The art style is generally very "cartoony" and easy on the eyes, yet after a few issues in you're usually presented with a bit of blood and guts that catches you off gaurd. It's cruel, and uncalled for, yet i can't stop reading.

Capes follows the art and writing style of the above books. The basic premise is there is an organisation which employs superheroes to protect the city. They're on the payroll, they get breaks, days off, and attend staff meetings. They all have regular lives and family outside their job. Kirkman makes sure we know about the details of each character.

Capes is an easy read that manages to provide laughs, suspense, plenty of action, and blood. My only issue with it is that it came to an end after only one trade paperback. Hopefully Kirkman revisits it.