Invincible, Volume 1

Invincible Definitive Edition #1

by Robert Kirkman

Mark Grayson is just like most everyone else his age. Except his father is the most powerful superhero on the planet―Omni-Man. When Mark develops powers of his own, it’s a dream come true. But living up to his father’s legacy is only the beginning of Mark’s problems…  

Collects INVINCIBLE #1-7.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Fantasy

176 pages, Paperback

Published July 11, 2023

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

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been wanting to start reading this series for a long time. The new editions published by Image Comics provided the perfect opportunity to dive in.

You might wonder why I didn't opt for the more aesthetically pleasing hardcover editions. Firstly, I find reading big and thick books uncomfortable. While they look great on the shelf, they aren't as pleasant to read, and I always prioritize the reading experience. Additionally, it's challenging to find all the volumes of the ultimate collection or even the TPBs. Therefore, this relaunch of the series is very welcome. I just hope they maintain a good release pace until the end.

Regarding the reading experience, I had read the series in digital format many years ago and remembered very little. However, as I read, some memories started to resurface. Having watched the first season of the animated adaptation, I had a fairly good idea of what to expect, and the series delivered on those expectations.

I anticipate that the series will become even better as the story develops, but it's already quite solid. It's a great alternative to "The Boys."

[Ben Southworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's nice to have a way to hop on to this series in a more digestible way than the 48-issue compendiums - I'm excited to pick up these trades every few months as they come out. Despite not watching the TV adaptation, it's been tough to avoid the clips and memes from the show over the last few years, dampening the effect of the twist in the last few pages. Even without this shift, this would've still been a perfectly fun superhero comic, but I'm very interested in seeing how it handles this new tone from here.

[Maddi]

🎶Bum bum BUMMMM! 🎶

[Stephan Brusche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story, fresh art with vibrant colors.

[Lars Dekker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched the series first and got totally obsessed with it, so I definitely needed to check out the origin of the stories. The comic has an interesting style of art, and I like it. I can see how the series is based on the comic, but the comic feels more like it’s from back in the day, while the series is very much of this decade—more modern. The series is more representative, which I miss now. But besides that, the comics are very fun to read and have some really interesting dynamics between different relationships.

[Andy Cantrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The show was pretty good, so I went back and decided to read the source material.

What I've learned is that the cartoon is pretty faithful to the source material, although some obvious changes are evident. All of the characters in the graphic novel seem more realistic, while the cartoon is more perfected/idealized. In a similar way, the graphic novels for the Walking Dead were much better than the show.

Bottom line, this is worth checking out if you were already interested via the show.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. More of a 3.5 than a full 4.

Enjoyed the episodic nature of each chapter. Really think the winning ticket here is how the story operates more like a soap opera with superheroes rather than as your standard “superhero saving the world/universe” plot.

The art style is its best asset. Bright and colorful, definitely a style reminiscent of 80s-era X-Men comics.

Interested to see where this goes.

[Jakub · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very promising start to a series I heard so much good about. I am not a comic book expert so I will just stick to what I see in simple terms: I like the art, I like the tempo and I loved the intra-comic callbacks (from lack of a better word) - like the falling thrash bag. And this volume had a really hard hitting ending.

[Grace Haapapuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Grayson funny

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough read, but nothing really here to hold my interest for longer than this volume. The 'learning to be a superhero tropes' have been done before and better and there's just not enough new or innovative here to differentiate it from other similar stories.

Characters talk in really clunky, expository ways meaning that everyone speaks the same and have the same personality. The final cliffhanger is intriguing, but when the most interesting thing happens at the very end of the volume, I'm not that interested I picking up the remaining volumes.

A decent enough read, but nothing really beyond a comic that can be read.

[l_weng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun!!

[Jonathan Svensson · Rating 5 out of 5]

älskar tv serien så jag har velat länge läst serietidningen , riktigt bra

[Andrew Sammut · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this one from the Malta comic con a few months back. Certainly a great start to a superhero graphic novel series however, I've read so many comics about superheroes that this just felt like more of the same. It's almost as though all the authors who write superhero stuff follow the same pattern and are just competing with each other to create the most indestructible hero. In the case of invincible, it is of course omni man who can go without breathing for 2 entire weeks, that's pretty cool ngl Mark is rather underwhelming so far but to be fair, he is still learning how to use his powers. Omni man's backstory is not tragic at all, for a change, and that's interesting to see how he voluntarily asked to be allowed to help with perfecting the way people work together on Earth and eventually create a utopia as is the case on the planet he lived on formerly.

Not a big fan of the cliff hanger and I hope that what follows in the sequel is not a let down as I don't have it yet. This issue contains the first 7 chapters and there are 144 in total so I've a long way to go but in my opinion, so far at least, One Punch Man, and The Boys, are both more interesting. The art is very vivid and I love the tones that are used. Perhaps the most interesting part of this volume is when a Physics teacher transforms the popular students in his school into living timebombs. Absolutely crazy, and certainly an original and memorable idea.

[Matt Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to pick up the new editions of this series after it hooked me as a fan with the first season of the animation. Since the animation is an Amazon exclusive and I don't want to feed anymore money to them, I figured it would be a great point to pick up the source material and enjoy the series this way, and this new edition is an affordable entry point to start enjoying Invincible. It retains the same tone I expected after watching the first season of the animation, and reading the comic is more like engaging with Invincible at a better pace with less of, what feels like, filler in comparison to the pace of the animation. This first volume is the only one that has released as of the review, so if you want these editions be prepared for a huge cliffhanger at the end of the first volume!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very simply: I’m intrigued. The first issues start innocently enough, but #6 starts hinting at a change of pace. #7…well number seven pulls no punches and leaves a murderous pile of intrigue.

Other notes: I learned that Kirkman is basically my age so the background cultural references make a lot of sense, but they also don’t as they are not always relevant—and as a result seem like distractions. They are fun Easter eggs, but unnecessary. I’m talking about you, Steve Urkell, Bill & Ted, and Reginald Vell Johnson.

[beca. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would be a 3.5 if half stars were allowed. I started watching the TV show because of Rhea Seehorn’s small cameo role and was pleasantly surprised to learn Gillian Jacobs had a regular role on it as well. I liked it well enough to pick up the comic to see how it differed. Not much came as a surprise because of this, but I think I like the pacing and order of events in the comic a lot better than the adaptation so far.

[Scarred Wizard · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm hooked from start to finish. but the flashback stories words are too long & some of the dialogues or panels are not that important enough that made me skipped it while i still understand what's happening next. Thank god they changed the penciller on next volume. my eyes sore by looking at this book's artwork! love the cliffhanger at the end!

3/5 (could be 4/5 if it wasn't for the horrendous drawing)

[Sawaxbasket · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely prefer the TV / animated adaptation of this series. I feel like the pacing of these comics can be rushed depending on how fast you can read it. the animated show sets that pacing and episodic format for you so that events have more depth, tone, and impact to them.
I was in Chicago for a university trip and I picked up this volume because when you're in Chicago it's kind of amazing to purchase Invincible while you're in the heart of the city in which it is based upon.

[Dbgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having seen the animation (except for the episodes that were released this year), this doesn't surprise me of course because I've seen all that was here. But while nothing was new to me, I could still enjoy the art and plot. Somehow the ending still got me by surprise, lol. I guess I was so in this world that I forgot the animation. I think that tells a lot.

[Jenno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeing as the teenage superhero story has been told in so many ways, it could easily feel overdone. But what stood out to me about Invincible was its simplicity paired with an effective and engaging story. The pacing was good and I loved how it ended. I’m definitely locked in and keen to dive deeper into the series.

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I shouldn’t be using the show as a comparison but I really enjoyed this!

Some of the pacing doesn’t seem like your typical comic book pacing but I feel that makes for an interesting reading experience and a great launchpad for an adaptation. Deceptively simple and pretty funny, Robert Kirkman I see you!

Can’t wait for Ryan Ottley’s art to start on this series, Volumes 2 & 3 are on the way.

[Films · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was originally just going to stick with the animated show but I decided to check out this new format and see what the differences are between the show and comic. Sufficed to say I enjoyed this and will be continuing getting these new editions.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Invincible is a riff on the superhero genre. A boy learns that he has superpowers because his dad is Omni Man, a hero that resembles Superman. The teen joins a young adult version of the Justice League and learns to live with his powers. But then there's a jaw-dropping cliffhanger.

[David Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely generic superhero outing redeemed only by the last ~5 pages. You can only read the same teen superhero origin story so many times, you know? Also, the direct analogues to Superman, Batman, etc. are snoozeville. I'm interested to see where it goes from here, though.

[drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m honest really surprised that I didn’t enjoy this that much. I’m a big fan of the show and maybe it was a mistake to watch before I read. I feel like the book jumps from place to place very quickly and I’m not huge on the artwork.

[David Strašák · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice compendium of a cool coming of age story that plays a fresh spin on the superhero genre.

Saying that I should say that I don't read much of superhero comics, but what's nice is that the things here make sense - it makes good on what the characters would do in regards to their motivations.

[Edward Salinas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am coming from the show right after season 3 ended. I wanted to read it since I wanted to see the differences but also catch up to get ahead of the show. It’s very different but still the same invincible I’ve grown to love. I’m hoping it get better from here on out

[Myles Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome palate cleanser especially for an comic book lover like me. I loved the show and that’s what sparked my initial interest in Invincible/Image comics! Can’t wait to jump into Volume 2!

[Trey Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was excited to read Invincible, and while the story didn't immediately hook me, it's just entertaining enough to keep me interested. the artwork leaves a little to be desired. looking forward to better things in the upcoming volumes and the artist switch to Ryan Ottley

[EmMa Matern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awe man, didn’t think I would finish so fast! Im hooked! So cool to read the comics after watching the show! I love how the comics are not the exact story of the show.

Fun story, punchy lines, amazing illustrations!