In 2023, Skybound’s Invincible comic will celebrate its 20th anniversary!
DELUXE AND ‘UNDELUXE’!
These days, you don’t have to be publishing new content to celebrate an anniversary!
It’s been a while since Image released the conclusion to Invincible, but the Skybound imprint has announced that the coming year, 2023, will be time to recognize what “has become the most successful new superhero franchise of the century,” according to a company news release.
New to the series? Here’s more information about it:
Created by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker, Invincible #1 debuted to critical acclaim on January 22, 2003. Soon after, they were joined by artist and contributing creator Ryan Ottley. Throughout its fifteen-year run, Invincible not only continued for a historic 144-issues but also spawned multiple spin-off series’ and even an inter-company crossover with a certain friendly neighborhood superhero.
Probably this franchise is best known these days for the Amazon Prime animated version that arrived in 2021. It was pretty accurate when it comes to resembling the comic it was based on. A second season is being assembled even as we speak, so we’ll hear more about that as information becomes available.
“Wow, twenty years! I can’t believe it,” said Robert Kirkman in the release. “Invincible is something that Cory, Ryan and I have devoted a large portion of our lives to. Now that it’s being discovered by an infinitely larger audience it’s really great to see it live on in so many different forms. It’s so gratifying to know that people will be falling in love with Invincible for years to come.”
“Invincible is turning 20?! Happy Birthday, Markus Sebastian Grayson!” said artist Ryan Ottley. “I’m so happy to see so many new viewers and readers jump in and experience our series for the first time, and I can’t wait for everyone to see what’s next!”
So, how will Skybound recognize this landmark event? On January 25, there will be an all-new facsimile edition of the debut issue. Also, there will be Invincible Undeluxe #1, a one-shot presented in black and white. It will include many variant covers as well as Kirkman’s original handwritten plot and commentary.
Also being released will be the Invincible Compendium Vol. 1 hardcover edition. After that will be the Invincible Universe Compendium as well as the initial volume of the book.
There will also be apparel, collectibles, tabletop games, videogames, and more, so stay tuned!
‘REAL’ SUPERHEROICS
The thing about Invincible that always stood out to me was the more realistic way it portrayed superheroes. Every once in a while, you’d see the blood spurting all over the place, and body parts being mangled and tangled up together like few other superheroic comics ever did.
I always had to eat AFTER I read Invincible!
Mark Grayson was always the ideal lead character for a comic today. He was young, inexperienced, and basically feeling his way along. Many other young heroes around him had much more ability and experience than he did, but he was often the strongest of the bunch, so they would defer to him.
His father was, to many of us, what we always feared Superman and characters like him would be. He was one of the first superheroic guys who, shall we say, didn’t have the most altruistic of motives. He set the standard for other hyper-powerful characters like Homelander in The Boys or the Superman of the Injustice videogame. Granted, Ultraman from Earth-3 appeared before him, but you couldn’t match Omni-Man when it came to sheer cold, calculating horror. Yikes!
Eyeballs were often popping out of skulls, and you could measure the blood in gallons in Invincible! That’s how things would be if super-powers were real, after all!
Still, the characterization of Atom Eve and other cast members were very compelling, and I always was glad to see a new issue of the series in my weekly stack of stuff at my local comic shop. I was actually pretty sad when that conclusion was released, not relieved like I was when Walking Dead ended.
NEW ‘INVINCIBLE?’
With the animated series staying pretty close to home when it comes to the comics, a lot of my friends wonder out loud if Kirkman could release some “untold tales” or even follow up on the conclusion with a “where are they now?” kind of issue.
Hey, I’d buy it!
It was truly interesting to see a superhero comic actually stop for a change! I mean, most books in this genre simply change creative teams and keep going.
I’m certain there are more stories to tell that would work between the various happenings in Invincible or its spin-offs. And, as we all know, death is no permanent state of being in comic books. A character or two who actually passed on could easily return even if Kirkman doesn’t want to being Mark or his family back.
One character I’d enjoy seeing more stories about would be Allen the Unopan alien, someone who was just about as strong as Mark was.
I was happy to read the new Guardians of the Globe comic that had spun out of Invincible! Team books always get me, though!
The one character that always made my blood pressure rise was Robot, another cold-hearted person in that universe. He had good reasons for the terrible things he did, but that didn’t make me like him one bit more!
So, Skybound will do well with this 20th anniversary of Invincible, particularly when it comes to sales. I know I’ll be at least checking out lots of their offerings next year!
What do you think? Would you buy more Invincible if Kirkman and company made it? Are you planning to buy any of the 20th-anniversary books? What other celebration items would you buy? Whatever your opinions, be sure to share your thoughts below!
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Wayne Hall creates the Wayne's Comics Podcast. He’s interviewed Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, John Layman, Kyle Higgins, Phil Hester, Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, David Petersen, Christos Gage, Mike Grell, and Matt Kindt. On this site each week, he writes his "Comics Portal" column (general comics comments and previews) and reviews comics.