Invincible: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1

Invincible #1-3

by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker (Artist), Ryan Ottley (Artist)

Get in on the ground floor! This massive hardcover collects the first 13 issues of Robert Kirkman's Eisner-Nominated super-hero, along with all the extras from the first three trade paperback volumes and even more on top of that! Invincible: The Ultimate Collection, Volume 1 is a can't-miss for anyone who's wanted to start reading Invincible, but needed an easier way to start from the beginning.

Collects issues #1–13.

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

400 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2005

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

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

All 5 stars, because it just doesn't get any better!

I was recently gifted with a set of these Invincible Ultimate Collection books, and I gave this volume a reread over the weekend. The five star rating stands because this was just as much fun the 2nd time around!



I saw Robert Kirkman, and I was like, Isn't that The Walking Dead guy?
And, yeah, I've read (and liked) TWD, but I'd rather read about capes 'n tights.
And everyone knows that indie titles suck when it comes to making superhero comics, right?
Right?

So I was only a few issues into this when my son grabbed it and took off.
I've learned over the years that it's easier (on me) to just find something else to read than to try to get my comics back from a teenage boy.
Also, I guess the neighbors think you "look odd" if you curse and throw your shoe at a kid over comic books.
Apparently, that sort of thing is "frowned upon".
*shrugs*
At any rate, I didn't think I'd see this one for a while.




So imagine my surprise when later that evening that same kid jumps onto the couch with me, and starts obnoxiously waving Invincible in my face.
Kid: Oh! Oh! Have you finished this?
Me: No, you little shit you stole it from me, remember?
Kid: Well, you gotta read it! Right now! It's really good! Here!
*flapping pages in my face*
Me: Look, I'm just getting to a really good part in this other book.
Kid: What's that one about?
Me: It's a retelling of Rapunzel on the moon.
Kid: *blank look*
Me: It's pretty cool. You want it when I'm done?
Kid: *blank look*
Me: Is that a no?
Kid: Do I look like I have tits?
Me: *sighs* You might like it...
Kid: If I grow a vagina, I'll come back for it.
Me: *snatches Invincible out of his hand*
Kid: Would now be a bad time to ask you to Make Me a Sandwich?
You know, he moves pretty fast for a skinny white kid!

But the point is, the little turd was right about Invincible.
This one is sooo worth your time! It's exciting, touching, and unexpectedly funny.



I loved this! Markus, his family, his friends...everything about this entire world! Loved it all!
But I'm so scared that I'll spoil things if I start going on about it.
So.
Just pretend that I'm just sitting on the couch with you, flapping this book in your face...ok?!
READ IT!

[Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, sometimes great, but still waiting for the "wow."

Kirkman has cleverly satirized and commentated on mainstream superheroes. And it's pretty awesome. The story follows Omni-Man (Nolan Grayson), Debbie Grayson, and their son Invincible (Mark Grayson), characters "like" Superman, Lois Lane, and a cross between Superboy and Nightwing. There's also commentary on the Teen Titans, Justice League, and common superhero tropes. It's fairly funny, entertaining, dramatic, sociopolitical, and actually very well illustrated, the story just isn't quite yet transcendental enough to be mind-blowing.

What works so well about Invincible is that the super-heroics are grounded in the ordinary. The Graysons have a home life: Nolan is often late for dinner, and he and Mark wash dishes and play catch. Mark has girl trouble and high school drama. Debbie is kinda bored unless her family keeps her company. It's not exciting, but it's familiar and relatable, and a surprising backdrop for a superhero story.

The superhero plot starts with a small time theft of video game systems, which is kinda boring, but then there are teen kidnappings and mall bombings and it gets serious rather quickly. (By the way, did you catch that Back to the Future reference...Twin Pines Mall?) Add to that the GIANT FUCKING TWIST about two-thirds through the book and Kirkman has indeed piqued my interest.

The illustrations and colors are pretty amazing here, definitely a selling point. The characters are a bit stylized. I mean, it's an indie comic, so don't expect that homogeneous in-house style you get from DC or Marvel. But the lines are clean, inks bold, colors bright. The color palette itself is interesting, because they're purposefully atypical from what you'd expect from superheroes. Even when the story dips, the artwork holds up.

So combine the bright artwork, ordinary home life, and the play on superhero stories and you've got Invincible. Full disclosure, it's slow to start. I think if Kirkman had started with the Guardians incident that would have gotten the ball rolling a whole lot faster, but fortunately the Graysons are pleasant to watch, particularly Mark who's that "I just discovered my powers" character. Midway through the book the story gets pretty exciting, and by the end I definitely wanted to read the second collected volume. I'd say if you like superhero stories, if you don't take them too seriously, if you like social commentary and metafictional stories, you should pick this up. It's pretty great.

A Short Note on the Deluxe Edition...

While the artwork and paper are well done, I'm not super impressed with how this book is put together. It could be that it's twelve years old and Image has come a long way in quality. The dust jacket is bright and clean but easily marred. I bought a used copy and had to clean the hell out of it. The cover is sturdy but plain back cloth. The best thing is the thick semi-gloss paper. It's great! The colors are nice and bright. But the glued binding is absolutely terrible. Tight, gutter loss, and this weird thing happens where the pages kind of bend and unbend at the gutter. It makes for less than pleasant and somewhat noisy reading. So I'm wondering if they've fixed or updated these issues with later printings. Hopefully. It's not the worst edition ever. But with the binding and plain cover it's less than impressive for the price.

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brief Introduction:

For a long time now, I had always believed that the only comic book companies that created superhero comics were Marvel and DC and it is true that they have been creating superhero comics for many years now. However, when I found Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker’s latest creation and Eisner Award nominated series “Invincible” from Image comics; I was actually shocked that an independent comic book company would produce a superhero comic! “Invincible” is a superhero comic book to be sure, but it was one superhero comic that had many plot twists that you would not normally see in any other superhero comic book and those plot twists really made this graphic novel truly unique and exciting to read!

What is the story?

Mark Grayson was a normal teenage boy who goes to high school, has crush on girls and has a dull after school job like everyone else. However, what makes Mark different from everyone else is that his father, Omni-Man is the world’s most powerful superhero and Mark seems to have inherited his powers! After Mark discovers his powers, he finds the life of being a superhero fun; but then once a dark secret is exposed, Mark’s life will soon change forever!

What I loved about this comic:

Robert Kirkman’s writing!: Now, I am not too familiar with Robert Kirkman’s work since “Invincible” is the first comic I have read by him, but now that I had just finished reading this graphic novel, I am totally hooked on Robert Kirkman’s writing style! Robert Kirkman has done a brilliant job at developing the characters to the point where we can really sympathize and care about their situations. I loved the character portrayal of Mark Grayson as he is portrayed as being a free spirited character that enjoys having superpowers while trying to balance his life at school and I loved seeing that side of Mark as he knows he has responsibilities, but he still wants to enjoy life. I also loved the way that Robert Kirkman would make parodies of superheroes in this comic such as the superhero team “Guardians of the Globe” being a slight parody of the Justice League and yet, these superhero teams are not like carbon copies of the superheroes we see in Marvel and DC as they seem to have qualities that separates them from the other superheroes.



Robert Kirkman also did a fantastic job at providing humor in this story as I found myself laughing at the statements being made by the characters, especially by Mark Grayson when he made comments about finding out about his powers for the first time and he just casually told his parents about his powers like it is no big deal. What I really loved about Robert Kirkman’s writing is his ability to provide plot twists to the story and the plot twists were done extremely well as I was literally shocked at the various secrets that were exposed about the characters.

Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley’s artwork: Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley’s artwork is a bit unique as it has a simplistic look and yet during the action scenes, is drawn in an effective way. I loved the artwork of the characters’ expressions whenever they are confused about something as their eyes are drawn as little black dots instead of having their normal eye shapes which really brings out the humor in the situations. I also loved the coloring done by Bill Crabtree as the artwork looks extremely colorful and I loved the shadowing on the characters’ faces whenever they are in dark places such as being outside during the nighttime.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

This graphic novel is surprisingly gory as there are many scenes of characters being torn apart and you can see blood squirt out everywhere and their innards being pulled from their bodies. Anyone who does not like seeing gore in any graphic novel might want to skim over these scenes.

Final Thoughts:

“Invincible” is not your average superhero comic as it contains more humor and a lighter tone than what I usually see in superhero comics, but this is definitely one of the most unique and interesting superhero comics I have ever read and I am sure that many fans of superhero comics will definitely enjoy this graphic novel!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[The Lion's Share · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I must admit I was expecting a bit more from this.

The good things...l like the artwork, there are a great array of characters and there are some good in jokes within the story that link up other comic universes i.e. Star Trek + the justice league. Luckily they are scarce.

The bad... Kirkman doesn't spend enough time developing characters around invincible (Mark). Too many characters come and go without real backstory. I felt like the whole story was fast. It just whizzed by.

The good I'm taking from that though is that it's only the first volume. I have 8 more volumes to go (which I will read eventually) and I think the story will mature. There are a lot of questions to be answered at the end and I can see it being fun.

[Mangrii · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este primer tomo de lujo con númerosos extras que aúna los 13 primeros números de la serie regular, nos muestra los comienzos de un joven superhéroe de 17 años que acaba de descubrir sus poderes, aunque le vienen de familia. Su padre es el superhéroe más poderoso del planeta, Omniman. En los primeros números iremos conociendo la vida de Mark y viendo cómo va poniendo en práctica sus poderes con momentos llenos de acción y humor; continuando con un arco argumental más adultos, mostrándonos una conspiración que lleva años tejiéndose contra la Tierra y que se ha ido gestando a lo largo de las páginas sin darnos cuenta. Sencillamente a mí me ha dejado con el culo fuera de la silla.

Kirkman crea unos personajes muy carismáticos con los que pronto estableces conexión, por que te resultan reconocibles en cierta manera y por que te atraen rápidamente. Kirman va entretejiendo una trama memorable que te lleva a un clímax final apoteosico. No faltarán referencias a famosos personajes de otras franquicias, sobre todo en ese épico homenaje a la JLA del capítulo 7 que me dejo boquiabierto con su giro final. Además el diseño de Cory en los primeros números completado por el de Ottley en los siguientes es una gozada; detallado, con colores atractivos y algunas escenas alucinantes. Dicen que es de los mejores cómics de superhéroes, no lo puedo asegurar por que soy un novato, pero si que es de lo mejor que he leído.

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Invincible was surprisingly good. I did not know what to expect and had only mediocre expectations. However, it seemed to be a popular series and I am glad I checked it out.

This is a super-hero story. Invincble's father is Omni-Man (essentially Superman) and he has inherited his powers. What follows is a comic that tells the story of a coming of age for Invincible, a super-hero comic and, finally, a grand conspiracy where nothing is what it seems. Without spoilers, the story has a slow starting pace as the family and the dynamics are shown. As events develop and Invincible learns about his powers and his father, the story begins to pick up. When the big plot point occurs and from there on out-the story is quite good.

A really good super-hero comic. While not original (it borrows heavily from other established brands) it does tell a good story. The big reveal was well done and made this go from a "good" comic to a really good one.

The artwork is also quite good for this story. It just works well for the story and I enjoyed it. While this is no work of magnificent creativity, it is a good story backed with good art. I am interested enough to get the next volume of this. Any super-hero comic fan will enjoy this version of super-heroes.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

So it is time to re-read this series for the third time! Mark is just a boy trying to be a superhero...but man is it complicated.

Mark Grayson finally gets his powers after waiting his whole life. His father is Omni-man, a very similar hero to Superman. So when Mark forms his own powers he wants to live up to his father's legacy. However, as we get into the series and watch as the Guardians of the Globe, the heroes of the world, get slaughtered in moments by a certain someone we know this series will take a darker turn quick.

It is really the last three issues that solidfied this series. The first 1-9 issues isn't bad at all. In fact it's solid if not a little typical. It is Kirkman both giving tribute to the older comics but also putting his own spin on it. The storylines themselves aren't the best but the dialogue is solid enough and Mark is extremely likeable. Some of the jokes are a bit outdated "This is SO Gay" line is especially cringe. However, this is 2002, and I won't sit here and lie and say no one was saying this back then. I know I was and growing up my best friend was gay.

But the real turning point is issue 11 followed by an explosive issue 12 with heartbreaking moments, and a slower but natural progression into the next phase with issue 13. What Kirkman does well is deliver a multi-layer story with so many well made storylines. From regular school days, work, becoming hero, working as a team, love story, and more.

While the beginning might be slow and turn a few people off the ending hook here for this ultimate collection helps boost the series a lot. The best part? It only gets BETTER from here on out. A 4 out of 5.



Old Review: From a 2 star comic at the start to a fucking 4. Amazing pick up, great twist (That don't feel forced) and wonderful character development.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

How did I not know of this comic’s existence???!! I found it by complete accident, for no one told me about it, and I haven’t seen it reviewed by other bloggers. It is written by Robert Kirkman and is still being published concurrently with his The Walking Dead series. Just my luck that as soon as I discovered this awesome first volume, there was recently an announcement that the series will be wrapped up in the next year.

We first meet Mark Grayson, a young superhero, who is annoyed at having to save the world from doom. The storyline continues with a flashback to four months prior when he discovers that his powers have finally kicked in. He knew he was destined to have powers, as he was the son of Nolan, aka Omni-Man, the most powerful and beloved superhero on Earth. He and his mom Debbie have always known of Nolan’s alien origins, but the public is unaware of his alter ego. The story continues with Mark adjusting to his newfound powers, and how he balances becoming the new hero Invincible with school, fighting villains, pairing up with other young heroes in a team, and girl issues. Later his world is turned upside down, with a twist that will surprise you, and his life changes forever with this new knowledge. This new development is a game changer and sets up endless stories for the future.

The artwork is fun, fresh and bold. There are lots of little details that made me laugh, especially the homage to the Justice League and to Star Trek TNG, and Mark’s love for Science Dog. I even thought the font they used for the big sound effects with the interlocking double oo’s added to the whole feel. The mustache on Omni-Man was appealing (TMI- I am a sucker for mustaches. I look forward to November when my husband grows a mustache for the charity Movember) and it was amusing to see mustaches on all the men when he reminisced about his home planet.

I read the Ultimate Edition, and it had a lot of extras in the back. One feature that I found fascinating, was the behind scripts between Kirkman and Walker. Kirkman had the dialogue and layout planned with details such as how many panels should be on a page, sound effects, setting details such as the Grayson’s home layout, and facial expressions he wanted used. Also included were mock-ups of the pages, possible publicity, character studies, and side notes by the creators.

This was an outstanding start to a series that has now been running for years. I’m glad I caught onto this sleeper hit before it comes to a close. Bravo to the team that created a whole world as rich as the DC and Marvel superhero universes. I will be back for more.

This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2016/09/3...

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I meant to do a re-read of this series last year but...well...life.

Its okay though because with the series about to end next month with issue 144 being the last...now is a perfect time.

Over on Litsy (an incredible book loving instagram like community), we are doing a #LetsGetGraphicWeekLongMarathon so I am going to try to plow through as many of these as I can. I own the first 7 volumes of these Ultimate collections and will have to pick up the rest as I go. I haven't actually read Volumes 8-12 so that part of the read is gonna be a real treat as it will be my first time.

Anyways, this is an awesome introduction to the Invincible universe. It sets up the series and...well...if you haven't read Invincible before...and you're a fan of superheroes...what are you doing with your life?

Also...Allen the Alien and Monster Girl...OMG! Love!

I know this isn't really a review - it's more like a plug for Litsy. But that's okay.

I'll be more reviewish with the other volumes. I don't really want to spoil anything in this first volume if you don't know what happens. There's a pretty big twist (and I'm sure everyone already knows it...but just in case) so I'm just gonna leave this as a 'HELL YEAH, INVINCIBLE' rant.

[Muteeb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I spent over a month reading only Invincible.

Is this a great comic?
Absolutely.

Have I fallen in love with Mark Grayson?
Absolutely.

Can you blame Mark's roomie to crush on him before even realising he was gay?
Oh, I don't like where this is going...

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Invincible follows teenager Mark Grayson as he navigates the regular trials of coming of age alongside burgeoning superpowers passed on to him by his father from another planet.

I appreciate that the story sidesteps most of the tropes that come along with hiding your secret identity — not just from the world, but your loved ones, too. In this universe, Earth is continually plagued by otherworldly terrors and has its own version of the Justice League in the Guardians of the Globe to protect itself.

Within this context, Mark’s superpowers don’t come with the same uncertainties. His powers aren’t unexpected or accidental; his superhuman father has been preparing him since childhood for their advent. He doesn’t struggle to utilize them either, as there’s a handy group of superhero crime-fighting teens around the corner to link up with.

His father, Nolan, initially takes on a fairly straightforward Superman archetype. Within the second chapter, we get the story of his advanced civilisation tasking themselves with searching the endless reaches of deep space for fledgling worlds they can give a benevolent hand. If that strikes an uncomfortable manifest destiny cord, the story doesn’t acknowledge it until later.

As Mark understands it, Nolan chose to act as a protector (assuming the alter-ego of Omni-man) of Earth until the planets prospered enough to be worthy of his people’s intervention. Again, the tone remains optimistic.

Most of the thirteen chapters cover Mark’s first year as a superhero. His friends and superhero buddies blur together, with entire personalities boiled down to their superpower or, in the case of Mark’s school friend, his sexuality. I mean, this is even an issue for the plot itself, which slows down for most of the book before barreling toward the end after a particularly unexpected twist.

Maybe this is just the nature of comics, and I’m not as comfortable in the narrative shorthand necessary to tell effective stories in thirty-two page volumes, but its still unsatisfying. I wanted to learn more about the Guardians of the Globe, about Nolan in the aftermath of the twist, about the horror Mark and Debbie must be going through after Nolan’s betrayal, but it all gets swept underneath a couple beautifully drawn panels.

Of course, a lot of these issues might be elaborated on in future instalments. It’s just a pity not to explore it with the same sense of urgency I felt at the time of reading.

Invincible is a fresh, lively superhero story that plays around with overly-familiar tropes in its genre to really pack a punch as it subverts them.

[Ondřej Halíř · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tohle bylo skvělé, Kirkman umí s ladností kombinovat humor s vážnou linkou spolu i s kombinací superhrdinství a osobního života. Do toho ještě přidává trochu parodie na ostatní superhrdinské vydavatelství a výsledkem je opravdu dobře zkombinovaný mix, po jehož přečtení budete chtít více.

Co se týče kresby tak ta je dobrým kompromisem, je jednoduší kvůli časové úspoře ale zase vypadá i dobře.

Postavy a dialogy jsou napsány skvěle a čtivě, navíc Kirman umí skvěle časovat kadenci zvratů a nových záhad.

PS: Robotův creepy výraz když oznamoval svůj odchod asi už nevymažu z hlavy.

[Alex Fernández · Rating 5 out of 5]

¿Le gustan los chingadazos? ¿Los giros de trama? ¿Las dolencias de la adolescencia? ¡Entonces Invincible es para usted! Se va a leer estos 13 números en chinga. Sí, los números de en medio no tienen el ritmazo de los primeros y sobre todo del #10 al #13 (lo mejor de esta edición), pero es un gran comienzo para esta querida serie. Además trae sketches, portadas no publicadas y el guión del primer número como postre.

[Diz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirkman takes the conventions of the D.C. superhero universe and turns them upside down to create this surprise-filled superhero story. There are a lot of likable characters, and some of the relationships have twists that will keep you thinking about this book after you put it down.

[the bard · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

that was awesome.

[Aitor · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Josh Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lives up to the hype.

[Holden Attradies · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am VERY glad I started this series here in the Ultimate collection. Kirkman has a way of writing that suits these larger collections well, but not the smaller TPB's. The formula I see in his writing is to make you feel the story is moving along in a very predictable way, especially for the genre he's writing in, and make the story just slow and dull enough for a stretch that you the reader are almost about to put the series down out of boredom, and then WAM! Hit you with an amazing plot twist that totally changes everything. He does it superbly here and in a way that completely changes the characters lives AND the tone of the story.

The art was crisp and wonderfully stylized. I liked that it was recognizable as a super hero story yet just different enough for this story to feel like it was taking place in it's own unique world. And Kirkman, once again, does a REALLY good job of slowly building that world up around the characters. He jumps straight into the story but through little introductions here and mentions there he is always increasing the size of the world these characters live in.

I guess the last thing of note is the "violence." I for one kind of appreciated the fact that villains get killed and people get bloody when punched. It seemed to be poking a bit of fun at the genre while doing it, almost hanging a lamp shade on those things by not making a big deal about them. Er... it that makes sense.

[Michael (Mai) · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I know about Invincible before reading: It’s by Robert Kirkman who also wrote The Walking Dead (which I love). And I thought it was canceled…apparently not. Right?

Thoughts after reading the first issue: It’s about a family with a normal mom, a superhero dad and a nice kid in high school who is coming into his super powers. He gets his superhero suit and calls himself Invincible.

It didn’t seem all that awe inspiring. At this point I’m not sure why my husband and his buddies are all “Invincible is awesome. You’re going to love it!” I’m guessing all that comes after the first issue.

If I were to have bought this in an issue I probably would have stopped there. The art is kind of plain and the story, while nice, just isn’t epic or deeply gripping. But since I have the whole volume…

Thoughts after reading the entire first volume: Wow. That was not at all what I was expecting. After reading a few of the complied issues I thought this was going to be a sort of slice of life super hero story because it just seemed so…normal. But it’s not. It’s very thought provoking and leaves you completely stunned. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next volume.

I really hate what happens in the story and because of that it makes me love it so much more.

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story starts out fairly conventionally setting up the main character and his family. The main character is just getting super powers and figuring them out. He inherits them from his father who has a power set similar to Superman and he is an alien from another planet on Earth as a protector. His father has his home life in his secret identity as a retiring writer. There is a story twist here that sends the story in a very unconventional direction. Pretty interested in continuing the story.

[Lenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Invincible is one of Image Comics’ most popular series, co-created by Robert Kirkman of The Walking Dead fame with a runtime of 15 years and 144 issues. I read the very first issue a few years ago and wasn’t hooked –I returned to it with an interest in the Invincible animated series coming to Amazon in 2020 and a phenomenal voice cast to boot. While an imperfect book with clear gender issues, Invincible is a fun and humorous take on the superhero genre with a story that started off slow, but became more intriguing after the first arc.

The story follows Mark Grayson, a high school kid whose relatively normal life ends when his superpowers emerge. Mark takes up the mantle Invincible alongside his father Nolan, alien protector of Earth with a mustache that would make Tom Selleck proud, known as Omni-Man. (The two will be voiced by Steven Yeun and JK Simmons respectively, which is just perfect) .



Invincible is first and foremost a superhero story, but it also never misses an opportunity to tease and subvert superhero tropes – Nolan’s saving-the-world career is old hat to Mark and his mom Debbie, which makes for some funny scenes. Nolan whizzes off in the middle of dinner to save the earth from a nuclear explosion, while Mark and Debbie barely bat an eye between bites. Nolan and Mark “play” catch by tossing the ball around the world, airborne above their house.

This expands to the rest of the story too. Mark accidentally tells his best friend about his powers, who then requests a joyride, Lois Lane style. Mark deescalates a fight with a one-eyed alien in space by talking with him – and the alien’s name is Allen. (Fry is lucky Leela never met him.) There are scores of hilarious villains poking fun at classic counterparts, and asshole heroes with terrible names like Rex Splode. And there are CLEAR parodies of superheroes (and one DC team in particular) and other nerdy shows, which might have been funny for some, but honestly pulled me out of the story.



But like most great superhero stories, Invincible’s strength is that it’s really about relationships. Well, one relationship at the moment – this is a father-son tale and a parallel coming of age story for Mark.

However this first volume doesn’t actually spend a lot of time getting to know Mark, and aside from his quick wit and comic book reading (which we never actually see and may have only served as an excuse to make a meta joke) there isn’t much to give him a strong personality. He’s so…stable. Mark has a few good friends, including Eve (also a superhero and 100% the MJ of this story, but with Starfire’s powers and hair); he dates a girl who basically throws herself at him, but he isn't an asshole and has no discernible insecurities; he does his homework and saves the world without big screw ups. And unfortunately, we are also introduced to a large cast – Mark’s family, friends, a main superhero team and a teen team, several villains and other side characters. Perhaps part of the satire is how normal Mark is even though he’s got a superhero dad – but the character didn’t seem very strong to me, especially when the shit really hits the fan. (more on that in spoilers below.)


You know the writers watched Star Trek: TNG when they gave Deanna a useless line and Allen encounters them during a season without Wesley Crusher.

Get ready for a FEMINIST RANT fellas, this book is kind of sexist!!!

Even as a father-son journey it was so disappointing (and unnecessary) that Debbie, Mark’s mom and the only non-powered member of the family, has barely any role, agency or personality in all thirteen issues. She is basically just a housewife who makes dinner, sleeps with her husband as many times as he wants (and calls him an “animal”), and launders Mark’s costume.

Required Redhead Eve also has very little personality – “Love Interest” is where it begins and ends, but without the Mary Jane sass and with far more victimhood, pouting when her jerk boyfriend cheats on her (she reacts in the most weak way too) and Mark gets involved with Amber  - as if Eve didn’t have any friends or a life before she met Mark. Eve has far less character than badass preteen Monster Girl who appears in only one scene but almost steals the entire book in it.

All the adult women sport large chests and elastic waists (INCLUDING THE ALIENS); Mark’s “girlfriend” Amber has no speaking lines, and only serves to drive a wedge between Eve and Mark; the "Wonder Woman" character is the only Justice League superhero who is sexualized. (Kirkman, a queer relationship doesn't count as diverse when it's clearly just for the male gaze.) Eve and Amazon lady are the only female superheroes but instead of being defined as people, they are defined by their bodies, as the love interest and sex object.

Even with the subversion of superhero tropes, Kirkman doesn't change this trope that has existed since the birth of superheroes from the late 30's: it 100% feels written for straight guys, by straight guys.

And with Robert Kirkman, writing weak women is a troubling pattern, not just with The Walking Dead comics, but some all-out sexism claiming that women are "scientifically weaker" than men. EXCUSE me??!!

All of these gender issues now make sense - and if the series continues in this vein, I won't read it anymore, full stop.


The angle of Eve’s landing, (an underage character, don't forget!) plus the fact that she didn’t immediately dump Rex Splode’s ass after that “oh what’s that your school friends are being murdered ok byeee” kind of says it all about her character. Also, who smecks? Gross.

SPOILERS. The Big Reveal of this first arc – Nolan’s true origin, purpose and multiple murders – was brilliantly set up and told, as Nolan tells the truth to Mark in altered panels from issue two. The superhero deaths (and misdirection leading up to it) were shocking and quite graphic compared to earlier moments which just added to the “oh shit” moment that sets the tone of the series. Nolan and Mark’s climactic fight was so well done in its scale and dialogue, but things suddenly patched up after the fallout, with little to no development from Mark. Time passes without us seeing Mark struggle to accept that his father has completely betrayed their family and Earth, has left – but of course we’ll see him again. Not to mention Mark’s role in thousands of deaths.
And on the spot he accepts Probably Evil Government Guy And Mr Burns Twin’s proposal to step into his father’s shoes without even consulting his mom. How is he so trusting? Wanna bet Debbie is happy her son (who is still in high school) is now Earth’s top line protector? Oh wait, she’s just heading off to bed. Like Eve, Debbie crumples into victimhood (our inherent weakness, apparently) instead of doing anything useful. Hopefully we’ll get more development from Mark and Debbie in the next arc (and this is a looong series) but for something as devastating as this reveal, I was surprised that the dialogue went to Mark and Allen exposition, not Mark and his mom processing all of this.



Finally, I was not crazy about the art. Walker and Ottley’s pencils got much better after the first five issues or so, which can happen as an artist finds their footing in a series, and the style is very strong during action or movement oriented scenes. It has a Saturday morning cartoon quality to it, as it does encourage the reader, like the content, to not take things too seriously. But personally it just isn’t my favorite, and sometimes the broad, sketchy nature led to some awkward faces and body angles (especially, as I mentioned before, when it came to women). Walker and Ottley’s faces are very expressive and use multiple identical panels for excellent comedic timing in many scenes. This leads to some great meta humor when Mark meets a favorite artist who apparently uses the same device in his own comics. (PS: Walker and Ottley definitely sounds like a law firm.)



Overall, I’m not completely floored like some who are totally obsessed with Invincible, but I definitely enjoyed the second half of the story more than the first half. There is so much potential here and now that the story has finally gotten started, I’m willing to see what the rest of these eleven giant volumes have in store. Unless Kirkman keeps writing Eve and Debbie as weak.

[Javier Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hace unos días completé (por fin) mi colección de invencible con el tomo 12 de la ultimate collection, he estado esperando a tenerlos todos en castellano para acometer una relectura de la serie completa, así que aquí estamos con el primer tomo.

Invencible ha sido posiblemente la mejor serie de superhéroes mientras se ha estado publicando, aunque su inicio fue un poco titubeante, una vez cogió velocidad de crucero se convirtió en una de las favoritas del fandom. Kirkman nos cuenta la historia de Mark Grayson, un adolescente cuyo padre es el superhéroe omni-man y por tanto sabe que tarde o temprano desarrollará superpoderes. Cuando los obtiene por lo tanto es un momento esperado para el y comienza sus primeros pasos como superhéroe.

En este primer tomo tenemos los primeros pasos de Mark, sus primeros enfrentamientos con distintas amenazas, sus primeros uniformes, su presentación en el mundillo superheroico con los primeros encuentros con otros superhéroes (ya sea el teen team o los guardianes de la tierra)... y los primeros esbozos de lo que será la gran trama que ocupará una parte importante de la serie.

Resulta que Omni-man (Nolan Grayson) posee superpoderes porque es un extraterrestre (si, Omni-man es obviamente un sosias de superman) y que su estancia en la tierra responde a un encargo del gobierno de su planeta natal (Viltrum), en este mismo tomo conoceremos la historia que Omni-man contó a su esposa y a Mark sobre el motivo de su llegada a la tierra, pero pronto sabremos que esta historia tiene algunos puntos oscuros y no es del todo cierta.

Este tomo se divide en dos partes bien diferenciadas, los seis primeros números nos cuentan los primeros pasos de Mark como superhéroe, el número siete sirve como punto de inflexión y contiene una gran revelación, y los seis últimos números (hasta el trece) sirven principalmente para contar las consecuencias del golpe de efecto del número 7 (el que haya visto la serie de animación sabrá a qué me refiero). Este punto de inflexión se hace más patente aún porque a partir del número 8 tenemos un cambio de dibujante, deja la colección cory walker, cocreador de invencible y autor de la mayoría de los diseños de la serie, por problemas para cumplir con las fechas de entrega, y entra en escena el espectacular Ryan Ottley, que desde el principio destaca y es posiblemente el que salvó la serie en un momento en el que no estaba clara su continuidad.

Como digo la serie tiene un inicio un poco titubeante, pero si te lees este tomo completo lo más seguro es que para cuando lo termines estes completamente entregado a la colección... Esta es una serie perfecta para los que quieran leer algo de superhéroes sin tener que soportar el lado malo de este género, aquí no hay reboots, ni continuidad heredada, ni crossovers (en realidad si, pero no afectan a esta, la colección principal), ni personajes estáticos que permanecen siempre sin evolucionar... Esta es una historia de superheroes de proporciones épicas, con su inicio y su final... 12 tomos (en esta edición), 144 números... ni más ni menos.

[Sonikz Comics · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally diving into the world of Invincible, why did i wait this long...

Following the story of Mark Grayson as he finally gains super powers just like his father Omni-Man, as he learns how to juggle his life as a normal teenager and becoming the world's newest superhero "Invincible"

This first volume is setting the stage and building the world around Mark as we get to meet his friends and family as well as other heroes in this world, which all leads to a big twist that really leaves you wanting to continue reading to the next volume.

---------------

💙💙💙💙🖤 = Great 😁 (4.0/5.0)

I really enjoyed this and felt like it was easy and fun to read, Mark is a really likeable character which again makes this a more enjoyable read.

I liked many of the other characters in this volume and it left me wanting to know more about them and where their story goes...Atom Eve, Rex and Omni-Man to name a few.

I can see me going into the second volume of this very soon 😉

[Jon Von · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Very well-written and creative book. Starts off as teen drama of sorts but shifts gears big time about halfway and turns amazing. Art is very nice, action is elegant but awesome. The imaginative little satires/parodies sprinkled throughout of superhero media are fun and add greatly to the flavor. For a twenty year old collection, still feels pretty fresh. Got to keep reading to find out what happens to Robot (he’s my favorite).

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Kirkman answers the question that has plagued comic book nerds for decades: what if Peter Parker became Superman?

That's obviously a massive oversimplification, but it's roughly the premise of this series, which I am enjoying quite a lot lately. And I'm reading it in this oversized "ultimate" hardcover edition because . . . well, just because.

Kirkman is great at plotting and dialogue and . . . you know, all the things that make people want to buy oversized "ultimate" hardcover editions to read them.

I'm actually in the middle of volume 4 at the moment (and the eighth volume is forthcoming!), but I'm writing about the first volume here so that you can, should you choose, get a glimpse at my opinion of the whole series. You can, of course, opt for the cheaper paperbacks, or you could try to collect all the back issues (good luck with that), or you could just borrow the books from your library or your friends (or me, if you know me and I trust you).

But: yes, I think this is well worth reading in whatever way you want.

No "spoilers" here--really, much of the pleasure of this series is seeing how much Kirkman can throw at you, in terms of change-ups and the like, and how much you can take. Apparently, I can take quite a bit.

EDIT: Because there are three things I forgot to mention.

The first thing is: the art in this series is superlative and should be mentioned. My bad for not mentioning it in the first place. But Ottley is really great, and definitely one of the main reasons I enjoy this so much.

The second thing is: the soap opera content in this series is really very high. Relationships, friendships, ongoing supporting characters--there are lots and lots and lots of them. That's more of a warning, in case you're reading this and thinking you'd like to try the book out, but are not too keen on interpersonal dynamics and would rather just read about superheroes hitting monsters and villains.

The third and final thing is: yes, it tries to be somewhat "realistic," but as you go along and are introduced to more heroes and villains, you . . . okay, I should drop the second person and say I . . . *I* have a hard time with the abundance of superhero names. In a "real" world, if someone showed up with the powers of a Superman, wouldn't you just call him "Superman"? I mean, I realize that that's a trademarked name, and Time Warner would have some choice words for a comic with a Superman in it that they didn't produce, but still.

[O. U. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spent a lot of time deciding between giving this a 4 or 5, due to watching the first season of the show before reading this. I liked the show enough, I'd give it a 5/5 and a thumbs up or whatever, but I didn't really have any interest in reading ahead. I guess I'm just a little burnt out with the superhero mania that's been going on for the past decade.

A good friend of mine recommended the comic and stressed that the comic was a wild ride from beginning to the end, and what I had seen from the show was simply the prologue. I picked up the first volume that same week because I wanted to give the series it's due diligence by starting with V1 so my review will encompass just that volume.

Despite the length of time it took me to get through it (reading funk), I really enjoyed it even as I pitted it up against the show, which I thought did a lot of things better than the source material. The show only managed to do that because the source material was great to begin with.

The volume itself is really striking, I like the mix of primary colors on display at all times. I tend not to like the kind of art style this comic series employs, that "Early/Mid Aughts Paper Cutout" type thing comics like this and Hellboy had going on, but I grew to like it with every new page, especially some of the spreads and volume covers, like the one of Mark looking at Earth from the Moon.

The characters are good so far, I get what my friend meant by calling it the "prologue", the story looks like it has a solid foundation to build its characters up way more. I'm stoked to read more of it in the near future, and hopefully at a quicker pace lol.

5/5. "Think Mark Think!" was my favorite meme template last year and I actually exclaimed when I saw the line in the comic.

[desmond e · Rating 4 out of 5]

After loving the show I thought I would check out the comic, and I’m glad I did. I already knew pretty much everything that happen in the book, but there were a lot of smaller plots that weren’t in the show which made it more interesting to read. Excited to check out the second volume as the show didn’t really cover that material yet.

[Chris Yellow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing series. I never thought I could love comics and be constantly hungry for more. Graphics are simple and illustrative, but the plot is amazing. I was so happy to see this being turned into a TV series that is so loyal to the original comics.

[Tym · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stuff with a bittersweet ending

[Rusty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Density – it’s a thing. Funny, I tend to spend most of these ‘reviews’ on one digression or another. It’s most likely because I stopped blogging some time ago and this fills, more or less, the same niche for me. So the book I’m reviewing isn’t always the thing I’m talking about. Except this time it is, or at least it’s supposed to be, we’ll see if I get around to tying this back in later. It depends on whether or not I go on a long trip to digressionland or a short one or a long one or short one. Or long... I'm stuck in a loop here.

If it’s a long digression, I’ll forget my point, and as I’m always saying, I don’t reread before posting to see what I’ve missed. It’s part of the game.

So, yeah, density is, for lack of any more insight from me, how tightly packed something is. You know, how much stuff fits in a particular volume of space. Some things are really dense, take degenerate matter, uh, not the kind you get from cooling stuff, but degeneracy due to gravity. I think the technical definition has something to do with electrons finding their lowest possible energy state. I can’t really remember, I’d look it up, but I always end up looking up stuff and then going down a rabbit hole of exploration and then I look up and it’s been 3 hours and not only have I forgotten the answer I was looking for, I’ve also forgotten the original question. So, yeah, I’m not looking it up, this is off the cuff here. Take it or leave it.

???

Oh yeah, so degenerate matter, like the kind you’d find in a white dwarf star, is pretty dense, a teaspoon of the material (or a tablespoon, I can’t remember which is which) would weigh about as much as an elephant. You know, several tons. Interestingly, since it’s kept in that state by gravity, it’s not stable outside of its gravity well, so if we did take a teaspoon if it and try to study it, well, I have no idea what would happen, but I’d surmise it wouldn’t go well for anyone nearby that wanted to study it up close.

Which means! The whole origin of The Atom from the comics is a bag full of shitty lies. You know, he ‘found’ some white dwarf material laying around in the park one day and took it home with him to study. From there he learned how to shrink down really tiny and also adjust his own density. He named himself ‘The Atom’ and started foiling bank robberies… you know, I’ve never even thought of it one time in my before this moment, but how many bank robberies are there, on average, in the U.S. for a given period of time? One per hour? One per month? One per decade? Dammit… I so want to look this up, but I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t do that today. Nope, not gonna.

…

Sigh… it was too much for me to handle, I looked it up. Thankfully, it hasn’t taken me down a rabbit hole, yet… Turns out in 2009 there were almost 6000 (courtesy of FBI.gov, so it’s probably a legit stat). If I were to discount weekends (a cagey proposition, since so many are open on Saturdays) and assume an 8 hour working day I think that puts us at about one robbery every 20 minutes* a bank is open for business. So, yeah, wow.

Well, I was going to say that there must be some real economic pressures going on in comic book universes to make bank robberies such an ongoing thing, but since the world I live in has them every 20 minutes or so then clearly, I’ve misunderstood how big the issue is on my own planet, let alone this fictional one. But still, my other point about finding white dwarf material just lying around in the park – c’mon.

What’s funny is that isn’t a recent problem I’ve had with The Atom, I was a bit of an outer space obsessed child, and even when I was 7 or 8, I well understood some of the problems in finding white dwarf material just lying around somewhere. That stuff just won’t hold together on earth. I think those silver and bronze age writers, honestly, were just throwing any sciency sounding thing they could out there and figuring it would be good enough for the dumb kids that were reading. Well, jokes on them, it wasn’t. And as a result, I only read about The Atom when he would appear in JLA or something, or if someone gave me an issue of his book, which did happen on occasion, because – well, people liked me and sometimes gave me stuff. Or they felt sorry for me and gave me stuff, either way, I got stuff.

But, since I’m in digressive mode, white dwarfs are far from the most dense objects known. Neutron stars are also degenerate, but again, gravity is the factor at play here, not temperature. Once the gravity gets so strong that electrons can no longer maintain any energy state, they are fused with protons and form… you guessed it… Neutrons.**

To put it in perspective, that’s like… that mythical teaspoon of white dwarf matter being a few tons to another teaspoon of neutron star material being something like… a billion tons!

However, and I can’t stress this enough, that crap won’t hold together without the mass way more that our sun there to force it into this state. Once you remove the teaspoon from the gravity well it’s in… it’s gonna get ugly as it establishes a new equilibrium.

Which vaguely reminds me of Thor once getting hit with something like a ‘gravimetric bomb’ that more or less converts him into a, well, neutron degenerate state. Again, at the point, it’s not even possible for anything resembling an atom to even exist. Of course, being Thor from back in the day (when he was, more or less, Superman) he just sorta punched his way out of it. It made no sense in any way I could understand as a child, or now, as an adult. It’s like asking, is blue bigger than time? Nonsense.

But, alas, this was the stuff I fell in love with as kid. And although modern writers, I think, have dialed down some of the absurdities of older comic lore, I think I wrote in my last review about the barely ‘super’ Daredevil being so ridiculously overpowered that he almost doesn’t have limitations. The big guns in comics are beyond physics to a point that I think they are essentially gods. I mean that in the sense that they work and perform outside the laws of physics, and in a universe, apparently, where just willpower alone allows one to overcome the fundamental rules that allow the universe to exist in the first place.

Whatever, I feel like, even for me, I may have gone way off the rails here.

Ha! I remembered. Density! All that was about density. Although, if I’m being honest, I was really thinking of how many words of text can be crammed into a comic and it still be a comic. Coming off of reading a quite excellent Daredevil collection I can’t help but notice that those collections are so packed full of words that they feel more like novels with pictures included, and what I’m supposedly reviewing here feels more like a series of pictures with a few words to give context. In both cases they worked very well for me. I’m not judging one over the other, but they are as different in style as I think I can wrap my teeny little brain around.

Invincible has nice big panels and relatively few words, while it took me days to get through Daredevil, a similarly sized Invincible collection took me an hour or two. It wizzes on by at a breakneck pace. And it works very well. In this non-DC/Marvel universe, this world’s generic version of Superman has had a kid, this kid is now a teenager who is just starting to develop powers of his own. It’s a coming of age superhero tale told from the kid’s POV that is really entertaining… until…

DumdumDummmm! A twist happens, and it’s a really, really good. So good that I’m not going to say what it was, and this isn’t to say you couldn’t see it coming if you are a careful reader, but I still don’t want to give it away. Because once revealed, it really elevates the story for me from something really good into something all-time epically awesome. It came across as pretty ballsy to me, as the twist was well into the run of the series, so it took some faith from the management to let this thing play out slowly the way it did.

So, I highly recommend this. If you don’t like it, well, whatever. I’m not getting paid for my endorsement, so it’s just you putting faith in the chance you and I share similar tastes. All I can say is that this is the way comics should be done. Infiity stars from me.

Or five. It’s as close to infinity as I can manage here on goodreads.

*Full disclosure, I bet it’s more like one every 30 minutes, the more I think about it. I think my numbers show about 22 per day (but I didn’t include holidays either, so I wonder if 23 per day is more accurate) and I divided by 8… it’s almost 3 per hour. Whatever, arithmetic is tricky. I’m not an expert on anything. And if you came her for ‘facts’ then you’re dumber than I am.

**No idea if what I’m saying is correct. But it feels right, that’s good enough for me.