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… The Guardians of the Globe are dead, and there’s one question on everyone’s who killed them? Think, Mark, THINK!
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.
I'm excited for this series, even though it hasn't blown my mind yet.
It's a mix between "The Boys" and "Kickass," but with less gruesomeness.
The plot seems simple but very enticing. It feels like we haven't been given all the answers yet—there's something fishy going on. The events so far have created an unsettling feeling of distrust toward most characters.
While Volume 2 completes season one of the show, the graphic novel is phenomenal in writing, characters and look. I loved the joke about the lazy comic panels
I can't imagine how it must have been to read this series as it came out - the first six issues being a really fun, solid story about a kid discovering his superpowers, and then the radical shift in tone on the seventh issue. Then again, it shifts to something entirely darker and more heartbreaking here in the twelfth issue - the writing is spectacular throughout, but Mark's line at the end of that issue is one of the best I've read in a comic. It's safe to say I get the hype, and that I'm excited to keep reading as these trades come out.
I could almost repeat my thoughts after reading part one: I like the art, I like the tempo and I loved the pop-culture callbacks (from lack of a better word). The stakes have been raised, waiting for the conflict.
Much like the first volume, I feel this probably could be a 5-star, but the show adds so much, which feels perfect that the comic feels like it's missing stuff.
This comic ends right where Season 1's main plot does, so I'll go over everything in the show I prefer. Damien Darkblood barely shows up, and there isn't much tension of Omni-Man trying to hide his identity from Darkblood, Cecil or Debbie. The story of Mark being betrayed by Titan works really well before Nolan tells Mark the truth as it leads to Nolan trying to get it in Mark's head that he himself is stronger than anyone else and he doesn't need to rely on people in this planet, something which is later echoed in his chilling monologue. During Mark and Nolan's fight, the train scene just doesn't happen; it was added into the show. But it's such a brilliant, terrifying scene that, again, it feels like it's missing here. Amber is barely even a character, like she only appears, maybe twice? The new Guardians of the Globe get barely anything to do - we don't see much from the Maulers at the moment, and Robot hasn't yet approached them for the cloning, though I believe it is coming soon as Cecil has told him he needs to improve the Guardians rapidly, and I imagine this will be his solution. However, having this take place before Nolan's reveal worked incredibly well because we saw Nolan shift at the end of Episode 1, so seeing Robot work with the Mauler Twins also made the audience question "is he secretly evil too??"
All this is to say, I think the show is better. At least, it is so far. The way it reorders things only strengthens the show, and it feels like the characters are far more rounded. Whilst the comic feels exclusively focused on Mark up until this point, the show made an effort to balance things between everyone. Changing the original Guardians' death to be the first episode changed how tense everything else felt. I particularly love the scene of Nolan saying to the Flaxans, "This world isn't yours to conquer." Anyways, in the next volume, I want to see more stuff from the other characters that aren't Mark. I understand the comic needed to focus on this first to really hook the audience within the first handful of issues (and it does it phenomenally well) but I'm ready to see more from the other Guardians.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Even I’ve watched Invincible almost through, it’s still enjoying to read this. I see the TV show is quite faithfull version. Looking great as always, and a perfect mix of family drama, comedy and superhero stuff. The last page was hilarious in its mundanity, despite being in space. But it was the laundry scene which probably was where I laughed the most.
"What if Superman but evil" has been done so much at this point that it's a cliché, but Invincible does it so, so well. I'm really curious where this is heading. An easy 5 stars, let's hope the series can maintain this level of quality.
I definitely enjoyed Vol. 2 more than Vol. 1. Where I felt that Vol. 1’s pacing is too fast, Vol. 2’s faster pace is justified. Lots of exposition but it’s presented in an interesting way that I didn’t mind. I still think that art is a little ugly, though. 🫣
Finally seeing the Omni-Man and invincible fight on page was crazy. Somehow I liked the backstory of viltrum here more than the show. Finally glad to see the ball rolling more and can’t wait to see the differences in season 2 from the comic. I already purchased volume 3
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
An excellent, calculated upending of the superhero prototype, melding what makes The Empire Strikes Back special with everything we love about core Justice League stories & characters.
the ending of chapter 12 hits… also i find that nolan in the comics is more uh, humane??? more likeable maybe? well obvs thats also the point, him deceving the reader. like how they show his relationship w debbie before everything.
Holy peak, as someone that had watched the show before reading the book, I am so happy I’ve finally gotten to it. This was so peak, though taking it on holiday wasn’t a great idea because the sun had melted the spine and pages have fallen out 😭
Overall plot getting going, I'll have to switch to original release to keep reading now. Nice to read an issue every couple of days, wonder if I'll finish whole series.