20 years ago on January 22, 2003, the saga of Mark Grayson, a.k.a. Invincible, began in Invincible #1. Written and lettered by Robert Kirkman, illustrated and inked by Cory Walker, and colored by Bill Crabtree, the debut issue kicked off an epic ride that would take comic readers on a journey full of excitement, laughter, heartbreak, tragedy, and a whole lot of punching for more than 140 issues. Artist Ryan Ottley would step in to bring more than 120 issues of this action-packed superhero storyline to life, and letterer Russ Wooton also joined the adventure to make sure all the dialogue and captions packed a punch.
Since debuting in comic shops two decades ago, Invincible has generated a passionate following of comic book fans and firmly cemented its legacy in comic book history. After the animated adaptation arrived on Prime Video in 2021, the Invincible franchise's popularity has skyrocketed. Season 2 of the hit animated series is arriving in late 2023, but it all started with that very first comic back in 2003. To celebrate Invincible's big 20th anniversary, CBR had an exclusive chat with Kirkman, Ottley, and Walker about their time with the comic, their favorite moments, and the secrets to its success.
CBR: First and foremost, what does Invincible mean to you? Why do you think it's resonated with so many comic fans over the past two decades?
Robert Kirkman: Oof, starting with an easy one? Okay... I don't know. I think it's hard to pinpoint exactly why anything is successful. If any of us knew or could do that, more things would be successful. In hindsight, looking back 20 years, I think there was a lot of luck and right time, right place, etc. But really, it was a simple self-contained superhero story, or whole universe, that provided the same excitement and grandeur, possibly even at a larger scale, all in one book. It was unique. It came out alongside Civil War and Blackest Night in the era of the mega-crossover. So as counter-programming, I think it really stood apart.
What does Invincible mean to me? The culmination of my childhood in a lot of ways. I grew up loving everything about superheroes, the cool stuff, the silly stuff, the great stuff, and the bad stuff. So to be able to spend 16 years working with great and immensely talented people crafting a new world that had everything I loved about my favorite comic book genre was the greatest.
Ryan Ottley: Invincible is a HUGE part of my life, my first big gig in comics. From my 20s to my 40s, I worked full-time on this book, creating new characters, new locations, [and] new worlds. Every new script from Robert that came in floored me. I read lots of comics, and nothing was like Invincible. This was fresh. This flipped the tropes upside down and made them new and interesting. New readers were superhero fans who either wanted to try something new and/or were tired of the traditional tropes of the larger corporations. The stakes are HIGH in a Robert Kirkman story. It's unpredictable. It's uncensored. It doesn't have rules like large corporations do. We own our book and have pure freedom to create as we see fit. So fans stayed. Now with the show, the fans are in the millions, and they're finally seeing what our readers experienced on a monthly basis for the last 20 years. It's insanely exciting, and I'm floored to see it get an even larger platform and spread as far as it has.
Cory Walker: Yeah, that's a little tough for me to articulate. Invincible is special to me, and I'm really proud to have been even a small part of it. Robert and Ryan did all the heavy lifting, but I got to take the baby to the park now and then, and I'm proud to watch it become a doctor or whatever is happening. I would guess that comic fans are attracted to it because, [even] though it's a familiar meal, it's cooked in a new way with some different ingredients, and it's served in a... ball? Uh, anyway, I think the appeal of Invincible is that the stakes are real, and characters are affected in ways that they often can't come back from. People die. Horrible things happen and can't be undone. That's a breath of fresh air in a world of comics where most big events just lead back around to the status quo. 80 years of that is boring.
What are your top three moments from the comic and why?
Kirkman: That's hard to narrow down. I like the oddball stuff. I think the Bulletproof origin reveal, that I won't spoil here, from issue... I'm going to guess... 97? 98? That stuff was so fun and weird. I loved how dark that moment was. It was cool that Invincible could go extremely dark and then turn on a dime. I think the Monster Girl/Robot Flaxan arc was cool. It was awesome to have Cory and Ryan tag-teaming on issues. I really wish we'd done more of that. I'm sure Ryan is going to say "Conquest," so I'll try not to say the obvious answer, but that was a highlight. I think... at the risk of spoiling things... there's a later conversation between Nolan and Mark that I'm quite fond of. My final favorite moment is a conversation. How boring is that?
Ottley: Conquest. Dinosaurus. Battlebeast. WHY?! Read it, you'll see! Seriously, it's hard to pick only three. But the heart of what makes this book work so well is [that] the story has such a mood and amazing drama. My job was to make these characters emote and [to] tell the story visually in the most dynamic way I possibly could. The Conquest arc hits out of nowhere. It's fast and erratic, [and] it stretches everything to a breaking point. No one is safe. I was so floored drawing those scenes. It's like I could feel my blood boil with anger while I turned the script to visuals and made Mark go ballistic.
Walker: #1 top moment is Omni-Man killing the Guardians. It reveals to the reader what this book really is and where we were willing to go with it and really set the stage for everything to come. The #2 top moment must be the arrival of Conquest, 'nuff said. #3 top moment has to be me (Cory) leaving the book to make way for Ryan Ottley to work his beautiful magic allowing the comic to reach its full potential.
Invincible has such a passionate following and has been discussed in great detail over the past 20 years. What is something you can share about the comic that not even diehard fans would know?
Kirkman: I honestly don't know how to answer this. Such details are often lost to the sands of time. Well, a lot of people know that the book almost ended at issue 13. Those issues had the lowest sales and things seemed dire before sales started leveling off with 11 and actually going up with issue 12. So there was a plan in place to end the book at 13 and then replace it with an Atom Eve series. That would have had Eve as the focus, but I would have continued Mark's story as a side character in the book.
Ottley: Hmmm, there are some diehard fans that know everything about the series. We should do a trivia game. Well, maybe they might not know about all the easter eggs me and Cory added to our own art throughout the series. We both really enjoy doing that kind of thing as a shout-out to fans who recognize our interests. I have a lot of personal things added throughout. I used to be very religious, so there are a lot of hidden things from that, as a shout-out to others with the same beliefs. That's definitely changed a lot. A lot of changes in 20 years [laughs]! There's also things like characters from favorite movies. There are names hidden in strange places. When my son was born, I put his initials on a license plate. I've drawn some friends in there a couple of times. Lots of just random little things. Go peruse the art! If anyone has a question, take a pic and tag me on Twitter. I'll make some time to answer the best I can.
Walker: Oh, that's tough. One little detail I enjoyed and thought people would pick up on and also enjoy was that when Terra kicks Thragg in issue #132, it affected him. It's slight, but there's little lines that indicate that she kicked him hard enough to move him, which may seem silly, but I liked that. You wouldn't expect that she'd be strong enough to do that at that point. It was a minor throwaway thing, but as far as I can tell, no one really acknowledged it.
The animated show has been such a hit. What can you say to encourage fans of the show to dive into the series, even if they've never read a comic before?
Kirkman: It's one of the only superhero stories you can pick up and read the volumes and not have a bunch of different stories you also need to read. I think its strength is its self-contained nature. It's not as complicated as reading Spider-Man. I mean, where would you even start? It's not a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. Invincible is. For show fans, by all means, try the comic. There will be a lot of fun winks and nods that you'll only get if you'd read the comics as we get deeper into the show. I think it'll make the viewing experience more fun. You'll also get a glimpse of the road map we're using for the show. It definitely won't spoil everything if you read the comics. There are going to be some fun twists along the way.
Ottley: Ya know, I get a lot of new readers who approach me at comic conventions that tell me they watched the Invincible animation and then went and bought the three compendiums, and they flew through it in two days. That's amazing! I love to hear it. What other comic series is like that? Not too many. It's hard to watch a Batman or Avengers movie and then read Issue #1 from 70-80 years ago and get the same enjoyment. Invincible is three large books that cover the entire series, and that makes it all the more fun to get into. It's like finding a good anime and then tracking down the manga. It's usually much more palatable than many American superhero comics that have countless creators making different arcs over many decades. It can be hard to know where to start for those. So dive into those Invincible compendiums!
Walker: There are a lot of good options out there, but for fans of the smash-hit animated cartoon Invincible on Amazon Prime, it's the perfect first comic to read not only because they already know what they're getting into and already like what they're getting into, but because it's a nice, complete package that's easy to read from start to finish, in order, with zero confusion. The same can't be said for a lot of other superhero properties out there, where you don't know WHERE to start, and there's no end. That appeals to me. If you love the show and haven't pulled the trigger on the comic yet, why not? Especially if you're struggling with the wait between seasons, the comic is the cure for what ails you. It's like listening to a different recording of your favorite songs. And not cover songs. We're talking different recordings by the original artists. That's good, right?
When someone completes their read-through of the comic series, what do you hope they take away from the experience?
Kirkman: Whatever they want. That's for them to discover. I think it sounds terrible, but I hope they feel some sense of loss, not having Mark and the other characters in their lives anymore. The goal is that we've crafted well-rounded characters to the point that you could miss them. If we've achieved that, I'll be really happy.
Ottley: To be entertained. Get some good escapism! To appreciate the story and art, to see the power of comics and how enjoyable the medium can get! I love comics and hope we get more and more readers and inspire creators that create and make epic stories. Always room for more!
Walker: I just hope they're satisfied and that they enjoyed the experience, even though I drew some of it.
Are there any stories or moments that didn't make the cut for the comic that were used in the Prime Video animated series? On the flip side, is there anything from the show that you would've loved to include in the comic?
Kirkman: Debbie [Grayson] is turning out to be a much stronger character in the show. We're having a lot of fun with her. There are a few stories I've mentioned in the past that I planned and couldn't work into the comics. I don't want to spoil things, but it's possible there will be episodes in future seasons that are wholly original to the show and written by me. So the potential for that is very exciting for me.
Ottley: We are intensifying a lot of the scenes in the animation to add an even bigger punch. Like the infamous train scene. That could've been interesting for the comic too, but it does take up a lot more comic page real estate, so it seems elongating these scenes for the animation is just a better choice. So I don't know, it seems to be good the way they both are. So, no, my answer is no! [laughs]
Walker: I can't think of anything that didn't make the cut for the comic that was used in the show, but I think it would have been cool if the comic had been structured more like the show at the start, getting to the Omni-Man reveal sooner, etc. Would have also liked to have Big Mildew in the comic. He's a favorite of mine from the show.
Thank you for your time! Is there anything else you'd like to say to all the Invincible fans out there?
Kirkman: Thanks for all the support over the years. The next five or more years are going to be really, really exciting. It's going to be a fun ride!
Ottley: Thank you to the fans who've been with us since the beginning and read month to month! Also, to the new fans who watched the animation, got the entire comic book series, and blasted through it. Old or new, just absolutely grateful for all who enjoyed our work! Thank you!
Walker: Thanks for being Invincible fans out there! The moon landing was fake.
Invincible comic collections are available now at a comic shop near you, and Invincible Season 2 will debut on Prime Video in late 2023. If that wait upsets you, go read the comics! It'll help kill the time.