24 Years Ago Today, Robert Kirkman Released the Superhero Masterpiece That Changed Everything

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While Robert Kirkman is widely recognized for The Walking Dead, he actually launched a groundbreaking superhero comic 24 years ago that reshaped the genre – even before he began writing about zombies. His very first comic, a humorous take called Battle Pope, was created with Tony Moore in 2000, and the two would later collaborate on The Walking Dead. After joining Image Comics, Kirkman worked on titles like SuperPatriot and created Tech Jacket and Cloudfall. However, his career truly took off a year later with Invincible, also for Image Comics, which remains almost as popular today as his zombie series.

Robert Kirkman and artist Cory Walker launched the first issue of the now-famous comic book series, Invincible, on January 22, 2003.

Invincible Remains The Best Non-Marvel & DC Superhero Comic

Those familiar with the comic Invincible know that Cory Walker didn’t stay on the series for long, as he was unable to deliver issues on time. Ryan Ottley then took over, and the rest is well-known. Invincible centers around Mark Grayson, the teenage son of Omni-Man, the world’s strongest superhero. Mark eventually gains powers of his own, including incredible strength, speed, endurance, and resilience. He also has a remarkable healing ability, allowing him to survive for centuries and withstand even nuclear attacks.

Shortly after, Mark’s father’s entire superhero team is killed, leaving him as the only one who survived. Mark later discovers his father was behind the murders and is actually an alien who came to Earth long ago to prepare it for invasion. This forces Mark to choose between helping his father or defending Earth. The story evolved, ultimately culminating in a battle between father and son to prevent the aliens from continuing their attempts to conquer the planet.

Robert Kirkman’s comic book series was incredibly popular, running for 144 issues between 2003 and 2018. Its success led to several spin-off titles, including Brit, The Pact, Atom Eve & Rex Splode, Guarding the Globe, and Battle Beast. The story expanded even further in 2021 when Amazon Prime Video released an animated series based on the Invincible comics.

I’ve been following Robert Kirkman’s career for a while now, and it’s amazing to see how far he’s come. Before Invincible really blew up, he was making a name for himself with some great work at Marvel – things like Avengers Disassembled, a solid two-year run on Ultimate X-Men, and, of course, Marvel Zombies, which let him explore the zombie genre even further after his massive success with The Walking Dead. He even snagged an Eisner Award for The Walking Dead, which was well-deserved. But honestly, these days, thanks to the Prime Video adaptation, Invincible gets just as much buzz as The Walking Dead, and it’s incredible to think it all started 24 years ago.

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2026-01-23 01:10