Invincible

Creators While Robert Kirkman has been the sole writer of the series, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley have contributed the art. Cory Walker co-created the book and provided art from #1 to #7. Ryan Ottley assumed art duties with issue #8 and has been pencilling since. Kirkman has provided back-up space for a few aspiring comic creators, most notably Benito Cereno and Nate Bellegarde.

Synopsis Family Matters (Issues 1-4) 'Markus Sebastian "Mark" Grayson is a teenage superhero who calls himself Invincible. He was a normal high school senior with a normal part-time job and otherwise normal life, except his father Nolan is the superhero Omni-Man, the most powerful superhero on the planet. At the age of 17, Mark begins to display superpowers, which come from his father being a member of the Viltrumite race, who, according to Nolan, pioneer the galaxy on a mission of benevolence and enlightenment. As Invincible, Mark begins working as a superhero, with his father acting as his mentor, and meeting other heroes. Mark worked occasionally with a superhero team called the Teen Team (consisting of Robot, Rex Plode, Dupli-Kate and Atom Eve), from there discovering that his Physics teacher has been turning his students into human bombs. He stops his teacher with the help of the heroine, Atom Eve. He also foils a plan to make an army of robots, created by the Mauler Twins. Meanwhile Omni-Man is kidnapped by aliens, taken to another dimension, but returns after what seems to be only a few days, but was actually is eight months to him. Eight Is Enough (Issues 5-8) Invincible goes into space to fight Allen the Alien. After an initially hostile encounter, Mark discovers that Allen has actually been employed to test the strength of superheroes. Allen realizes he is on the wrong planet and leaves. Mark goes to college with his friend William, where he is attacked by a mysterious robot zombie (later revealed to be one of DA Sinclair's 'Reanimen') and in the process, William learns of his secret identity. Mark begins dating his classmate, Amber Bennet and Eve's boyfriend Rex Plode has an affair with Dupli-Kate. Meanwhile, Earth's premier superhero team, The Guardians Of The Globe, are brutally murdered by Omni-Man. Only the de-powered Black Sampson survives. At the funeral, Sampson's butler destroys the graves, jealous that somebody killed the Guardians before he did. Nobody knows that Omni-Man killed the heroes, but an investigation is launched. After the funeral, the Mauler Twins dig up the body of the Immortal. Perfect Strangers (Issues 9-13) The Guardians Of The Globe hold auditions for a new team. All of the Teen Team (except Atom Eve) are hired into the new team (led by Robot) by Cecil Steadman, head of the Global Defence Agency. Monster Girl and Shrinking Ray are also hired. Mark and Eve stop a team of criminals called the Lizard League from poisoning the water supply. The Mauler Twins reanimate The Immortal, the leader of the old Guardians, who fights Omni-Man. Invincible arrives to see his father rip the Immortal in half. Omni-Man then explains that the Viltrumites are actually a race of alien invaders, and he was sent to initiate a hostile takeover of Earth. His father describes everyone on the planet as meaningless and insignificant. Mark fights his father and the ensuing battle results in thousands of deaths. Just as Omni-Man is about to kill his son, he flies off into space. After Mark recovers, he is hired by Cecil Steadman as a professional super hero. Eve and Mark's friend William embark on a relationship. Mark's mother is left into a state of shock. Invincible flies into space to find that Allen the Alien has returned, warning him that his father is a Viltrumite. Mark replies that Allen is too late and that he knows and he has turned against his father. Mark says that all that is left is to finish high school. Further While Mark works with Cecil to stop various threats, a man named Angstrom Levy, a genius with the power to teleport between dimensions, devises a plot to assemble every version of himself in other dimensions in order to absorb all of their knowledge in order to benefit mankind. He is aided by the Mauler Twins, recurring villains in the series, to build the device. Upon the completion and start of the machine, Invincible intervenes due to Cecil receiving information that the Mauler Twins were operating in the vicinity. During the fight with the Mauler Twins (and every version of the pair from alternate dimensions), Angstrom pleads to not kill Invincible while removing himself from the machine, causing it to explode due to interrupting the process. Mark is rescued from the rubble by the Guardians of the Globe. Only one Mauler from this dimension survives to discover Angstrom Levy, who claims that the process was a success although it left him hideously disfigured. Before escaping to another dimension for medical treatment, Angstrom vows revenge on Invincible, "the one who interfered" (although Angstrom doesn't remember that the malfunction was his own fault). Later, when meeting his father on another world, Mark learns he has a little half-brother and that his father has moved on. When a contingent of Viltrumites arrives on the planet, he and Nolan fight them to the best of their abilities. In the aftermath, Nolan is taken prisoner. As he is taken away Nolan tells Mark to read his books. The Viltrumites who take Nolan give Mark the assignment that his father had, believing he will fulfill it due to his heritage. Mark has a deadline of 100 years. Cecil has suggested this could be a trick to lure them into a false sense of security before an impending Viltrumite invasion. Mark brings his half-brother to Earth (at the insistence of the baby's mother), and Mark's mom agrees to raise him. Mark takes Amber to visit Eve in Africa, who has been using her powers to help the locals while learning more about them. Eve is annoyed by the fact that Mark brings his girlfriend with him as she had been hoping to get closer to him, and even tries to convince Mark that Amber is not right for him, but he remains oblivious to her motives. The night before they plan to leave, Mark receives a threatening phone call and rushes home to find his mother and half-brother in the clutches of Angstrom Levy. Levy uses his powers to plunge Mark through a series of dangerous alternate realities in the hope of weakening him enough to be able to kill him (it is at this point during the storyline where Invincible is teleported to the Marvel Universe and meets Spider-Man and the New Avengers in Marvel Team-Up #14). By the end of these events and seeing the injuries Angstrom has inflicted on his mother, Mark is so angry that he brutally assaults Levy as they fall through various dimensions, ultimately killing the villain, leaving Mark in shock as he believed him to be stronger, and able to take such punishment. Stranded in a wasteland, Mark is discovered by a version of the Guardians of the Globe from 15 years in the future who have traveled back in time to rescue him. Atom Eve reveals that she always loved him, and tells Mark to let her present-day self know how he feels about her, so she can have closure. Mark makes the decision to tell Eve he is not romantically interested in her, but upon their next meeting they kiss, and are dispatched to space to battle an incoming Martian invasion fleet before they can resolve what happened between the two of them. Meanwhile, in Montana, Rex Splode, Dupli-Kate, and Shrinking Ray are dispatched to prevent a nuclear war brought about by the Lizard League. In the ensuing battle, Dupli-Kate is killed, Shrinking Ray is eaten, and Rex Splode has his hand bitten off and is shot in the head. Returning from space Atom Eve confronts the newly single Mark about their relationship. After learning that Mark has been in contact with a future version of Eve and may have feelings for her, she leaves crying. The next day Mark has lunch with his mother and learns of her new relationship, during lunch they are interrupted by a Viltrumite woman. She again warns Mark (after smashing his face) that he is the appointed agent of Earth and must prepare for the Viltrumite invasion; he respectfully declines. During this time Allen the Alien is back on his way to the Coalition of Planets after learning of Nolan's books and rebellion against Viltrum, when the Viltrumite ship leaving Earth crosses his path. After a quick fight Allen allows himself to be captured in the hopes that he will be placed in the same prison that Nolan is currently waiting for execution. Allen soon crosses paths with Nolan who is nearing full strength, having recovered from the injuries sustained during his capture. Back on Earth, whilst it seemed that Mark had rid the world of D.A. Sinclair and his cyborg 'Reanimen' by capturing Sinclair and handing him to the government, Cecil Steadman is later seen offering Sinclair a job working for the government. This soon comes to Mark's attention when he and the majority of the US's superheroes are captured by Doc Seismic, after a superbrawl against Seismic's minions. Darkwing arrives to the rescue, bringing with him a battalion of government sanctioned Reanimen. Turning the tide, Seismic is soon defeated, but Mark is outraged that Cecil is working with D.A. Sinclair and has commissioned him to build his Reanimen for the government. Mark confronts Cecil at the Pentagon, and is led into a bright white room. Mark realises he has been led into a trap when Cecil reveals he is surrounded by an army of these new Reanimen. A fight ensues, with Cecil setting the Reanimen on Mark. While Mark is busy fighting, Cecil justifies his actions, stating that he does what is necessary to protect the planet, whatever it takes. Cecil also reveals that the receiver in Mark's ear, formerly used to receive instructions from Cecil, also houses a weapon that disables Marks equilibrium, causing him immense pain. Mark escapes, making it to the Guardians' headquarters. After telling the Guardians of Cecil's true nature, they join Mark in fighting the Reanimen, who have followed, along with Cecil. Eventually Cecil calls off his forces, stating that he and Mark 'are done'. Before Cecil leaves, Mark threatens Cecil, making him into promise to leave his family alone. Back at Mark's home, he and Eve share a kiss. While Invincible and the former Teen Team members quits the Guardians of the Globe in retailation, Oliver begins his training as a superhero, taking for himself the name of Kid Omni-Man, acting essentially as Invincible's sidekick (it should be noted that, due to Art Rosembaum giving them new costumes, the general public briefly thinks they are a duo of superpowered fans of Invincible, called Invinciboy and Kid Omni-Man). While Invincible attempts to talk Olivier out his new moniker, Oliver refuses, wanting to redeem Omni-Man's name in the eyes of the public. While Oliver's powers grow at an accelerated rate, granting him in mere days abilities almost on par with Mark's ones, he begins to display the same sociopathic tendencies shown by other members of the Viltrumite race. After killing the Mauler Twins in a carelessly brutal display of his powers, Cecil approaches him, proposing to "clean up his mess" for him, and lauding him as a "very special child". Invincible returns from stopping a missile in space and "reminds" Cecil not to bother his family, he then takes Oliver away to discuss what happened. Oliver shows no remorse whatsoever, claiming his killings to be just retribution, and since humans on Earth are killed or kill on daily basis, he should not be constrained in any way. While Mark tries to convince him on the contrary, Oliver asks if Mark ever has those same thoughts; Mark quietly admits "sometimes". During a date with Atom Eve, Invincible is able to elaborate his feelings about Oliver, his mother's boyfriend knowing about his secret identity, and how his superheroic background denies him the possibility of a true romance with Eve herself. Pressured by his girlfriend, he tries to have a talk with Oliver and his mother, but barely manages to ground him upon hearing about his mistrust and disgust about the self-centered and selfish human society, and snaps at his mother about her revealing his secret identity. Invincible tries to spend the rest of his day in a normal fashion: asking Eve out, helping his friend William to move out their former dorm room, and patrolling the city. At the Stronghold Penitentiary he vents his built-up anger over Titan, unwillingly starting a fight that leads to Multi-Paul being freed. The fight is not without consequences for Titan too, since it costs his allies, and pressures him to pick a side with Isotope, the only companion still loyal to him. Returning home, Invincible meets with Eve, delaying their date but settling up their problems by promising her a day for themselves only, and Oliver, flying in the airspace above their home. Oliver finally agrees to respect and understand humanity, if not for their deeds, because of his brother's faith in them. Invincible and Kid Omniman share an hug, but Angstrom Levy's probes (installed in front of Grayson's home since his first date with Atom Eve) catch a dejected and forced grimace on Oliver's face. While on Earth Eve finally pushes Mark into consummating their relation, in space Omni-Man is due for his execution. Allen the Alien, kept restrained and supervised because of his inability to be killed by any conventional means and his large invincibility, stages a massive jail-break, and frees him by killing one of his jailers with his massive strength. Impressed by the physical prowess of his new ally, Nolan reveals him the "secret" of the Viltrumite race: Viltrumites are near-extinct, with the pure-blooded population reduced to less than fifty individuals. Angstrom Levy is revealed to be spying on Mark as he sits atop his roof, via a small robotic camera. He is showing sitting in a room with many monitors, all with videos of Mark playing, and also with small electrical globes attached in his head. He has adopted a super villain style costume, complete with cape and new scars on his face from the previous encounter with Invincible. After spying on Mark for a number of months, Levy reveals his plan: gather evil versions of Invincible from other dimensions, and unleash them upon the first Mark's world. While this creates worldwide panic and death, the main goal is to ruin Invincible's reputation and cause him suffering. The world's superheroes unite, some giving their lives to battle and kill the murderous doubles of Invincible. In the end, Levy's plan fails as the Earth, though devastated, was not conquered. He escapes, but loses a limb, and upon arrival to the dimension of his doctors, loses their support and is informed that he now 'works for them'. Meanwhile, whilst helping clean up the wreckage on earth left by the 'Invincible war', Mark is confronted by a battle scarred Viltrumite named Conquest. Conquest states that he has come to earth to assess Mark's efforts towards preparing the planet for Viltrumite takeover. After a brief exchange of words Mark and Conquest prepare to fight.