Battle Beast (Invincible)

Invincible is an American comic book series written by Robert Kirkman, illustrated by Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley, and published by Image Comics. Set in the Image Universe, ''Invincible'' follows the coming of age of superhero Mark Grayson / Invincible, a Viltrumite and first-born son of Omni-Man, the most powerful superhero on Earth. The series began publication on January 22, 2003, before coming to a close on February 14, 2018, with 144 issues. Several spin-off series were released over its run: ''Brit'', '' The Pact'', ''Atom Eve & Rex Splode'', and '' Guarding the Globe''. An animated television adaptation began streaming on Amazon Prime Video on March 25, 2021, while an additional spin-off interquel, '' Battle Beast'', will begin publication in 2025.

Plot synopsis

Mark Grayson is a normal high schooler whose father, Nolan Grayson, is an extraterrestrial from the planet Viltrum—on Earth, he is known as Omni-Man, the most powerful superhero on the planet. At age seventeen, Mark begins to display super powers as a result of his Viltrumite ancestry, and adopts the superhero name Invincible with his father acting as his mentor. Early in his hero career Mark meets heroine Atom Eve, and they eventually enter a relationship.

Mark begins as a small-time hero solving problems and fighting low-level crime around his school. However, the scope of his adventures quickly progresses to national, global, intergalactic, and multidimensional. Large portions of the narrative focus on conflict with the fascistic multiplanetary Viltrum Empire, which Mark participates in a rebellion against.

Multiple points of view, and the power struggles therein, factor heavily into the comic. Characters often have motives that do not align, and commonly swap between conventional "hero" and "villain" roles as a result. Most notably, Mark's father Omni-Man begins the series as an antagonist and is eventually reformed through Mark's efforts, which Mark continues to attempt on other enemies. Mark himself vacillates between working for and against the United States government, and often breaks from the consensus of his friends and allies to pursue what he sees as the optimal and/or pragmatic choice.

Publication history

Robert Kirkman is the sole writer of the series. Cory Walker co-created the book, designed several characters, and provided art from #1 to #7. Ryan Ottley assumed art duties with issue #8 and drew most future issues, with Walker returning for a select few. Kirkman has provided back-up space for a few aspiring comic creators, most notably Benito Cereno and Nate Bellegarde. The series is known for its extreme graphic violence despite its colorful nature and visuals.

The series ended on February 8, 2018 with issue #144, with Walker returning as artist. The double-sized final issue was released on February 14, 2018. In April 2022, it was announced that a '' Battle Beast'' story would be published in ''Skybound X'' #25, with Kirkman and Ottley reuniting for the story; it was published on July 20, 2022. In October 2022, it was announced that, in celebration of the series's 20th anniversary in 2023, its first issue would be getting a reprinted facsimile edition reprint and a deluxe edition reprint, compendiums 1-3 would be getting comic shop exclusive hardcover versions, and there would be a reprint of the series in a new 6"x9" graphic novel format with new covers from Cory Walker and Dave McCaig, an Invincible Universe compendium, and a secret announcement in January 2023 (which was later revealed to be a teaser for season two of the animated show).

In December 2024, it was announced that Kirkman and Ottley were developing a prequel series entitled ''Invincible Universe: Battle Beast''. The series, set between issues 19 and 55 of the original Invincible series, follows Battle Beast as he embarks on a quest to find an opponent strong enough to kill him. The first issue of the series is set to debut April 2025.

In 2003 and 2004, Image and Robert Kirkman published several other superhero series: ''Tech Jacket'' pencilled in a manga style by E. J. Su (cancelled at #6), the 3-issue ''Capes Inc.'' series drawn by Mark Englert and three oneshots starring Brit, the first two with artwork from Tony Moore and the third with artwork by Cliff Rathburn.

In 2007, ''Brit'' was launched as an ongoing full-color series written by Bruce Brown, with artwork by Cliff Rathburn. The series was overseen and edited by Robert Kirkman. In late 2007, a two issue mini-series starring Atom Eve was released.

''Tech Jacket'' was first collected as a digest-sized, black and white graphic novel and later reissued in regular sized, full color and a cover scheme similar to Kirkman's other trade paper backs. ''Capes'' was collected as a trade paperback in summer 2007, and the three Brit one-shots were colored by Val Staples and published as a collection in 2007, as well.

At first shown to barely coexist in the same universe, the characters have since been integrated into Invincible's book. ''Tech Jacket'' was an ongoing series that tied into ''Invincible'' #27, and the character has been seen in the background of various battles during the series. The characters from ''Capes'' have also been supporting characters seen mainly in large superhero battles Invincible participates in, and the series ran as a back-up in the ''Invincible'' book starting with #27. Brit has had an even less substantial role, appearing a couple of times in the aforementioned brawls (understandable considering that after the last book ''Brit'' was somewhat-retired). Brit later went on to become the leader of the Guardians of the Globe and was featured heavily in comic spin-offs ''Guarding the Globe'' and ''Invincible Universe''. In '' The Astounding Wolf-Man'', Art, Invincible's tailor, appeared, designing the title character's costume. Wolf-man has also appeared in ''Invincible'' #48 & 49.

Characters

Grayson family

* Mark Grayson / Invincible: A 17-year-old high school student and a Viltrumite/human hybrid who becomes the superhero ''Invincible''.
* Nolan Grayson / Omni-Man: Mark's father, Debbie's husband, and formerly the greatest superhero of Earth known as ''Omni-Man''. He was originally sent by the Viltrumites to prepare the Earth to be conquered by them, but has a change of heart and begins showing compassion for others after nearly killing Mark after his secret is revealed. He works together with Mark, Allen, and his second son Oliver to combat the upcoming threat of the Viltrumites before he is crowned their new emperor when it's revealed he was the son of Emperor Argall.
* Debbie Grayson: Mark's mother, Nolan's wife, and stepmother of Oliver Grayson.
* Oliver Grayson II: Mark's alien half-brother. The result of a relationship between Nolan and a member of the Thraxans named Andressa, who have short life spans, growing at a rapidly increased rate compared to humans, though his father's DNA is slowing his aging over time. Although his mother is an insectoid, he resembles a Viltrumite/human with purple skin (later fades to pink). Andressa tells Mark to take Oliver to Earth, so that he can have a life with the people there, because their lifespan is longer than her people's and he gets adopted by Debbie. He first takes the sobriquet of Kid Omni-Man and then Young Omni-Man as he attempts to rehabilitate the memory of Omni-Man in the general public. Oliver was later killed by Thragg while protecting Terra Grayson.
* Samantha Eve Wilkins / Atom Eve: A former classmate of Mark's and member of the Teen Team. Eve was created as a result of a government experiment to create a human super-weapon for the military. She was born with an extensive knowledge of biological and chemical sciences and can manipulate all matter on a molecular level, although a neural mental block was implanted while she was a fetus that stops her from manipulating living animals and other beings. In the event of a severe enough or near-fatal trauma she is able to break her mental block and her powers are bolstered to nigh-omnipotent levels for a few seconds. Eventually, she and Mark realize their true feelings for each other and the pair start dating, fall in love, and get married after Eve gives birth to their daughter Terra.
* Terra Grayson: The daughter of Mark Grayson and Atom Eve who would go on to become the third Invincible.
* Markus Murphy: Terra's half-brother. Also known as Marky, he is the son of Mark and Anissa after the latter raped the former. He would go on to become Kid Invincible.
* Lord Argall: The former emperor of the Viltrumites and the father of Omni-Man and grandfather of Invincible and Oliver Grayson. He was revealed to have been killed by Thaedus which plunged Viltrum into a civil war.

Superheroes

* Allen the Alien: Previously a Champion Evaluation Officer who worked for the Coalition of Planets, he tested the skills of various powered heroes on each planet in order to determine if there was a suitable "champion" who could defeat a Viltrumite. He was born in a breeding program after his race was almost eradicated by the Viltrumites. He was bred to hopefully be able to defeat a Viltrumite and was the only successful child born of the program. He was later promoted to leader of the Coalition of Planets after the death of Thaedus by Thragg during their failed sneak attack on Viltrum and led the Coalition of Planets in the war against Thragg and his Thraxan/Viltrum hybrid army.
* The Guardians of the Globe: A superhero team. The original incarnation was brutally murdered by Omni-Man. A second incarnation was formed led by Robot until he went off to fight the Flaxans and then a third incarnation was formed that lasted until Robot's coup.
** The Immortal: Unkillable leader of the Guardians of the Globe and currently married to Dupli-Kate. He can resurrect himself as long as most of his body parts are near each other. He was a Celtic warrior who got exposed to a meteor radiation that gave him his powers. It is suggested in flashbacks that one of his past identities was in fact Abraham Lincoln. In the present storyline, he is alive and was briefly beheaded by Omni-Man during his massacre on the Guardians of the Globe. The Mauler Twins dug up his body and reattached his head causing Immortal to live again. Revealed to rule the world as a mad tyrant in the far alternate future, he is killed by a time-travelling Invincible at Immortal's behest, and his body parts are separated and buried far away from each other blocking his ability to resurrect. Invincible prevents the future Immortal from going mad in his own timeline by giving Immortal the assistance of Robot's brain to rule with suggestive guidance after Invincible leaves him in charge of Earth following Robot's downfall.
** Darkwing: A powerless member of the original Guardians of the Globe who was an homage to Batman. Killed by Omni-Man.
** War Woman: A member of the original Guardians of the Globe with superhuman strength who was an homage to Wonder Woman. Killed by Omni-Man.
** Aquarus: A fish-like member of the original Guardians of the Globe from Atlantis with aquakinesis who was an homage to Aquaman. Killed by Omni-Man.
** Red Rush: Josef is a member of the original Guardians of the Globe with superhuman speed who was an homage to Flash. Killed by Omni-Man.
** Green Ghost: A ghost-themed member of the original Guardians of the Globe who was a parody of Green Lantern. Killed by Omni-Man.
** Martian Man: A shapeshifting member of the original Guardians of the Globe from Mars who was an homage to Martian Manhunter. Killed by Omni-Man.
** Black Samson: Markus Grimshaw is an original member of the Guardians of the Globe with super-strength. Lost his powers (and with them, his Guardian status) for a while and wore a high-tech armor made by Art Rosenbaum before recovering them very abruptly. When Robot goes rogue and starts conquering the world, Black Samson is among the superheroes killed.
** Robot: Former leader of the Teen Team and Guardians of the Globe. At first masquerading as an actual robot, Rudolph "Rudy" Connors is in fact a malformed human living in a life-support tank, using drone automatons to interact with the world. He eventually clones a body from Rex's DNA to draw the attraction of fellow hero Monster Girl, and takes the new civilian name Rex Connors as well later on. He continues using his drones to work remotely (though he creates several he can be physically present within), and trains his mind to be able to split his concentration across several simultaneous activities or conversations without faltering. After spending hundreds of years in the time-dilated Flaxan dimension alongside Monster Girl, he becomes an antagonist who takes over the world, believing it to be the best path forward.
** Rex Splode: Rex Sloan is a former member of the Teen Team and the Guardians of the Globe who can make objects explode by charging them with kinetic energy, an ability he received as a child from black-ops government experiments. Initially used as an assassin, he ran away after meeting Atom Eve. He became Atom Eve's first boyfriend until cheating on her with multiple versions of Dupli-Kate, whom he then dated until she cheated on him with The Immortal and multiple duplicates of herself. He lost his hand and was shot in the head while fighting the Lizard League. After recovering, he matures emotionally and later sacrifices himself to kill a hostile alternate-dimension Invincible by charging his own skeleton to explode.
** Dupli-Kate: Kate Cha is a former member of the Teen Team and the Guardians of the Globe who can create an army of duplicates of herself. She eventually marries The Immortal and has children with him.
** Bulletproof: Zandale Randolph is a superhero with abilities similar to Invincible, but nowhere near as powerful. Bulletproof gains membership to both the second and third iterations of the Guardians of the Globe, where he remains until the team was dissolved following Robot's coup. On a related note, Bulletproof was one of the proposed names for the title character before the series saw print. Bulletproof later becomes the second Invincible to fill in for Mark when the latter temporarily loses his powers, but continues to use Invincible's costume design even after Mark recovers. He eventually betrays the Guardians to side with Robot when the latter takes over the world, and suffers facial scarring when Immortal activates a bomb hidden inside himself to stage a prison break.
** Shrinking Ray: Former member of the Guardians of the Globe who had the ability to shrink his body. He was consumed by Komodo Dragon of the Lizard League. In the animated adaptation, she is a woman named Shrinking Rae and barely survived Komodo Dragon consuming her. She retired from superheroics afterwards and dated Rex up until his death.
** Monster Girl: Amanda is a girl who was cursed by a gypsy, able to shapeshift into a large ogre-like creature with superhuman strength and invulnerability. Each change into monster form causes her normal self to become physically younger, until her boyfriend, Robot, figures out a solution that halts those side-effects of the curse and allows her to develop normally. She follows Robot through a portal to fight the Flaxans, where they both become trapped for nearly a millennium of subjective time in the Flaxan dimension before returning to their home dimension only a year after departure (Amanda with a body that has aged by 12 years). She rebels against Robot when she finds out he tried to have her son, whom she had not previously been aware of, executed.
** Shapesmith: A Martian disguised as human astronaut Rus Livingston who uses his metamorphic powers to change his shape. Believing himself to be a freedom fighter on Mars, he inadvertently causes the takeover of Mars by the Sequids. He is later killed by Robot, whom he'd always considered a friend.
** Darkwing II: Formerly Night Boy, the original Darkwing's sidekick, Benjamin Taylor continued Darkwing's legacy in Midnight City where he snapped and started killing criminals until Invincible apprehended him. A reformed Darkwing joins the Guardians of the Globe. He can teleport himself and others via the Shadow-verse using any shadow large enough to envelop him. During the battle with extra-dimensional Invincibles, he drags one into the Shadow-verse and gets trapped there for decades until he eventually escapes in the series finale.
* Fightmaster and Drop Kick: Two time-traveling martial arts masters who were dispatched to find items in the past that could be used to kill their mad tyrant king, The Immortal, who it turns out had been secretly trying to orchestrate his own assassination. Fightmaster and Drop Kick eventually take Invincible into the future to kill The Immortal.

Allies

* Amber Justine Bennett: Mark's first girlfriend whom he started dating in high school. The two break up after realizing how much Mark's superhero life is interfering with their relationship, but remain on good terms. Mark later finds out that her new boyfriend has been beating her and decides to teach him a lesson. He makes the man promise to stop by dangling him from a rooftop. Amber is seen some years later in a happy relationship with a different man.
* William Francis Clockwell: Mark's roommate and best friend. He initially dates Eve, though Eve admitted she only did it to get close to Mark. He helps Mark in freeing their friend Rick Sheridan after the latter was turned into a Reanimen by D.A. Sinclair. He eventually realizes he is gay and ends up in a committed relationship with Rick.
* Global Defense Agency: A secret government organization run out of the Pentagon that tries to stop threats to the Earth and operates multiple superhero teams including the Guardians of the Globe.
** Cecil Stedman: Government liaison and head of the clandestine Global Defense Agency. Cecil has a mercurial relationship with Mark and Eve as he prioritizes Earth's safety over all else and will go to questionable or dubious ends in order to make sure that happens. Mark works for Cecil after Omni-Man abandons Earth, but quits after discovering Cecil has hired on some of the villains Mark had defeated and thought were being punished to work at the GDA to create new technology and means of protecting the Earth. Mark eventually comes under his employment again to atone for his working with Dinosaurus which led to disastrous results. Cecil is later killed by Robot after Mark warns him of Robot's true intentions about world domination.
** Donald Ferguson: Cecil's assistant, the Guardians of the Globe contact, and an android.
** Damien Darkblood: A demon detective.
** Ms. Popper: A GDA agent with teleportation and dimensional travel abilities.
* Art Rosenbaum: A tailor of superhero costumes and family friend of the Graysons.
* Rick Sheridan: Mark and William's classmate at Upstate University who was turned into one of the Reanimen. After he recovers from the ordeal, he begins dating William. It is also revealed that he is the only one that had recovered from being turned into a Reanimen.
* B. N. Winslow: Mark and William's principal at Reginald Vel Johnson High School who later becomes the dean at Upstate College.
* Andressa: A member of the insectoid Thraxan who is the second wife of Omni-Man and the mother of Oliver, Mark's half-brother.
* Coalition of Planets: A group of alien civilizations who came together to prevent the Viltrumites from taking over the universe.
** Thaedus: A Viltrumite opposed to conquering, founder of the Coalition of Planets. His assassination of Emperor Argall plunged Viltrum into a civil war where none but the strongest Viltrumites survived. He is the creator of the scourge virus that killed 99.9% of the Viltrumite population. Afterwards, Thaedus went on to establish the Coalition of Planets. Thaedus is later killed by Thragg during the failed sneak attack on Viltrum.
** Space Racer: A technopathic member of the Coalition of Planets whose gun has blasts that can harm Viltrumites and rides a hover-cycle.
* D.A. Sinclair: A young and reclusive scientist at Upstate University and creator of the "Reanimen" who is thwarted by Invincible and then secretly hired by Cecil to build cyborg-like "soldiers" out of corpses as a backup army for fighting threats to the planet. After some time working with Cecil, Sinclair reforms and eventually helps Invincible and the surviving Guardians of the Globe fight against Robot.
** Reanimen - A group of cyborgs intended to be "the soldiers of the future".
* Battle Beast: Thokk is a white lion-like alien. After liberating his home world from alien oppressors he became obsessed with fighting and felt an insatiable need to engage in combat. His only goal in life being to find a champion who could best him battle. First thought of as a villain in Invicible's initial encounter with him, Battle Beast turned out to be mostly neutral, not caring for good or bad, and lived only for combat and so would go wherever he could find it. He was imprisoned on the same Viltrumite Prison Warship where Allen the Alien and Nolan were held. Allen used Battle Beast's lust for battle to convince him into helping with their jailbreak and later joining up with the Coalition of Planets against Thragg by promising lots of combat and fighting against the Viltrumites, the strongest beings in the universe. Battle Beast and Thragg eventually met in hand-to-hand combat where they battled non-stop causing massive damage across the planet upon which they fought. After several days, Thragg was barely able to beat Battle Beast with Battle Beast's final words being "Thank you." Battle Beast had a daughter who ended up inheriting her father's unquenchable craving for combat. Battle Beast is also the protagonist of his own series detailing his appearances between 19 and 55 of the Invincible series.

Enemies

* David Hiles: A former weapons engineer for a military-sanctioned research firm who turned to teaching physics at "Reginald Vel Johnson High School" after his son's suicide and his own subsequent divorce and unemployment. He blamed his son's death on high school bullies and "popular" kids, and started kidnapping students and then turning them into human bombs that he'd set off at malls and other teenager hangouts. Mark and Eve figure out what Hiles is doing and as Invincible and Atom Eve try to stop him, only to find Hiles waiting with a bomb strapped to his own chest. Invincible uses superspeed-flight to fly Hiles to Antarctica where his suicide bomb goes off.
* Mauler Twins: An evil super-strong blue-skinned genius scientist and his clone who perfected cloning technology. They continuously argue as to which is the original, their rivalry driving their passion to create more and more advanced technology. They aid Angstrom Levy in his attempt to collect the knowledge of every multi-universal Angstrom into the Angstrom of their universe, which leads to deaths of several alternate-universe Maulers. During a fight against the Guardians of the Globe, both Mauler Twins are killed by Oliver, who alleges it was accidental. They come back later with one of them explaining that they have countermeasures in case both of them die.
* Sanford: The former butler of Black Samson who wanted revenge on the Guardians of the Globe for firing Black Samson after Samson lost his powers. He stole Black Samson's super suit, went on a rampage, and later ended up incarcerated.
* Angstrom Levy: A genius with the ability to create portals to other universes who becomes one of Invincible's archenemies. In an attempt to amass a huge amount of knowledge about the multi-verse that he believes he'll be able to use to better his world, he builds a machine with the aid of the Mauler Twins that connects him to the mind of every Angstrom Levy in every universe. The machine explodes mid-process, causing a chain reaction that disfigures him and wipes out every other Angstrom. He goes mad from having so many minds collected in his own, becoming obsessed with torturing and killing Invincible, whom he blames for the incident. Angstrom uses his ability to travel to other universes to heal and strengthen himself while also on multiple occasions using his portals to attack Invincible, Debbie, Oliver, and Eve, and in one attempt imports several evil Invincibles from alternate universes to cause destruction and havoc. Angstrom eventually regains his sanity thanks to Eve, but is then abducted by one of the surviving alternate-universe Invincibles and taken to that Invincible's universe where he is tortured. Angstrom is eventually beheaded by Robot when Mark's paranoia pushes him to follow Angstrom into that other universe with Robot's help. The Finale issue reveals that he has a son who seeks to avenge his death.
* The Viltrumites: Invincible and Omni-Man's species who are known conquerors of different planets.
** Thragg: The Grand Regent of the Viltrum Empire. After being deposed by Omni-Man, he goes rogue and seeks vengeance on Omni-Man and his family. He later fathers an entire army of half-Viltrumite children in order to attack Earth. He is Invincible's archenemy and the main antagonist of the series. Thragg is ultimately killed by Invincible.
*** Ursaal: A Viltrumite/Thraxan daughter of Thragg and one of his many children. After realizing her father doesn't care for any of his offspring and only sees them as cannon-fodder she starts to reform and convinces her Viltrumite/Thraxan siblings to surrender in the final battle to the Coalition of Planets and to join in the battle against Robot and his army of drones to retake Earth.
*** Onnan: A Viltrumite/Thraxan who is one of Thragg's sons. He was a psychopath who loved to torture and keep trophies of his victims in his cave. He is killed by Invincible at Thragg's goading, much to Ursaal's dismay.
** Conquest: An elderly, battle-scarred member of the Viltrum Empire. He is a psychopath who relishes in fighting and killing those who oppose the empire. He goes to Earth in search of Mark, with the goal of eliminating him, and the two engage in a bloody fight in which Atom Eve is almost killed and Invincible is injured, although he manages to defeat him. Conquest survives, but is imprisoned by Cecil for interrogation. However, after healing from his wounds, he manages to escape from captivity and flies into space to reunite with the remaining Viltrumites. Later, in the Viltrumite War, he has a second fight with Invincible, who although remains severely injured once again, manages to finally kill him.
** Anissa: A Viltrumite who was infatuated with Invincible to the point that she raped him and gave birth to their son, Marky. She renounces her old ways after living on Earth and finding a loving human partner and a second child, Molly. She is killed by a Ragnarr while defending Eve as Eve attempts to retrieve a badly injured Nolan during the final battle with Thragg.
** General Kregg: A member of the Viltrumites who possesses a cybernetic right eye. He takes many lovers when the Viltrumites relocate to Earth, not realizing that many humans practice monogamy, but ends up loving all the women and having many children.
** Thula: A member of the Viltrumites who uses her long hair as a weapon.
** Lucan: A member of the Viltrumites. Nolan disembowels Lucan during the Viltrumites' attack of Nolan and Mark on Thraxa. He survives and later ends up falling in love and having three children with a human woman on Earth.
** Alternative Mark Graysons: Evil versions of Mark Grayson from parallel universes. Half of them are killed during the Invincible War where they attack the main Invincible's universe. Angstrom Levy sends the rest through portals to a universe with a completely desolate and devastated Earth where they end up going mad and killing and eating each other. The only surviving Mark (with a mohawk), takes Angstrom to his dimension and tortures him. When Robot and Mark from the main universe appear to check in on Angstrom, Robot, seeing how easily Mark took over this dimension, killed Angstrom and the alternate Mark before trapping the mainline Mark in the dimension. Mark poses as his alternate self for months while he works with Robot's counterpart to create a portal back to his dimension in exchange for one of the Mauler Twins giving Robot a new body modeled after the alternate Mark to help him restore peace to his dimension.
* The Flaxans: Aliens from another dimension, in which time passes at a dramatically faster pace.
* Doc Seismic: A villain with special gauntlets that enable him to induce earthquakes. He learns how to control an army of Magmanites and other subterranean monsters. He is later turned into a fully molten lava being. He is killed by one of Robot's drones. He continually believes he is Invincible's archenemy, but Invincible always forgets who he is by the time they next battle.
** Magmanites: A race of lava monsters who are docile when not being controlled by Doc Seismic.
* The Sequids: A group of tentacled aliens that share a hive mind, which is only activated if at least one of them is attached to a host body. Invaded Mars causing it to be quarantined.
* Rus Livingston: An astronaut accidentally left behind on Mars, he's been attacked and made a host of the psychic Sequids.
* The Lizard League: A group of lizard-themed terrorists, they are parodies of fictional reptile-based villain groups The Serpent Society, HYDRA and Cobra. The Lizard League consisted of lizard-named agents along with an army of human followers. Their secret headquarters lies in the Florida Everglades and bears a striking resemblance to a Cobra Terrordrome.
** King Lizard: The leader of the Lizard League who is supposedly an expert strategist and an expert at hand-to-hand combat. King Lizard becomes the only surviving member of the Lizard League through cowardice that he claims is "intelligence".
** Komodo Dragon: A Komodo dragon-themed member of the Lizard League with super-strength. He was killed when he bit off Rex Sloan's explosive hand.
** Komodo Dragon II: The successor of the original Komodo Dragon.
** Salamander: A salamander-themed member of the Lizard League with toxic abilities.
** Iguana: A female iguana-themed member of the Lizard League with claws.
* Furnace: A villain with a massive steam-powered iron suit armed with dual flame-throwers and jets. He is actually a man made entirely of liquid heat from which the suit earns its power. Furnace later appeared as a member of the Order.
* Magnattack: A villain for hire with the ability to apparently push metal objects away from him, hence his massive armor plated suit.
* Kursk: A Russian villain for hire who can electrify single targets at a time. He was hired by Machine Head to deal with Titan, but was quickly defeated by the Guardians of the Globe.
* Tether Tyrant: A freelance villain with a vest which houses incredibly strong elastic appendages which can pull and throw victims around. Later merges with the sentient alien vest.
* Magmaniac: A freelance villain who is part lava.
* Master Mind: A criminal with the ability to mentally control the bodies of large groups of people. He was previously seen in the pages of ''Brit''.
* Bi-Plane: An age-old villain who believes in using old-fashioned technology for his attacks.
* The Elephant: A small-time elephant-themed supervillain who has been described in-story as a "lame Rhino rip-off".
* Giant: An eight-year-old boy who was pulled into another dimension where he transformed by a sorcerer into a gigantic red Cyclops. He became a king in the other dimension until he was teleported back by one of his enemies.
* Powerplex: whose real name is Scott Duvall, he is a Pentagon scientist whose sister Jessica was killed during the fight between Invincible and Omni-Man. Vowing revenge, he stole experimental technology to gain the power to absorb kinetic energy and release it as electrical discharges, but while he can absorb the energy, he has no control over it. In an attempt to get revenge, he accidentally causes the death of his wife Becky and their son Jack, which only causes him to further blame Invincible for ruining his life.
* The Order: A criminal organization with branches all over the world. The group was founded by Mister Liu, and is currently led by Set.
** Set: An extra-dimensional being and the new leader of the Order. He and his brother Thoth battle each other to control different worlds and appease their father. Although he is not allowed to use his powers in his conquest, Set can freeze time and has superhuman strength and endurance.
** Mister Liu: An elderly Asian cyborg and former leader of the Order. He can project his soul out of his body, taking the form of a giant Chinese dragon. This leaves his body unconscious and vulnerable to attack, so he relies on strong bodyguards to keep his body safe while the dragon rampages. His main mission for the Order was to free Multi-Paul from prison after he was captured by Invincible. Titan failed twice leaving Liu to free Multi-Paul alone using his dragon.
** Machine Head: A crime boss with a robotic head. He is deposed by Titan when his own henchman, Isotope, betrays him. Machine Head eventually escapes prison and takes control of the Order's Los Angeles branch, deciding to pardon Titan and Isotope for their betrayal under the guidance of the Order's new leader, Set.
** Titan: Titan can encase his body in super-strong, nearly invulnerable rock. Titan first appeared in ''Capes''. Titan was part of a criminal organization led by Machine Head. Titan tricks Invincible into helping him depose Machine Head and then installs himself as the new leader of the organization. His organization was part of an international syndicate called The Order run by Mister Liu. Titan's organization was kicked out of The Order for failing to cooperate with Mister Liu and his demands, but is re-recruited by Set, and told that he would either work with him or be killed. Eventually, Titan, Machine Head, and Mr. Liu had to work together again to support Set's plans for the destruction of the world.
** Isotope: A teleporting criminal who is Titan's lieutenant. He later appears as a member of The Order.
** Embrace: An Israeli female supervillain and member of the Order with intangibility, possession, and invisibility powers.
** Face: A Canadian supervillain and member of the Order whose head sports three eyes, two mouths, two noses, and a dual brain.
** Insomniac: An Egyptian telepathic supervillain and member of the Order.
** Multi-Paul: Dupli-Kate's twin brother and a member of the criminal organization called the Order. He shares Kate's self-duplicating power. Angered by his sister's supposed death, he attacks her teammate Rex Splode and Invincible. Kate tries to stop her brother's rampage, but he is captured by Invincible. He later escapes from prison with the help of Mister Liu.
** Octoboss: An octopus-like supervillain and member of the Order. He is always trying to speak English during battles despite being very terrible at it and never seeming to get any better because he says he needs the practice.
** Red Eye: A Brazilian supervillain and member of the Order whose eyes glow red whenever he is about to use his heat vision.
** Slaying Mantis: An Irish mantis-armored supervillain and member of the Order who has expert swordsmanship.
** Walking Dread: A Polish electrokinetic supervillain and member of the Order with a monstrous appearance.
** War Woman II: A member of the Order. She was the former lover of the original War Woman until she was killed by Omni-Man which led to her taking over Amazonia and planning revenge on the men of the world.
* Dinosaurus: A mutant dinosauroid who transforms when he feels indifferent. As Dinosaurus, he is highly-intelligent and develops various plans to improve the world, but they are usually destructive and result in many lives being lost. Mark later breaks him out of prison and forms a partnership to figure out less destructive means to improve the world, but is forced to kill him when he cannot do so.

Spin-offs

Guarding the Globe

A series focused on the guardians.

Battle Beast

Centers around Battle Beast in his adventures set between 19 and 55.

Invincible Universe

An anthology series that expands on the characters

Invincible Returns

A one shot that hypes on Invincible's comeback.

Invincible Presents: Atom Eve

A series on how Atom Eve became a superhero.

Invincible Presents: Atom Eve & Rex Splode

A series on how Atom Eve first met Rex Splode.

Collected editions

Trade paperbacks

With the exception of volumes 14, 18, 22, 24, and 25, every volume of the ''Invincible'' trade paperbacks is named after a television sitcom:

Hardcovers

Other collections

* Invincible also appeared in ''Marvel Team-Up'' Vol. 3 #14, which was collected in ''Marvel Team-Up Volume 3: League of Losers'' . This story occurs "between the pages" of ''Invincible'' #33.
* In November 2006, the ''Official Handbook of the Invincible Universe'' was released. This two-issue series told the origins of all of the characters seen in the series so far, and was done in the style of the ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'', including similar covers and many entries even being researched and written by former ''OHOTMU'' writer and researcher Peter Sanderson, as well as crediting late ''OHOTMU'' creator Mark Gruenwald as inspiration. The series was collected into a trade paperback in November 2007.

In other media

Motion comics

The comic has been turned into a motion comic by Gain Enterprises using the Bomb-xx process, and was broadcast on MTV2 and downloadable to mobile phones, from iTunes, and Amazon.

Cast
* Patrick Cavanaugh as Invincible
* Mark Fountain as Nolan Grayson
* Victoria Kelleher as Debbie Grayson
* Wendy Allyn as Atom Eve
* Stan Kirsch as Robot
* Jeff Shuter as William Clockwell
* J. Anthony McCarthy as Criminal
* Tom Ohmer as Cecil Stedman
* Hosea Chanchez as Mauler Twins
* Daniel Kirschner as Criminals
* Eric Wolfgang Nelson as Rex Splode
* Keith Stone as Allen the Alien
* Mike Connel as Derek
* Bill Garnet as Art Rosenbaum
* Leslie-Anne Huff as Dupli-Kate
* Paul Kresge as Teen Bomb
* Cynthia Sophiea as Mrs. Thatcher

Film

Point Grey Pictures and Skybound Entertainment were set to produce a live-action adaptation of Invincible with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg attached as writers and directors and Universal Pictures distributing it. Series creator Robert Kirkman was also set to produce the film, along with Rogen, Goldberg, David Alpert, Bryan Furst, and Sean Furst. In January 2021, Kirkman reaffirmed that the film is still in development despite the release of a streaming television adaptation, and that Rogen and Goldberg are still involved with the project.

Television series

On March 25, 2021, Amazon Studios began airing the first season of an adult animated adaptation of the comic series on Amazon Prime Video, executive produced by comic creator Robert Kirkman. The cast features Steven Yeun as Invincible, Sandra Oh as Debbie Grayson, and J. K. Simmons as Omni-Man. Rogen ending up being involved as a part of the cast, he and Goldberg were not set to direct/write the series, but did serve as executive producers. On April 29, 2021, Kirkman, along with Yeun, confirmed the series was coming back for a second and third season. The first half of the second season was released on November 2, 2023, with the latter half releasing on March 14, 2024. The third season premiered on February 6, 2025. In July 2024, it was announced that the series has been renewed for a fourth season.

Video games

In July 2023, during San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Skybound Games and Ubisoft would release a mobile game based on the series, entitled ''Invincible: Guarding the Globe'', which launched worldwide for iOS and Android on February 21, 2024. Despite sharing its title with the ''Guarding the Globe'' spin-off comic book series, the game does not adapt it and instead features an original story involving alternate dimensions and clones of characters battling each other.

On the same month ''Guarding the Globe'' was first announced, it was also announced that Skybound Games and Terrible Posture Games were developing a visual novel/ turn-based RPG entitled '' Invincible Presents: Atom Eve'' which released on Steam and Epic Games Store on November 14, 2023 as the first-ever ''Invincible'' game ahead of ''Guarding the Globe''.

A third ''Invincible'' video game, an open world AAA game for consoles and computers, is also reported to be in development after a successful crowdfunding round held by Skybound itself.

Omni-Man is a playable DLC character in ''Mortal Kombat 1'' (2023), voiced by J. K. Simmons, reprising the role, playing several incarnations of Omni-Man from alternate realities, including a blue-suited version. Invincible also cameos in the game.

Invincible, Omni-Man, Atom Eve, Allen, and Dupli-Kate appear as purchasable skins in ''Fortnite''. War Woman's Mace and the arm of a Reaniman are available as pickaxes, while The Immortal's head and Shrinking Rae are wearable Back Blings. Funko POP! versions of ''Invincible'' characters also appeared in the 2024 crossover video game '' Funko Fusion''.

A 3v3 fighting game, '' Invincible VS'', was announced at the Xbox Games Showcase, which will release in 2026.

In popular culture

* In the ''King of the Hill'' episode "Behind Closed Doors", Bobby is seen reading a comic entitled ''Unvincible'', whose title and cover art is similar to the first issue of ''Invincible''. Also, in the 13th-season episode "Earthly Girls are Easy", Buck Strickland plays with an Invincible action figure when planning his entrance at the benefit concert.
* In the film ''Paul'', Simon Pegg can be seen wearing an ''Invincible'' t-shirt, and issues of the comic appear in a comic book shop. According to Robert Kirkman, he, along with ''Invincible'' cocreator Cory Walker and current ''Invincible'' artist Ryan Ottley, had a cameo in the film as the Big Guy's henchmen.
* In the eighth episode of Season 6 of '' The Walking Dead'', during the first scene, four Minimates action figures of the characters Invincible, Allen the Alien, Atom Eve, and Omni-Man are shown in Sam Anderson's room. Carl and the other kids in Alexandria periodically read ''Invincible'' comic books as well. In Season 11, episode 18, RJ is seen reading ''Invincible'' Vol. 12: ''Still Standing'', indicating it was written earlier in the world of ''The Walking Dead'', versus its real-world publication date. Robert Kirkman, co-creator of ''Invincible'', is the co-creator of ''The Walking Dead'' comic book series that originated the television series, also acting as executive producer for the show.
* Invincible and Atom Eve make cameos as audience members in the 2023 video game '' WrestleQuest'', which is also published by Skybound Games.

References

References

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External links

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''Invincible''
at Image Comics

{{DEFAULTSORT:Invincible (comics)

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2003 comics debuts
2018 comics endings
Comics by Robert Kirkman
Science fantasy comics
Comics about alien invasions
Skybound Entertainment titles
Image Comics titles
American comics adapted into films
Comics adapted into animated series
Coming-of-age comics