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Public Recommendation - The Invincible Universe!
🕑 Added 2021-03-31 19:18:28 +0000 UTCWith the new Invincible animated series out from Amazon (in the U.S.) I wanted to take a moment to recommend not only the primary series Invincible, but also all of the series that take place in the same universe (and occasionally crossover). All of the series outlined below are part of the Invincible Universe Reading Order available through Comic Orderly in our Indy folder.
Invincible by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley - Honestly there's not much I can add about this series that will build on the extremely positive reviews already everywhere online. Do yourself a favor and read this series! It is one of the most wholesome and heartfelt, yet violent and gory, series I've ever read.
Noble Causes by Jay Faerber - This series is essentially a superhero soap opera that follows a rich, reality star, superhero family and all of their drama. It's a bit different and only tangentially connected to Invincible by a couple of guest appearances, but it's a lot of fun. There are a lot of unexpected twists and turns that keep you engaged all the way through to the end. Unfortunately this series is not currently available to buy digitally and the paperbacks are out of print, but if you can find it, it's worth you're time. Keep in mind, if you buy the Archives paperbacks, those are in black and white, but the original series and standard paperbacks are in full color.
Firebreather by Phil Hester - This consists of a few short mini-series that follows the story of a half dragon/half human teenage boy dealing with fitting in at high school and dealing with his relationship with his evil dragon father. These are really quick reads and only barely connect with Invincible because of a mini-series later on.
Capes by Robert Kirkman & Mark Englert - This is a pretty rough early series from Robert Kirkman full of characters that become active participants in the later issues of Invincible. It's not the most entertaining story he's written, but it is only 3 issues long and worth the read to get the background on Capes Inc.
Brit by Robert Kirkman & Bruce Brown - This is another early series by Robert Kirkman about a character who eventually becomes a major player in the Invincible and Guardians of the Globe stories later on. The first three issues were originally published as standalone black and white one-shots and then republished in color and collected in Brit Vol. 1: Old Soldier when a second series started years later. Brit is basically the impervious old man they send in to clean up messes (like giant monsters) and every fight is just silly violent. This one is a lot of fun.
SuperPatriot by Robert Kirkman & Cory Walker - Both the writer and original artist of Invincible created this 4 issue mini-series based on an old Image character. It has a lot of the style and feel of Invincible and can be considered one of the original characters of the Invincible Universe.
Tech Jacket by Robert Kirkman & Joseph Keatinge - This is honestly one of my favorite characters in the Invincible Universe and I would consider this a must-read, especially if you've read Invincible and never picked this up. This is also a pre-Invincible series created by Robert Kirkman that wasn't able to find much of a fan-base. It's about a teenage kid who bonds with an alien suit and has to save the universe. The series only lasted a few issues but was concluded years later by Robert Kirkman when he decided to integrate the character into Invincible. It was then continued in a digital series and an ongoing series by Joseph Keatinge and basically ran through the conclusion of Invincible.
Firebirds by Jay Faerber & Andres Ponce - Another slightly related comic, this time about a mom and daughter dealing with superpowers. This is only one issue, but later ties into Invincible in a crossover.
The Pact by Jim Valentino - This will probably be the hardest comic for you to track down if you're looking to read everything in the Invincible Universe. It's the crossover between Firebreather, Firebirds, Invincible, and a few other Image characters that lasted a few issues and was never republished or made available digitally. I'd give you a synopsis if I could, but I don't remember what happened in these issues and I can't seem to find descriptions online.
Marvel Team-Up #14 by Robert Kirkman & Cory Walker - Pretty much since issues #1 of Invincible people have related Mark Grayson to Peter Parker and Invincible to Spider-Man. Luckily fans were eventually able to see Robert Kirkman write a one issue crossover and even bring along Invincible's original artist Cory Walker to draw it. Unfortunately Spider-Man never shows up again to help Invincible at any point, but this is a quick fun read available in a lot of places digitally.
Dynamo 5 by Jay Faerber & Mahmud Asrar - This is one of my favorites in the Invincible Universe; it has great characters and fantastic art from Mahmud Asrar, who is now a pretty well known Marvel artist working on series like Conan and X-Men. This story (by the same writer as Noble Causes) takes place after one of the world's greatest superheroes, Captain Dynamo, dies. His widow discovers that he wasn't faithful and rounds up his 5 illegitimate children to train them and turn them into a superhero team. In my opinion, this is a genius idea that was very well crafted and extremely entertaining. It's pretty widely available both digitally and in print. It also only crosses over slightly with Invincible, but it's still fun and worth the read.
Astounding Wolf-Man by Robert Kirkman & Jason Howard - The series is about an engineer/inventor who gets mauled by a werewolf and uses his new powers to become a superhero. It's very similar to Invincible in a lot of ways, but also fully stands on it's own feet with well rounded, unique characters and stories. It ended after only 25 issues, but it gets merged into the Invincible Universe very well later on.
Atom Eve by Robert Kirkman & Nate Bellegarde - This is the first true spin-off of Invincible giving you more of a background on the character Atom Eve which is a major character throughout the Invincible series. This is a MUST READ if you are doing an Invincible read through.
Atom Eve & Rex Splode by Robert Kirkman & Nate Bellegarde - This is the second spin-off giving you more background on both Atom Eve and Rex Splode. Just like the two issue Atom Eve mini-series, this is a MUST READ if you are doing an Invincible read through.
Guarding the Globe Vol. 1 by Robert Kirkman & Benito Cereno - Another direct spin-off of Invincible focusing on the Guardians of the Globe team, which is essentially the Justice League or Avengers of the Invincible Universe. This provides a lot of good detail on what happens to characters between pages/issues of Invincible and is definitely worth reading if you're doing an Invincible read through.
Guarding the Globe Vol. 2 & Invincible Universe by Phil Hester & Todd Nauck - After a six issue volume 2 of Guardians of the Globe, the series gets retitled to Invincible Universe and is used more to tell interconnecting single issue stories that focus on individual members of the Guardians of the Globe. This series also serves to provide a good amount of background on certain characters while also connecting directly into events in Invincible. Another spin-off worth reading when completing an Invincible read through.
Science Dog by Robert Kirkman & Cory Walker - I guess you could say this story takes place in a universe inside of the Invincible Universe, since it's a story from Invincible's favorite comic. The first issue is a reprinting of back-up stories from Invincible #25 & #50 and the second issues is a reprinting of the back-up story from #75 as well as an original conclusion story. Obviously this isn't a must read to understand anything going on in Invincible, but if you enjoy Invincible you should definitely read this.
If you are not a patron and you are wondering what order to read all of these series in, I invite you to become a patron where you can access my Invincible Universe Reading Order as well as a number of other DC, Marvel, and Independent Reading Orders available to you immediately.
If you liked this post, and you're not already a Binger tier patron, I invite you to become one. As a Binger you get access to all of the Reading Orders as well as what I call my "Random Recommendation" posts about once a week.
