With the runaway success of The Walking Dead TV show and comic, it’s not surprising that many people don’t know that Robert Kirkman has another ongoing comic which has been around almost as long as The Walking Dead. Invincible is the comic about a young superhero who learns to use his powers and has his entire world turned upside down. The first collection, Invincible: The Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1, covers the start of the series and the first major changes in his life. Let’s see what happens.

Mark Grayson is the 17 year old son of Omni-Man, the most powerful superhero around and unofficial member of the Guardians of the Globe. Mark’s been told since he was a boy that he would most likely get Omni-Man’s powers as well when he grew up, but they finally kicked in. After a few weeks of practicing, Mark get’s his costume and goes out as the new superhero, Invincible. Mark realizes, when battling a bad guy, that a girl in one of his classes is the superhero, Atom Eve. They start becoming friends and Mark joins the superhero team Teen Team.

But when the majority of the Guardians of the Globe are ruthlessly slaughtered, Mark is eventually forced to confront his worst nightmare. And everything he knows about his life is shattered. Along the way, he also needs to finish high school, get ready for college, deal with his family and start dating his first real girlfriend. All the while, the bad guys keep coming. It’s a teen super hero coming of age story unlike any other one around.

The story is quite wonderful. Kirkman does a great job getting the reader inside Mark’s head. And when he blows the story apart, he makes sure we see how it affects everyone. The art is quite good as well. The first 7 issues were drawn by Cory Walker, before being taken over by Ryan Ottley. The transition is fairly seamless. If you didn’t know that they changed artists, then you wouldn’t really notice. Mark is a very well rounded characters, though the supporting characters are less so. The comic is a fun, smart look at a young superhero. Recommended.