Well, well, well. Look what we have here. You just got an email from your favorite comic store of all time (and the greatest comic store existing currently on planet earth): Graham Crackers Comics. Yes, it’s time for you, you lovely reader, to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ramblings of a 21 year old comic store employee who reads way too many comic books for his own good.
As we all know, comics are confusing, and TV is easy. That’s why comic TV shows are a safe haven for many of us stuck at home, unable to muster up the will power to recite the Green Lantern’s oath, much less learn the decades and decades of comic history that go along with it.
TV shows give us a nice, tidy, simple universe, that we can easily follow, without needing to read 6 other series, cross overs, and tie-ins, in order to understand the complicated, unending baggage that goes along with whatever new Batman book you’re trying to read.
Now, what if I were to tell you that the best superhero comic book in the universe was appealing for that exact same reason. Whether you’ve been reading comic books since you were 12 years old, or you haven’t read a comic book since you were 12 years old: Invincible is for you.
Written by Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) and illustrated by Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley, Invincible follows Mark Grayson, a normal highschool student, who happens to be, you guessed it, Invincible. The beauty of this book is that it isn’t weighed down by any continuity, except it’s own. From issue 1 to issue 144, all you have to read is Invincible.
Because this book isn’t tied to anything else, Kirkman is able to use well known comic book archetypes, and do things that Marvel and DC would never allow. People actually die, characters actually change. It’s awesome. As an avid comic book fan, and as a decent human being, I am forbidden from giving away any spoilers to this masterful book, so let me tell you how it makes me feel.
First of all, I read all 144 issues in the span of 2 weeks. Reading Invincible is exactly what a comic book should be. It doesn’t tell you that nothing will ever be the same, it shows you that nothing will ever be the same. It makes you feel like a little kid on a summer day, who’s only duty in life is turning page after page, making sure Mark Grayson is going to be okay. Making sure that the universe will in fact be saved, and if you hate kids, hated being a kid, and could care less about silly things like “stories”, you could just as easily read this book for the near perfect art. Cory Walker setting up the universe in the first seven issues, and Ryan Ottley taking on the bulk of the last hundred and thirty or so, you will not be disappointed with these beautiful costumes, insane action sequences, and brilliant facial expressions that let you know exactly what’s going on in these characters’ heads.
So I will say again, whether you are a long time comic fan, feeling numb to the endless comics you own and pick up every week, chasing that high you got from the first comic you ever read, or you’re a new reader, intimidated by comic books and desperately in need of something to take you away from the endless, numbing void that is quarantine: please, my wonderful nerdy friend, pop on down to your local Graham Cracker comics, ask for “Invincible Volume 1: Family Matters” and get ready to be sucked into a wonderful place only comic books can take you.
P.S. If you’re too lazy for reading, or scared of anything printed on paper, you’re in luck! Invincible is being made into an Amazon Prime cartoon that releases on March 26th!
P.P.S. If everything you have just read has driven you away from ever wanting to pick up this silly “Invincible” comic, but you still want to take a trip to your local Graham Crackers Comics to pick up a comic book with no baggage attached to it, check out some of these: Black Hammer: A slow and character driven look through comic book history.
The Boys: Silly, Scary, Disgustingly Irreverent, Lots of swear words (Don’t read around kids!!) (Or maybe I should say: Don’t read around parents!!) Watchmen: Dear reader, if you are subscribed to the Graham Crackers Comics’ email,
and have not read Watchmen, please do yourself a favor and READ IT, no matter WHO you are. Jupiter’s Legacy: A character based book that examines how human our heroes can be. Murder Falcon: It’s about a guy who plays a magical guitar and can summon a giant humanoid falcon who kicks monster ass… check it out.
Wytches: It’s just… so spooky.
The Fade Out: A wonderful murder mystery set in 1948, ya see??