Image Credit: Image Comics, and Fandom
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Invincible’s second season has arrived and fans are catching up with Mark Grayson and a lot of his adventures, especially those with his father, Nolan Grayson (Omni-Man). In that regard, there is a strong argument to be made that Mark and the Invincible series, along with The Boys, is one of the most successful indie comics in the last decade or so.
The animated series by Amazon Prime has introduced a lot of people to Robert Kirkman’s series, so it makes sense that new fans want to know more about the main character. And the most interesting part is that, compared to the likes of Marvel and DC, Mark’s biography is fairly straightforward.
History and Origin
The character of Mark Grayson first appeared in Erik Larsen’s The Savage Dragon series in issue #102 back in August 2002 through Image Comics but had a very minor part in that story. It wasn’t until January 2003 that the character would make his full debut in his very own series titled Invincible, written by his creator, Robert Kirkman, who is also known for being the creator of The Walking Dead comics. Artist Cory Walker would be in charge of drawing him for the earlier portions of the series and then Ryan Ottley took over, with the former coming back for the series’ final twelve issues.
At first glimpse, Mark seemed like a combination of Spider-Man mixed with Superboy: he was a normal teenager whose father was Nolan Grayson, a humanoid-looking alien who hailed from planet Viltrum and who had abilities quite similar to Superman and who is known as Omni-Man. When Mark was a teenager, his abilities began to manifest and he created his superhero persona known as Invincible.
Mark’s journey throughout the series has a lot of ups and downs, ranging from having relationship problems with his girlfriend Amber to stopping his psychic’s teacher from turning his students into bombs to facing intergalactic threats. This is without mentioning the role that Omni-Man plays in his life.
However, Mark grows into the role and becomes a much more capable hero, often learning from his mistakes and also from his heritage. It is a very traditional example of the hero’s journey, even if Mark makes some key mistakes along the way.
Powers and Abilities
Considering that Mark is half-Viltrumite, it is fair to say that he has all the same abilities as his father, Omni-Man. He can fly, has superhuman strength, has increased durability and endurance, has a faster healing factor, and ages considerably slower, which is even a plot point in the story.
Live-Action Appearances
While it’s true that Mark has become a much more known and popular character because of the Amazon Prime animated series, he has never had a live-action adaptation. Furthermore, there haven’t been any rumors of a live-action series or movie, although that couldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities, considering how successful the animated series has been.
Recommended Reading
As mentioned earlier, the great thing about Invincible it’s a lot easier to get into the character than compared to the likes of Marvel or DC. People only need to start with Invincible #1 and take it from there. It has 144 issues, which can be a lot to some people but the story is good enough to keep people interested from the get-go.
