Robot 6
Invincible versus comic-book renumbering
From Invincible #80, by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley
In what may be an incredible coincidence, an unlikely bit of last-minute dialogue rewriting, or a terrifying example of Robert Kirkman’s precognitive abilities, this week’s Invincible #80 offers a bit of commentary on the hot topic of conversation — comic-book renumbering. It seems the trend doesn’t end with DC’s superhero line and Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men. Even Dead Stuff is affected!
Multiversity Comics catches the panel in which Mark Grayson, aka Invincible, swings by his local comic shop after spending time in space only to discover every series has started over with a new No. 1. “Why do they do that?” he asks. “It doesn’t help sales long term and they always go back to the numbering for the next anniversary issue. What’s the point?!”
“Anything for a quick buck, man,” the clerk responds. “These companies have no integrity.”
Update: And while this doesn’t require prescience, the sequence also takes a perhaps self-effacing jab at a creator pledging to release work on time for a year. Check it out after the break.
14 Comments
Tb
June 16, 2011 at 8:16 am
Image is always hatin’
Matt
June 16, 2011 at 8:24 am
Cosmic Book News had this up yesterday, CBR! Get with it!
Kevin Melrose
June 16, 2011 at 8:33 am
If one website posting about a subject precludes another from doing the same, then the Internet may be headed for trouble. I’ll sound the alarm!
A Cool Guy
June 16, 2011 at 8:40 am
Awesome shout out to James Stokoe and Orc Stain though.
Ziyad
June 16, 2011 at 9:08 am
ehh
harmless fun being poked at dc.
i see no cause for alarm.
Joe H
June 16, 2011 at 9:46 am
Ah, I didn’t see that “Gronkless” tee until A Cool Guy pointed it out.
Tb
June 16, 2011 at 10:16 am
He pokes fun at himself with the promise to release all his books on time, too. Gotta love Kirkman!
Jason Baur
June 16, 2011 at 10:29 am
Ironically, Invincible #80 was *five months late*, having been solicited for January.
dnwilliams
June 16, 2011 at 1:05 pm
I’m WAAAAAAY behind on Invincible, but I like that Kirkman does stuff like that. There’s that joke he did where the panel repeats and they’re talking about panels repeating. Good stuff.
DeBT
June 16, 2011 at 1:49 pm
Among all they hype over DC redoing their numbering system, I was wondering when any comic blog sites would point out this observation. It’s especially shows foresight since this was scripted early this year, and was only released recently.
That should be the hallmark of a good comic – their themes and dialogue stands the test of time. Whether this will stay relevant 20 years from now remains to be seen.
The retailer’s comments on Science Dog also seem relevant – comic readers seem reluctant to admit reading anything they actually enjoyed, out of fear that general audiences wouldn’t appreciate it as much. (Even though most S-hero comics have much more un-PC elements that would drive Soccer Moms MADD) It doesn’t matter if the quality of the series remain consistent throughout – comic fans will always find something to complain about. It’s why I like to marrathon comics outside the “Big Two”, so I can get a better feel for the flow of a comic.
David
June 16, 2011 at 4:58 pm
I really didn’t like this page at all. Took me right out of reading the comic.
David h.
June 16, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Science Dog is awesome though. I loved the special (#2) that came out last month.
Faust
June 17, 2011 at 3:39 am
Didn’t Invincible ALSO get a random #1 – instead of a regular numbered issue?
Haha…
Mike-EL
June 20, 2011 at 10:06 pm
re: Tb
Once again, satire is confused with ‘hating’. *sigh*