2025 marks Robert Kirkman’s return to San Diego Comic-Con, and he arrived with a bang. I had the pleasure of attending Kirkman’s panel, where he talked about his upcoming projects for Image Comics and Skybound. Invincible was the biggest topic of discussion, and Kirkman didn’t waste any time by revealing that Battle Beast is coming to the Invincible VS game! He also revealed that Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #1 is on its fourth printing, an impressive record.
The Invincible animated series was also renewed for a fifth season, which led Kirkman to reveal that Matthew Rhys (The Americans) will be voicing the reptilian villain Dinosaurus! New artwork also showcased the show’s take on Dinosaurus, which perfectly brought him to life. Kirkman said that he was also excited to do a storyline for Season 4 that will take Mark Grayson to Hell, citing how other superhero stories have done the same thing.
This led Kirkman to transition into talking about upcoming comics. In addition to reprints of The Astounding Wolf-Man and Tech Jacket, Kirkman also revealed that DIE! DIE! DIE! and Battle Pope will be receiving deluxe hardcovers in September. “Battle Pope is the stupidest book I’ve done, but DIE! DIE! DIE! is the craziest,” he said.
Invincible Universe: Battle Beast isn’t the only comic that will return to the world of Invincible. Kirkman said that he and Mark Englehert will be “putting a fresh coat of paint” on Capes, the short-lived series about superheroes who treat crime-fighting as a 9-to-5. In addition to revamping dialogue and art, the series is slated to continue into 2026 with Benito Cereno (Blood and Thunder) helping on writing duties.
Shifting away from the world of Invincible, Kirkman is doing Skinbreaker, a fantasy book that teams him up with David Finch (Cyberforce, New Avengers). Kirkman said that he wanted to work with Finch for “decades”, to the point where it took eight years for Skinbreaker to come out. To fully get a grasp of the work the duo put into the series, Skinbreaker will also receive “treasury” editions that have bigger pages, showing off Finch’s work in all of its glory.
The Energon Universe is also heating up; Kirkman is taking over Transformers with Dan Mora (Justice League Unlimited), and is joining forces with Andrei Bressan (G.I. Joe, Cobra Commander) for Void Rivals #25, which kicks off the “Quintesson War”. Kirkman was both ecstatic, as he also pointed out that Hasbro was doing an SDCC exclusive set of Void Rivals figures, and expressed regret as he wished he didn’t have to take over Transformers from Daniel Warren Johnson.
Kirkman also revealed that Invincible will be coming to other media outside of television and video games. The classic card game OverPower is returning with expansions for Invincible, The Walking Dead, and other Image Comics icons like Witchblade and Savage Dragon; Free League is also developing an Invincible RPG. Kirkman also mentioned that he’s open to other Skybound/Image properties receiving the treatment that Invincible is getting.
Early on, Robert Kirkman mentioned that 2025 marks 25 years of writing. I can say that it’s an impressive career; not only has he created some amazing comics in the form of Invincible and The Walking Dead, but he’s continuing to make his mark on Image Comics. Here’s hoping the next 25 years are just as impressive.
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