Look for the next issue of Image Comics’ critically acclaimed teen superhero comics series Invincible to temporarily reduce its price by a dollar in a bid to attract new fans. Invincible issue 42, which hits shelves on April 25, will adopt the 24-page format and $1.99 price point of Image’s Slimline brand of serials like Warren Ellis’s Fell and Matt Fraction’s Casanova, targeting budget-conscious readers. Invincible’s writer and creator, Robert Kirkman, is also using Free Comic Book Day on May 5 to launch his new Image series The Astounding Wolf-Man.
“It’s just an added incentive to get people to give the book a shot, ” said Kirkman. “You take that dollar off and hopefully people are a little more quick to take a chance. I understand that reading comics is very much an addiction, and most readers are on a budget.”
Issue 42 will include a recap of the series so far for first-time readers, but Kirkman insists that existing fans should expect more than just filler. The all-new story will deal with the aftermath of the Martian arc, which concludes in issue 41, and also explore Mark’s increasingly public persona as the superhero Invincible. “Doing an issue like this is always a balancing act," said Kirkman. "I have to craft a tale that appeals to both groups, newcomers and longtime readers, and I think I've done that. I daresay it’s one of our better issues.”
Kirkman will debut The Astounding Wolf-Man as a Free Comic Book Day title, citing the giveaway as another example of "helping people on a budget." The new series, which chronicles the transformation of a CEO into a lycanthropic (related to the delusion that one is a wolf) superhero, will offer fans its first issue free, in hopes that they come back for more. “It’s the perfect opportunity to launch a book,” said Kirkman.
Like Invincible and Walking Dead, his wildly popular zombie series, The Astounding Wolf-Man will be published as a creator-owned title through Image, thanks to an exemption in Kirkman’s exclusive contract with Marvel. The new series has “the action and adventure of Invincible, the horror and suspense of The Walking Dead and the character drama of them both,” said Kirkman. “It should be a lot of fun!”
To publicize the debut, Kirkman is planning a three-day, five-city tour across the nation May 4-6, beginning with a midnight signing at Jim Hanley’s in New York City and continuing through Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
