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Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #1 Sells Nearly 400,000 Copies

Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #1 by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley sells nearly 400,000 copies from Image/Skybound

It's been a very good year for Image/Skybound with The Energon Universe – Robert Kirkman's reimagining of the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises – continues to be a pillar of the comics industry, with
Joshua Williamson and Tom Reilly's G.I. Joe #1 setting an all-time record for a Hasbro comic book launch (as we told you first).

And it looks like things aren't slowing down at all, as Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley's Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #1 has sold nearly 400,000 copies after closing orders this week.

Not only is that itself a massive number for a creator-owned comic book series in 2025, it's also enough to topple the first printing numbers for Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta's Absolute Batman #1, which became the new benchmark for blockbuster launches, and seemingly matches orders for Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's Batman #158.

But unlike Absolute Batman #1 or even Batman #158 (AKA the launch of H2sh),
Battle Beast didn't rely on highly discounted bundles to dramatically goose orders with retailers, who in this case were invested enough in Kirkman and Ottley's new series to order these issues based on the content and the unique variant cover offerings that appealed to Invincible fans new and old.

It's not surprising to see Battle Beast #1 debut so strong – after all, it's the first new Invincible comic book content in quite a while and the animated series on Prime Video has become a true global phenomenon. Unlike so many other comic book adaptations, that's actually translating into sales at comic shops and bookstores, where over 1,000,000 copies of Invincible graphic novels have been sold since 2021.

Moreover, it's a reminder that Image/Skybound has seen a number of their series launch – and remain – bigger than so much of the content from the other Big Three companies, namely Marvel and DC, who have the backing of global corporations to sell their comics.

A big appeal for both retailers and fans has also been the Battle Beast #1
Blind Bags, which contain a number of randomly intermixed covers including the super rare 1:1000 variant (albeit not dual signed or CGC graded like the orderable version) and apparently some additional surprises that may not be
Battle Beast variants at all.

I'm told that Skybound actually revealed these covers – along with their intermix ratios – to retailers on a special call last month, to which I was shockingly not invited. Perhaps I've spoiled too many of their big Energon Universe secrets? Alas, retailers seem to have taken Kirkman's #KeepTheSecret mantra to heart and not leaked the details to me, which I will begrudgingly admit that I respect.

The one thing I'm told is that the surprise contents of this Blind Bag will draw quite a few Marvel and DC fans into stores to see if they can get their hands on these rare issues, so retailers still may not have ordered enough – and that could mean we see Battle Beast #1 numbers rise even higher as retailers scramble to meet demand.

Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #1 is on sale on Wednesday, the 14th of May at comic shops, but expect to see Blind Bag spoilers much sooner, as I expect that some retailers will be tearing open those early to reveal the contents sooner than later.

INVINCIBLE UNIVERSE BATTLE BEAST #1
IMAGE COMIC
JAN250459
(W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Ryan Ottley, Annalisa Leoni
Series Premiere. The best new (not quite a) super-hero series in the universe! Cursed with an unquenchable thirst for violence, Battle Beast searches the universe for the one warrior mightier than him-and a glorious death, his only reward. But even in a universe of mighty Viltrumites like Invincible and Omni-Man, it seems that no one may be able to stop the galaxy's deadliest warrior… unless he does the unthinkable. Superstars Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley present the most demanded Invincible story of all time, revealing the secret story of Battle Beast that's perfect for any long-time fan (no spoilers!) and new readers alike. COVER C Blind Bag: This is a first-of-its-kind blind bag program. The blind bags will include a chance to get any of the solicited covers from A through I. However, there are rare SURPRISE issues that may or may not be related to Battle Beast or the Invincible Universe that can be found in these blind bags. Those surprise issues will not be publicly announced in advance of the issue release.
In Shops: Apr 23, 2025 SRP: $3.99

INVINCIBLE UNIVERSE BATTLE BEAST #2
(W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Ryan Ottley, Annalisa Leoni
THE BEST NEW (NOT QUITE A) SUPERHERO SERIES IN THE UNIVERSE CONTINUES!
Battle Beast has entered the Blood Games. This is bad news…but not for him.  Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 5/21/2025

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