Cory Walker

Early life

Cory Walker was born in 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. He began drawing and developing superhero stories at a young age.

Early career and ''Invincible''

Walker's professional break in comics came in the early 2000s, through the writer Robert Kirkman. Among Walker's early work in comics was Battle Pope, a superhero parody series published on Kirkman's label Funk-O-Tron. Walker worked on later issues of the series, establishing a creative partnership with Kirkman.

In 2003, Walker and Kirkman launched Invincible through Image Comics, under the Image Skybound imprint. The series follows teenager Mark Grayson, the son of the world's greatest superhero, Omni-Man, as he develops his own powers. Walker co-created the characters and world of Invincible and was the penciler for issues #1-7.

After its first story arc, Ryan Ottley took over as illustrator for Invincible, and went on to illustrate the majority of the issues, but Walker remained involved in the development of the series, consulting closely with Kirkman on designs and storyline ideas, and providing input on characters and plots. Walker was credited as co-creator throughout the series and returned for occasional issues and story arcs, including issues #25, #50, and #93–96. In 2016, he drew a story arc spanning issues #127–132. He also contributed artwork to the double-issue series finale #144 in 2018.

Marvel and DC

Walker's Marvel debut was a short story in Spider-Man Unlimited (Vol. 3) #4 in 2004. He subsequently contributed to Kirkman's revival of the anthology series Marvel Team-Up. In Marvel Team-Up #14 (2005), Walker drew a crossover story featuring Invincible alongside Spider-Man, a rare instance of Image's Invincible appearing in a Marvel comic. He also penciled Marvel Team-Up #19 (2006).

Walker's primary contribution at DC was on the series Shadowpact, a supernatural superhero team title. In 2006, Walker provided artwork for Shadowpact #3 and #6.

In addition to his work for major publishers, Walker has worked on several creator-owned and independent projects throughout his career. He returned to Kirkman's Battle Pope to draw two issues when the series was reprinted in color at Image Comics in 2006. He also co-created Science Dog, a comic-within-a-comic that originated as a fictional title in the Invincible universe. Science Dog stories were initially presented as backup features in Invincible, before two standalone Science Dog special issues were released in 2010–2011, featuring Walker's artwork.

Later career

Through the 2010s and 2020s, Walker was primarily associated with Skybound, Kirkman's imprint at Image Comics. He illustrated short stories and covers for various Skybound titles, including backup stories and variant covers related to Invincible and other series, and provided cover art for issues of titles including Void Rivals and Fire Power from 2023 to 2024.

Amazon Prime Video announced an adult animated Invincible series to premiere in 2021 with Walker as lead character designer. Walker updated designs for the principal characters to match the style of the comics. From season 2 of the show, Walker was given dual credit as lead character designer and co-executive producer.

Bibliography

Image Comics

• Superpatriot: America's Fighting Force #1–4 (2002)
• Invincible #1–7, 25, 50, 66–67, 85–86, 93–96, 100, 127–132, 144 (2003–2018)
• Invincible Returns #1 (2010)
• Battle Pope #9–10 (2006)
• Science Dog #1–2, 25 (2010–11, 2020)

Marvel Comics

• Spider-Man Unlimited (Vol. 3) #4 (2004)
• *Marvel Team-Up #*14, 19 (2005, 2006)
• I Heart Marvel: Web of Romance #1 (2006)
• The Irredeemable Ant-Man #7–8 (2007)
• The Punisher War Journal (Vol. 2) #13 (2007)
• *Destroyer MAX #*1–5 (2007)

DC Comics

• Shadowpact #3, 6 (2006)

TV series

• Invincible #2021–present, Lead character designer, Co-executive producer

References

References

1. "Cory Walker".
2. (2024-06-25). "Robert Kirkman talks adapting Invincible to animation".
3. Barnhardt, Adam. (2023-10-15). "Invincible's Robert Kirkman Celebrates Artist Cory Walker's Contributions to the Animated Series".
4. (2023-10-23). "Cory Walker (1980-): The Penciler Behind The Superhero Epic "Invincible"".
5. toynewsi.com. "Invincible Optioned By Paramount, Kirkman Tapped To Script".
6. "Cory Walker".
7. Dar, Taimur. (2020-08-06). "Syndicated Comics".
8. Sava, Oliver. (2023-01-24). "Invincible creator Robert Kirkman actually loves superheroes".