The Image Universe is a fictional

Fictional universe

A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....

 shared universe

Shared universe

A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....

 wherein many of the comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

s published by Image Comics

Image Comics

Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...

 take place.

Publication history

The Image Universe began with the founding of Image Comics in 1992, launching with series such as The Savage Dragon, Spawn

Spawn (comics)

Spawn is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in a monthly comic book of the same name published by Image Comics. Created by writer/artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1...

, Youngblood

Youngblood (comics)

Youngblood is a superhero team that starred in their self-titled comic book, created by writer/artist Rob Liefeld. The team made its debut as a backup feature in the 1987 one-shot Megaton: Explosion before later appearing in its own ongoing series in 1992 as the flagship publication for Image Comics...

and WildC.A.T.s

Wildcats (comics)

Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildC.A.T.s, is a fictional superhero team created by the American comic book artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi.-Publication history:...

.

Image Comics' nature of allowing comic creators to retain the rights to the characters they publish with Image had led to many characters entering or exiting the Image Universe as the creators move from or to other publishers. During the 1996 crossover event miniseries

Limited series

A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....

 Shattered Image, the Image Universe broke off into several separate universes, including Jim Lee

Jim Lee

Jim Lee is a Korean-American comic book artist, writer, editor and publisher. He first broke into the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, illustrating titles such as Alpha Flight and Punisher War Journal, before gaining a great deal of popularity on The Uncanny X-Men...

's Wildstorm Universe

Wildstorm Universe

The Wildstorm Universe is a fictional shared universe where the comic books published by Wildstorm take place. It represents an alternate history of the real world where ideas such as interstellar travel and superhuman abilities are commonplace...

 (currently part of the DC Multiverse).

In 2009, the Image Universe had its first major crossover in several years with Image United

Image United

Image United is a 2009 six-issue comic book limited series published by Image Comics. Art for the series is done by six of the seven Image co-founders Whilce Portacio, Jim Valentino, Marc Silvestri, Rob Liefeld, Erik Larsen and Todd McFarlane, with each artist drawing the characters he created...

.

Superheroes in the Image Universe

• Ant
  Ant (comics)
  Ant is a comic book superhero. She first appeared in Ant #1 , published by Arcana Studios. Ant was created by Mario Gully and is currently published by Big City Comics.-Publication history:...
  
  
• Allen the Alien
  Allen the Alien
  Allen the Alien is an Image Comics character who first appeared in the Invincible series.-History:He was an apparent alien aggressor, who Invincible's father, Omni-Man had fought several times in the past, all without talking with him...
  
  
• The Astounding Wolf-Man
  The Astounding Wolf-Man
  The Astounding Wolf-Man is a comic book series launched by Image Comics on May 5, 2007. It ran until its final 25th issue in 2010. The series was created and written by Robert Kirkman with art by Jason Howard. The first issue of The Astounding Wolf-Man was given away for free as part of Free...
  
  
• Atom Eve
  Atom Eve
  Atom Eve is a fictional character, a superhero in the who appears primarily in the comic book Invincible. She first appears was in Invincible #1 and was created by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker....
  
  
• Avengelyne
  Avengelyne
  Avengelyne [uh-venj-ah-leen] is a fictional comic book character co-created by Rob Liefeld and Cathy Christian, and originally published in 1995 by Maximum Press. By the end of the 1990s, Avengelyne had a stint at Awesome Entertainment and enjoyed a short stint at Avatar Press. Avengelyne returned...
  
  
• Badrock
  Badrock
  Badrock is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in books published by Image Comics. Created by Rob Liefeld, he first appeared in Youngblood #1 .-Fictional character biography:...
  
  
• Ballistic
• Berserker
  Berserker (comics)
  Berserker is a new series of American comic books printed by Top Cow Productions. The comic first appeared in 2009 with issue #0 on the Top Cow website and the first issue printed in June 2009....
  
  
• Black Samson
• Blacklight
• Bootleg
  Bootleg (comics)
  Bootleg is a fictional super heroine created by Eric Stephenson and Todd Nauck for Image Comics title New Men and was the second team member the two introduced to the series, after Pilot, a character who was almost identical to the X-Men's Bishop, and debuted in her civilian identity in the 9th...
  
  
• Brit
  Brit (comics)
  Brit is a fictional character, a superhero in the . He first appeared in Brit , and was created by Robert Kirkman.-Publication history:...
  
  
• Bulletproof
  Bulletproof (comics)
  Bulletproof is a fictional character a comic book superhero from the Image Comics series Invincible. His first appearance was in Invincible #9, but before the name Invincible was settled on, Bulletproof was one of the proposed names of the main character of the series...
  
  
• Captain Dynamo
  Captain Dynamo (comics)
  Captain Dynamo is a fictional comic book superhero, created by writer Jay Faerber and artist Fran Bueno, who first appeared as a supporting character in Noble Causes: Extended Family #2 by Image Comics....
  
  
• Celestine
  Celestine (comics)
  Celestine is a fictional character from in the Image Comics comic book universe created by Alan Moore, Rob Liefeld and Brian Denham. She was described as an avenging angel, responsible for the destruction of the Tower of Babel, Sodom and Gomorrah and other Old Testament atrocities...
  
  
• Chapel
  Chapel (comics)
  Chapel is a fictional comic book character in the Image Comics universe. He started out as a supervillain but later became a superhero...
  
  
• Christian Walker
  Christian Walker
  Christian Walker is the main character starring in the comic book series Powers. He was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis, artist Michael Avon Oeming...
  
  
• Cougar
• Cogliostro
  Cogliostro
  Cogliostro is a supporting character in Todd McFarlane's Spawn comic series. Cogliostro was created in 1993 by author Neil Gaiman and artist Todd McFarlane and introduced in Spawn issue #9.-Al Simmons:...
  
  
• The Crow
• Cyblade
  Cyblade
  Cyblade is the name of a fictional character from Top Cow Productions. She is a member of Cyberforce.-Publication history:After her initial appearances in other comics, Cyblade was one of two properties to win the first Pilot Season in 2007, meaning Cyblade would appear in her own eponymous...
  
  
• Damien Darkblood
  Damien Darkblood
  Damien Darkblood is a fictional comic book superhero featured in Image Comics' Invincible and The Astounding Wolf-Man and was created by series writer Robert Kirkman and artist Cory Walker...
  
  
• Daredevil
• The Darkness
  The Darkness (comics)
  The Darkness is a series of ongoing American comic books created by Marc Silvestri, Garth Ennis, and David Wohl and produced by Top Cow Productions. The comic first appeared in 1996 and enjoyed an initial period of relative success during the Top Cow/Image Comics boom of the late 1990s. However,...
  
  
• Dart
  Dart (comics)
  Dart is a fictional Image Comics superhero. Created by Erik Larsen, she first appeared in 1992, in Savage Dragon #2 .-Publication history:...
  
  
• Disciple
• Dupli-Kate
  Dupli-Kate
  Dupli-Kate is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Image Comics title Invincible. She was previously a member of the Teen Team and is now one of the Guardians of the Globe.-Character history:...
  
  
• The Emissary
  Emissary (comics)
  Emissary is a fictional superhero published by Image Comics. Created by Jim Valentino, he first appeared in Emissary #1, .-Fictional character biography:...
  
  
• El Campeon
  El Campeon
  El Campeon is a character from the comic book series The Amazing Joy Buzzards and was created by Mark Andrew Smith and Dan Hipp. The Amazing Joy Buzzards is published by Image Comics. In the series El Campeon is a Mexican Wrestling Genie who happens to be the guardian of rock and roll band The...
  
  
• Firebreather
  Firebreather
  Firebreather is a comic book created by Phil Hester and Andy Kuhn and published by Image Comics. The series focuses on the life of a teenage half-dragon. The story has been told in a mini-series and a one-shot...
  
  
• Frost
  Frost (comics)
  Frost is a fictional Image Comics superhero. He is Gaia's son from an extramarital affair and the black sheep of the family. Aside from Gaia, each member of the family treats him with varying degrees of scorn....
  
  
• Glory
  Glory (comics)
  Glory is a fictional character originally from Image Comics, and later on from the Awesome Comics comic book series created by Rob Liefeld. The character's full name is Gloriana Demeter, a half-Amazonian, half-Demon warrior.- Rob Liefeld's Glory :...
  
  
• Haunt
  Haunt (comics)
  Haunt is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in a self-titled ongoing series published by Image Comics. Created by Todd McFarlane and Robert Kirkman, the series debuted on October 7, 2009. The comic was originally written by Kirkman with pencils by Ryan Ottley, layouts by Greg Capullo, and...
  
  
• Heatwave
  Heatwave (comics)
  Heatwave is a comic book character from Top Cow Productions. He was also a member of the Cyberforce.-Fictional character biography:Heatwave was a cybernetically-enhanced mutant, with the power to absorb and release ambient solar energy in the form of super-heated plasma...
  
  
• Horridus
• The Immortal
• Impact
  Impact (Image Comics)
  Impact is a fictional superhero from Image Comics and Top Cow.He was a member of Cyberforce. His costume was green with yellow lightning bolts across the suit.-Fictional biography:...
  
  
• Invincible
  Invincible (comics)
  Invincible is a superhero in the . Created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Cory Walker, the character first appeared in Tech Jacket #1 , before graduating to his own self-titled regular series in 2003, as a title in Image's then-new superhero line.Invincible is the teenaged son of Omni-Man, an...
  
  
• Jack Staff
  Jack Staff
  Jack Staff is a British superhero created by comic book writer/artist Paul Grist. Billed as "Britain's Greatest Hero", it is known for being in the style of an anthology title and for its multi-linear plotlines....
  
  
• Jennifer Dragon
  Jennifer Murphy (comics)
  Jennifer Murphy, currently Jennifer Dragon and sometimes using the codename Smasher, is a recurring fictional character in Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon comic book series...
  
  
• Kid Supreme
  Kid Supreme
  Kid Supreme is the name of a character in the comic book series Supreme. During World War II, Charles Flanders discovered he could tap into Supreme's power, and he became Supreme's sidekick, the first Kid Supreme. The second Kid Supreme was Danny Fuller after he received super powers during a...
  
  
• Knightsabre
  Knightsabre
  Knightsabre is a fictional comic book superhero created by Rob Liefeld.-Fictional character biography:Knightsabre was surreptitiously indoctrinated into the new Youngblood Program after he surpassed combat training in the Bloodpool...
  
  
• Liberty & Justice
  Liberty & Justice
  Liberty and Justice are two characters from Erik Larsen's the Savage Dragon comic book series. Brother and sister they are the children of major supporting character Superpatriot.The twins are deliberately total opposites of each other...
  
  
• Madman
  Madman
  Madman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero created by Mike Allred and most recently published by Image Comics. He first appeared in Creatures of the Id...
  
  
• The Maxx
  The Maxx
  The Maxx is an American comic book series created by Sam Kieth and published originally monthly by Image Comics and now collected in trade paperback collections from DC Comic's Wildstorm imprint. The comic book, which stars a character of the same name, spawned an animated series that aired on the...
  
  
• Masada
  Masada (comics)
  Masada is a fictional comic book superhero from Image Comics. Created by Rob Liefeld-Fictional character biography:Masada is a fictional Jewish superhero from Image Comics, a member of Team Youngblood....
  
  
• Mighty Man
• Monster Girl
  Monster Girl
  Monster Girl is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Image Comics title Invincible.-Fictional character biography:A bright young student Monster Girl was set to graduate high school at a young age. But while on her senior trip to Europe she fell in love with a young gypsy boy...
  
  
• Omni-Man
  Omni-Man
  Omni-Man is a fictional character, a superhero, supervillain and anti-hero in the . Omni-Man is the father of Invincible and a member of Viltrumite race, a humanoid species of extraterrestrial origin who possess superhuman strength, super speed, virtual immortality, and flight. Unusually for a...
  
  
• Photon
• Pitt
  Pitt (comics)
  Pitt is a fictional character who appears in a comics series by American publisher Full Bleed Studios. Created by Dale Keown, he first appeared in Pitt #1 . Pitt is a human/alien hybrid, created by an alien race known as the Creed, genetically engineered to serve as a killing machine...
  
  
• Professor Night
  Professor Night
  Professor Night is a fictional character created by Alan Moore in the Supreme comic book, wherein most heroes and villains are thinly disguised counterparts of DC icons. Although his name is derivative of Doctor Mid-Nite, the character is otherwise clearly intended be a counterpart of Batman...
  
  
• Proof
  Proof (comics)
  Proof is an American comic book series, published by Image Comics and created by writer Alex Grecian and artist Riley Rossmo. The story concerns John "Proof" Prufrock, a sasquatch, who works for a secret government organization. He hunts cryptids with his partner, Ginger Brown, and seeks clues to...
  
  
• Psilence
  Psilence (comics)
  Psilence is a fictional comic book superheroine from Image Comics. Created by Rob Liefeld, she first appeared in Youngblood #8 April 1994.-Fictional character biography:...
  
  
• Ramjet
• Rapture
  Rapture (comics)
  Rapture, real name Sharona Jackson, is a fictional superhero created by Erik Larsen for his Image Comics series Savage Dragon. Rapture was inspired by, and named after. The Knack's song My Sharona...
  
  
• Rex Splode
  Rex Splode
  Rex Splode is a fictional superhero in the Image Comics series Invincible, gifted with the ability to make inanimate objects explode. He first appeared in Invincible #2 .-Fictional character biography:...
  
  
• Riptide
• Robot
  Robot (comics)
  Robot is a fictional superhero appearing in the comic book Invincible, which is published by Image Comics.-History:Prior to the first issue of Invincible, Robot was the leader and founder of the Teen Team....
  
  
• The Savage Dragon
• Shadowhawk (Eddie Collins)
  Shadowhawk
  ShadowHawk is a fictional comic book vigilante anti-hero created by Jim Valentino.He was first introduced in the Malibu Sun free promotional magazine in May of 1992...
  
  
• Shadowhawk (Luke Hatfield Sr.)
  Shadowhawk
  ShadowHawk is a fictional comic book vigilante anti-hero created by Jim Valentino.He was first introduced in the Malibu Sun free promotional magazine in May of 1992...
  
  
• Shadowhawk (Paul Johnstone)
  Shadowhawk
  ShadowHawk is a fictional comic book vigilante anti-hero created by Jim Valentino.He was first introduced in the Malibu Sun free promotional magazine in May of 1992...
  
  
• Shaft
  Shaft (comics)
  Shaft is a Marvel Comics character and pupil of the blind warrior Stick, former mentor of costumed crime-fighter Daredevil and pro assassin Elektra Natchios. He is a highly trained ninja and a member of good ninja cell the Chaste. He fights with fellow Chaste warriors Stone and Claw, occasionally...
  
  
• The Shapesmith
  Shapesmith
  Shapesmith is a fictional character a comic book superhero from the Image Comics series Invincible.-Character history:Shapesmith is a Martian, using his metamorphic abilities to disguise himself as astronaut Rus Livingston and fight crime...
  
  
• She-Dragon
  She-Dragon
  Amy Belcher, also known as Sensation and mostly as She-Dragon is a fictional 'superfreak' and later police officer created by Erik Larsen for his series Savage Dragon as a She-Hulk like female counterpart for the series' main character The Dragon....
  
  
• Smasher
• Spawn
  Spawn (comics)
  Spawn is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in a monthly comic book of the same name published by Image Comics. Created by writer/artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1...
  
  
• SuperPatriot
  SuperPatriot
  SuperPatriot is an Image Comics superhero created by Erik Larsen in 1992. SuperPatriot has had regular appearances in Erik Larsen's titles, whether in his own mini-series or as a supporting character and is currently a member of the Liberty League....
  
  
• Supervision
• Suprema
• Supreme
  Supreme (comics)
  Supreme is a fictional superhero created by Rob Liefeld and first published by Image Comics, then Maximum Press, and later by Awesome Entertainment...
  
  
• Tech Jacket
  Tech Jacket
  Tech Jacket was a six issue American comic book created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist E.J. Su, published monthly by Image Comics in November 2002 to April 2003. The book is a part of Kirkman's overarcing Image Universe, which is anchored by Invincible, but also includes such heroes as Savage...
  
  
• Vanguard
  Vanguard (Image Comics)
  Vanguard is a fictional alien hero created by Gary Carlson and Erik Larsen for Carlson's self-published anthology Megaton. Vanguard is a white alien with small antennae who has been given the unenviable job of guarding Earth, which is viewed by the aliens as boring with little chance of anything...
  
  
• Velocity
  Velocity (comics)
  Velocity, is an Image Comics/Top Cow Productions character from the comic series Cyberforce, created by Marc Silvestri in 1992. She is one of, if not the main character in the Cyberforce series, and often serves as the reader’s guide or eyes through the story arcs...
  
  
• Vogue
  Vogue (comics)
  Vogue is a fictional comic book superhero from Image Comics. Created by Rob Liefeld, she first appeared in Youngblood #1 April 1992.-Fictional character biography:...
  
  
• Witchblade
  Witchblade
  Witchblade is an American comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, from 1995 until present. The series was created by Top Cow editors Marc Silvestri and David Wohl, writers Brian Haberlin and Christina Z, and artist Michael Turner.The series follows Sara...
  
  
• Wraith
• Young Omni-Man

Superhero Teams in the Image Universe

• Bloodpool
  Bloodpool (comics)
  Bloodpool is a fictional group of superheroes and a comic book series created by Rob Liefeld. The series was published by Image Comics in 1996 under Liefeld's Extreme Studios. The team's roster includes Rubble, Task, Seoul, Psilence, Wylder, and Fusion...
  
  
• Brigade
  Brigade (comics)
  Brigade is a comic book published by Image Comics and later by Awesome Entertainment, created, plotted, and originally written by Rob Liefeld and first illustrated by Marat Mychaels as a spin-off to the then-popular series...
  
  
• Codename: Strykeforce
  Codename: Strykeforce
  Codename: Strykeforce was a comic book series by Top Cow and Image Comics, about a team of mercenary superheroes.Codename: Strykeforce was an offshoot of another series called Cyberforce, which was about a group of cyborg shock troops. The series lasted for fourteen issues...
  
  
• Cyberforce
  Cyberforce
  Cyberforce is an Image Comics super-hero team created by artist Marc Silvestri and writer Eric Silvestri in 1992. Silvestri would begin performing both the plotting and pencilling chores, but the series was subsequently drawn by other artists, including David Finch...
  
  
• Dynamo 5
  Dynamo 5
  Dynamo 5 is a fictional comic book superhero team created by writer Jay Faerber and artist Mahmud A. Asrar, which appears in an eponymous series published by Image Comics. The team first appeared in Dynamo 5  #1 . The monthly series ended with issue #25...
  
  
• Freak Force
  Freak Force
  Freak Force is the name of a fictional team of superhuman bounty hunters operating out of Chicago, Illinois. They originated in the Image Comics series Savage Dragon, but subsequently went on to star in their own series...
  
  
• The Guardians of the Globe
  Guardians of the Globe
  The Guardians of the Globe are a fictional superhero team in the , appearing primarily in the comic Invincible. The original team was based on DC Comics' Justice League of America.-The original Guardians of the Globe:...
  
  
• Hunter-Killer
• The New Men
  New Men (Image Comics)
  New Men was a comic book series published in 1990's by Image Comics. It was one of the many titles co-created by Rob Liefeld, and released as part of his Extreme Studios imprint...
  
  
• Noble Causes
  Noble Causes
  Noble Causes is an American comic book series created and written by Jay Faerber, illustrated by a variety of artists and published by Image Comics....
  
  
• The Pact
  The Pact (Comics)
  The Pact was a superhero team released in two limited series by Image Comics.-Vol. One:The members were Handgunn, Blacklight, Slam and Cutlass. The mini-series was three issues.-Synopsis:...
  
  
• The Teen Team
  Teen Team
  Teen Team is a team of teen-age superheroes in the world of Invincible. The group is loosely based on DC Comics's Teen Titans or Legion of Super Heroes. The group was introduced in issue #2. Tensions flare in the team when Rex Splode is revealed to be cheating on Atom Eve with Dupli-Kate...
  
  
• Wildguard
• Youngblood
  Youngblood (comics)
  Youngblood is a superhero team that starred in their self-titled comic book, created by writer/artist Rob Liefeld. The team made its debut as a backup feature in the 1987 one-shot Megaton: Explosion before later appearing in its own ongoing series in 1992 as the flagship publication for Image Comics...
  
  

External Links

Erik Larsen's explanation of how the Image Universe works