A man with ambition that far exceeds his current position in life clocks in once again to his job at a comic book store in Kentucky in the early 2000’s. Customers come and go throughout the day picking out the latest issue of Spiderman, Justice League, and other popular superhero comics of the era. The man at the register watches the clock with impatience, praying the time it takes from then to closing goes by faster than any other day he’d worked there before. The time finally comes. He clocks out and leaves knowing that this will be the last time he steps through those doors as an employee. The man’s name is Robert Kirkman, and he just quit his job and is about to go $40,000 in debt with nothing but a dream of being a comic book writer.
Robert Kirkman’s aspirations began during middle-school in Cynthiana, Kentucky. He loved reading comic books and also found a friend at the time named Tony Moore who shared his love of comics and superheroes. The two of them grew up with the same dream of being artists on some of the most popular comic book characters of their time. After graduation, Eric Moore went to art school. Kirkman, didn’t. He was never all that good at drawing like Eric was. So instead, he took an open position at his local comic store. Years go by, but he never lost that dream inside him to create comics. He wasn’t cut out to be an artist, sure, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t write his own comic book. He decided to write his first comic book called “Battle Pope” and after sending it to publishers, he was met with nothing but rejection letters. He then proceeds to create his own publishing company called Funk-O-Tron using his own personal funds and push out 13 issues of Battle Pope during the years 2000-2002. This was great, however, it took a pretty big toll on him, personally. He had quit his job to work full time on creating comics and had racked up over $40,000 in debt just to keep his company afloat. Something needed to change for Robert, and quickly.
Fast forward to a pivotal moment in Kirkman’s career. He was able to host an interview with one of his idols at the time and Partner of Image comics Erik Larson. Through this opportunity, he was able to leave an impression on Larson and was given a phone number to reach out to him in the future. He took advantage of this, speaking regularly with Larson and eventually pitching a series called “Science Dog” which was again, rejected. However, something must have stuck out to Larson, because he offered him a position at Image Comics working on a smaller series that they were working on at the time. It wasn’t long before he was getting other offers for some of the industry big names like Marvel which he would join with resounding excitement. He was finally getting paid to work in the comics industry, and began creating loads of comics and superheroes of his own for the company.
Now Kirkman desperately wanted to work on something big with his childhood friend, Tony Moore. This finally came to fruition with the creation of a comic book series I’m sure most people have heard of, The Walking Dead. Moore did the artwork, Kirkman did the writing. Sounds like a perfect ending for these friends destined for success? Not really. The two longtime friends found their relationship stressed by creative and philosophical differences. Moore wanted to take his time on the artwork to create the best comic he could each issue. Kirkman wanted to push out a new issue every month to keep fans engaged and the story moving at a good pace. The first 6 issues took an entire year to complete. Eventually, Moore left the project, signing his rights to The Walking Dead over to Kirkman, and possibly ending the dreams and once great friendship the two of them shared. Now he could hire artists who were able to work with his demanding schedule, and soon, a new opportunity would arise that would take his career to heights even he never imagined he would reach.
A man named Frank Darabont purchases an issue of The Walking Dead and decides he wants to reach out to Kirkman about creating a TV series revolving around his comics. Darabont was a well known director of some notable horror films at the time like A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, The Blob remake, and also a small film at the time called THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. Over the next few years, Kirkman and Darabont worked together and had the show picked up by AMC. Afraid that the show wouldn’t be true to his vision, he managed to get his way signed on as a writer, ensuring that he still had control over what direction the show took. He was no stranger to disagreements with others over his vision, and unfortunately, Darabont would soon leave the project because of it. In the end, Kirkman’s vision stood true, and he created the highest rated cable TV show of all time. The success of TWD also allowed him to bring to life an old passion project that would shock the industry with a brand new take on what a superhero show can be with his 2001 comic, “Invincible”
The show Invincible was picked up by Amazon Prime in 2021 and was immediately met with success from fans of his older comics and a massive amount of new fans that were perhaps a bit tired of the current standing of Marvel and DC superheroes on the big screen. Invincible has a new take on the superhero genre that is both refreshing and entertaining regardless of if you are a comic lover or not. It’s just good TV! Season 3 was recently released and we at the Glorious Beard want to highlight the series’s creator, Robert Kirkman, who was able to follow his passion, going from massive debt at 21 years old to what is now a vast fortune with his estimated net worth at over $60,000,000. Along with a brilliant mind when it comes to writing comics and TV shows, Kirkman also has a pretty iconic beard himself. He’s not afraid to let his facial hair shine on the stage, keeping it full, and sometimes a bit untamed and wild! He’s got a beard that perfectly encapsulates his attitude and uniqueness in today’s entertainment industry. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out some of his comics, and catch up with his most recent TV project, Invincible, streaming on Amazon Prime today!
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