Robert Kirkman’s Savage New Project ‘Skinbreaker’ Is A Visual Masterpiece

Image from Skinbreaker, a new comic by Robert Krikman and David Finch, coming from Skybound Entertainment in September, 2025.

Art by David Finch, courtesy of Skybound Entertainment

What happens when creator of some of the most bankable comic-based properties of the 21^st century gives one of the best artists in the business an unlimited amount of time to build a lush alien world of intrigue and action? We’ll find out on September 24 when Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, Invincible) releases his years-in-the-making collaboration with Eisner award winning artist David Finch (The New Avengers, Batman), an 8-issue limited series called Skinbreaker from Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment imprint.

Skinbreaker is set on a primordial world where a tribal society teeters on the brink of collapse. As the aging leader loses his grip on power – and control of the powerful Skinbreaker artifact that comes with it – conflicts brewing within the warrior culture threaten to rip their world apart. Fans of Kirkman’s ability to bring human conflict and drama into an already-perilous situation will find a lot to like about this new story, even if it is set light years away from the post-apocalyptic landscape of The Walking Dead.

But the real delight of Skinbreaker is the linework of David Finch, accompanied by the intricate color art of Annalisa Leoni. Every panel and every page are so luxuriously rendered that Skybound is offering a deluxe oversized edition for fans who want to appreciate every detail. When people say comics are a visual medium, this is what they are talking about.

One reason we rarely see graphic novels, much less periodical comics, drawn with this much care and craft is that deadlines and production schedules don’t permit it. But what if deadlines didn’t apply, and the publisher could afford to wait as long as it takes for the artist to be satisfied with the results?

How long? According to Finch, eight years to complete the eight 24-page issues, plus covers and incidental art.

“It took an embarrassing amount of time, it really did,” said Finch in an interview he and Kirkman gave ahead of the release of the first issue. “I had the chance to put everything into it with every page, so it got very carried away and took a very long time to do.”

“It took exactly as long as it needed,” said Kirkman, who also serves as Skybound’s Chief Creative Officer. “I met David briefly when we were both working at Marvel and was a fan of his work going back to the early 1990s, so the idea of working with him is something I was very excited about. I wanted to do a visually centric idea that would be worthy of him, and that he would enjoy drawing, because I figure if I enjoy writing it and he enjoys drawing it, then the reader’s going to enjoy reading it.”

Kirkman says his primary inspiration for the story was Mad Max: Fury Road, the savage and visually stunning 2015 Charlize Theron film that revitalized the Road Warrior franchise.

“As a story, Skinbreaker is deceptively simple, but reveals a larger and richer world that has some deep meaning behind it,” said Kirkman. “It has a nice propulsion to it that moves you from one thing to the next. But as you’re going through the story, you’re finding so much more about each individual character and the world that they inhabit. There are things in this story that get hinted at in dialogue that indicate more story that we never actually nailed down. So there are things that you’re gonna learn about this world, where the reader will get to finish out that interpretation.”

Finch says he contributed character designs and ideas around the look of the world, but generally left the story side to Kirkman. “I believe when you work with somebody who is an expert at what they do and the genius of what they do, I keep my mouth shut,” he said. “I tried to limit everything that I was doing just to the visualization, and it was amazing to see how that had an impact. It was very gratifying.”

Skinbreaker #1 (of 8) will be available in comic shops and on digital platforms including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books and Google Play on Wednesday, September 24, for $4.99 standard edition or $14.99 for the oversized “treasury” edition. As is customary in the comics periodical market, there are 10 cover variants available from artists including Finch, Tony Moore, Lorenzo De Felici, Eric Canete and Ryan Ottley, that customers can order through their retailer.